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2005 -- Ernesta Drinker Ballard died of a complications from a stroke in Philadelphia at
age 85. (Her career in bonsai began in 1960 when she took a class taught by Yuji Yoshimura at the
Arnold Arboretum. In 1962 she wrote what some say was the first book on the subject written by an
American, The Art of Training Plants. The book was reprinted in 1974. It was her interest in
bonsai that persuaded her husband, Frederic, to take up the art as well. Founding members of the
American Bonsai Society in 1967, the two were instrumental in introducing California teacher
John Naka to bonsai practitioners on the East Coast within a couple of years.
She was elected to the National Bonsai Foundation Board of Directors in 2004. (Frederic, who died in 2001,
had been the first president of the NBF). (Ernesta was also the Executive Director and President of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for eighteen years from 1963 to 1981. Early in that period, the society's annual flower show, which began in 1829 and eventually grew into the largest indoor flower show in the United States was faltering, and a two-year suspension was discussed. Mrs. Ballard argued that a suspension might be fatal and instead changed the content of the show, bringing it to international prominence under her leadership. An exhibitor herself, she directed the show for 17 years, until 1981. She opened it to amateur growers and used it as a teaching laboratory for a wider public. Under her guidance, the event began to produce a financial surplus, which she used to start the Horticultural Society's community gardening program, Philadelphia Green. That program, which turns vacant lots into vegetable gardens and flower beds, became one of the largest such urban greening projects in the nation. Ernesta also played a leading role in saving public monuments like the Swann Fountain on Logan Circle and restoring the buildings and grounds of Philadelphia's historic Fairmount Waterworks. She was a Fairmount Park commissioner for 21 years, until 2002. And as a member of the Commission she started an important community gardening program. In 1977 she was presented with the Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal and Award by the Scott Arboretum. (Born into a distinguished Philadelphia family, a daughter of a prominent lawyer, Harry Drinker, and Sophie Hutcheson Drinker, a feminist and author, Ernesta was not encouraged to attend college. However, she graduated as an adult from the Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women (now part of Temple University) in 1954, when she started her own greenhouse business. Ernesta was also known as the "godmother of Philadelphia feminism." She was a founder of local chapters of groups like the National Organization for Women and campaigned for the Equal Rights Amendment and abortion rights. The Feminine Mystique (1963) by Betty Friedan propelled Ernesta toward feminism, and it was Ms. Friedan who invited her to start the local NOW chapter.) [The Women's Way Book Prize would honor a female author for her work in advancing the dialogue about women's rights. Established in 2007, this prize would honor the legacy of Ernesta Drinker Ballard, a Women's Way co-founder, first president of its Board of Directors and extraordinary champion for women and girls.] 
Ernesta D. Ballard ("Ernesta Drinker Ballard" obituary in
NBF Bulletin, National Bonsai Foundation Newsletter, Vol. XVI, No. 2, Winter 2005, pg. 2; Saxon, Wolfgang
"Ernesta Drinker Ballard, 85, Horticulturist and Feminist, Dies," New York Times,
Sept. 1, 2005;
"Scott Arboretum: A. Hoyt Scott Award Recipients,"
http://www.scottarboretum.org/pages/medalpast.html) SEE ALSO: Mar 13
(Bonsai Journal, ABS, Vol. 9, No. 2, Summer 1975, pg. 42) |
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1899 -- Hiromu
Nishitani was born in Tottori Prefecture,
Honshu, Japan. [He would come to the U.S. in 1912, the eldest son of Denjiro Nishitani, who'd have
been in the States via Canada since 1906 and mother Jin, who'd be sent for in 1909. Hiromu would have been
living in Japan with grandparents, aunts and uncles before joining his parents and two youngest siblings in
Seattle. At school Hiromu would acquire the nickname "Kelly" because of the kelly-green tie he'd wear.
(Later in life he would legally changed his name to Kelly. His English middle name would be Gerome.)
He'd go on to Lincoln
High School and also work with his father in the
family landscaping
business and plant nursery with a greenhouse which had been started in 1912. At that time they'd be
mainly wholesalers, supplying produce and cut flowers to stands operated by other Japanese in northeast Seattle.
