Washington Elm, Cambridge, Massachusetts 1863 - 1884

Curator: This is George Kendall Warren's photograph, "Washington Elm, Cambridge, Massachusetts," currently held at the Harvard Art Museums. Editor: It evokes a stark, almost melancholic feeling with that grand, bare tree dominating the landscape. Curator: The elm itself became a potent symbol. Legend held that George Washington took command of the Continental Army beneath its branches in 1775. Editor: An invented tradition, of course, but the tree became a powerful focus for early American identity. The image presents a fabricated memory as an authentic historical artifact. Curator: Precisely. This photographic postcard helped disseminate the image and the mythology of the Washington Elm widely. It’s interesting how we create meaning through constructed images. Editor: Absolutely. And photographs, like this one, become physical embodiments of those shared, sometimes invented, narratives. This postcard reminds me about the power of myth-making. Curator: A great example of the intersection of nature, myth, and the public imagination, captured in a small photograph.