Kelly would marry in 1920 Pearl Drucilla Du Bry
(1902-1998), a Caucasian from Great Falls, MT. As the eldest of the ten children, Kelly would inherit the
Oriental Gardens business when his father died. (The elder would have had an operation in 1924 and never be well
again after that. He would die in June, 1926, at age 46.) Kelly'd work at the nursery the rest of his
life, assisted by his mother and siblings. Not until later in the 1920s would the present Lake City Way be
put through. With increased car traffic on this new road, the Nishitanis would build a new retail outlet
facing west onto Victory Way. By 1930 there'd be about fifty
Japanese families scattered through
the northeast Seattle area from the University District out to present-day Lake City. Many would have
helped form the Green Lake Japanese Association in the 1920s. Then, like most other Japanese
on the West Coast, in 1942 the Nishitani family would be sent to an internment camp. Pearl would
remain in Seattle overseeing Oriental Gardens. This would put the family in a small but very fortunate
minority: only internees with non-Japanese family members -- or those with friends or neighbors willing to
oversee their property while they were interned -- would have something to come back to upon their release.
Another factor in the Nishitani family's ability to resume business operations after the war would be the fact
that they owned their land. Many other Japanese families in Seattle would lose their businesses because
they'd be leasing, or because they'd go elsewhere to live after the war. (However, Kelly and his wife Pearl
would be separated after the war.) [In the postwar period Oriental Gardens' location would prove ideal. The business would be well-situated along the busy arterial Lake City Way NE as car traffic continued to increase in the 1940s and 1950s. There'd be a postwar housing boom throughout northeast Seattle, including the Wedgwood and Meadowbrook neighborhoods, with people interested in buying yard and garden products for their new homes, so Oriental Gardens would have continued success as a retail outlet. (It would be sold in 1971 due to changing economic conditions. Kelly's two sons, who had been helping to run the Oriental Gardens, would be transitioning into other careers.) [Kelly would grow and likely import bonsai in the prewar era and provide teaching sessions. ("'One story of someone who was reticent to teach was Kelly Nishitani, the earliest bonsai teacher in Seattle,' [Pacific Bonsai Museum curator Aarin] Packard [would later report.] 'He was approached by a woman, Connie Raphael (1916-1986), to teach her and he refused. He eventually agreed to teach her, and they went on to become lifelong friends, establishing the earliest interracial bonsai study group in Seattle, which became the Puget Sound Bonsai Association.'" Some detail to this story: In 1942, Connie's husband would purchase two trees from a Japanese-American who'd be forced to hold a sacrifice sale when evacuating to a detention camp. Connie would have no experience caring for bonsai, and both trees would die in 1943. She'd look for a bonsai nursery so that she could replace the trees and would find the only supplier in Seattle, Kelly Nishitani's Oriental Gardens. However, Nishitani's wife would refuse to sell any bonsai without his approval -- and he was incarcerated at the Minidoka War Relocation Center in South Central Idaho. Connie would gave up on that tack and then buy a regular tree from a nursery, which she'd start to train as a bonsai. After Kelly was released and returned home, she'd show him her trained tree and would convince him that she was serious. He'd agree to take her on as a student.) [Kelly's dream of an active bonsai association in Seattle would begin in 1957 at the Arboretum with a nucleus of about 10 people including Mary Richardson, Connie Raphael, Hazel Pringle, Virginia Moffet, Janet Ward, Jane Blogg, Vincent Simeon, Helen Culliton, Mary Maki, and Kelly. There'd be two goals: 1) establish a permanent collection of fine trees at the Arboretum, and 2) maintain a greenhouse to contain the collection. Mary Maki would have just returned from Japan where she'd study a year under Yuji Yoshimura. It would be natural that she'd seek out Kelly, the patriarch of bonsai in the area who was acquainted with others of the same interest. The years of the 1960s would be the golden years for Kelly. Numerous requests from garden groups would come in as he'd be much in demand for demonstrations -- from as far north as Bellingham, WA (about 88 miles/140 km) and even Vancouver, BC (another 30+ miles/50 km further north). He'd be free of business responsibilities because his mother and sons could mind the shop. Kelly would be free for lectures and tours with visiting fireman from other parts of the U.S. The first year the group would be officially known as Unit #73 of the Arboretum Foundation, the Bonsai Culture Group. In 1960 when the group would decide to be known as the Kelly Nishitani Unit, he'd so humbly remark that he went home and told his mother this and "she wept." (She would die the following year at about age 82.) [In 1961, with high hopes, much bravado, and no money, the Unit would undertake an exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum with support from the "Bonsai Bums." This would be a long-standing but relatively unofficial club which included, among others, Dr. Bertram F. Bruenner (1903-1995), Robert Shields, Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Bernstein, Connie Raphael, and Dan Robinson. (Dr. Bruenner would have bought his first bonsai in 1935 shortly after moving to Seattle where he'd study with Kelly Nishitani and George Miller, and would eventually be known as the grandfather of bonsai in the Pacific Northwest.) As a special attraction, Yuji Yoshimura, now living in the U.S., would be invited for demonstrations and workshops. The exhibit would be successful in creating a greater interest in bonsai and in establishing a sound financial basis upon which to further that knowledge. On alternate years thereafter, exhibits would be held at the Art Museum, with Kelly's and Mary's high standards of quality to guide them. These bonsai shows would be extremely popular and raise money for the museum, the arboretum and the bonsai units. [By 1962, it'd be felt that the bonsai unit was sufficiently knowledgeable to teach a beginners' class, followed the next year by another beginners' class and an intermediate class. From the latter would evolve the Mary Maki Unit. (See this picture of Kelly in May 1964.) Kelly would later suffer amputation of both his legs. The love, compassion, and companionship of the "Bonsai Bums" would draw him closer, and their physical strength would fill in where Kelly couldn't, transporting him, lifting him, and taking care of his needs with dignity and affection. For the last exhibit (August 1969, see here, pp. 73-74), Kelly would be physically restricted, but personally put his stamp of approval on each tree. He would die of a heart attack at age 70 on the Sunday before the show opened. [The exhibit would be anti-climactic because he had made the decisions, but it would still be a huge success. At his funeral would be people of all races, all walks of life whom he'd touched with his love of people and from whom he'd have the response of respect and admiration. The crowning achievement of the Unit, inactive since 1969, would come in 1972 when the American Horticultural Society would host a convention at the Seattle Center. The Kelly Nishitani Unit would be invited to present a bonsai exhibit in the Modern Art Pavillion. With sensitive staging provided by the Art Museum and wholehearted participation of other bonsai groups, the exhibit would be outstanding. The Main Seattle Public Library would receive a collection of representative bonsai books for viewing in the Fine Arts Department, Now, by this time it would be realized that there was a need for a centralized organization for the various Puget Sound area bonsai groups that were established in the 1960s and early 70s. Such an amalgamation could provide shared financial and talent resources. In May 1973, the Puget Sound Bonsai Association (PSBA) would be organized, with a gift check of $2,000 via Jane Blogg from the inactive Kelly Nishitani Unit to provide a good financial foundation. Dr. Bert Bruenner would be their first president. Two of the trees donated to the Pacific Rim Bonsai Museum (which would open in 1989) would be a Mugo pine (Pinus mugo) bonsai started by Kelly in 1946 and a Bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) of his design.] (Most of the above is from "Oriental Gardens in Meadowbrook" and a Compilation of Seattle area bonsai histories; a little more family history can be found in Becker, Paula "Nishitani, Martha (1920-2014)," 10/08/2013, about Kelly's sister, the modern dance teacher and choreographer; "History of the ABS and Bonsai in America, Part 1: 1800's through 1967" by Doug Hawley (ABS Journal, Vol. 51, No. 1, pg. 12, which spells this teacher's name as "Kelley."; Aarin Packard's quote is from Ray, Roxanne "Artist Erin Shigaki and Pacific Bonsai Museum curator Aarin Packard collaborate to create World War Bonsai: Remembrance and Resilience," International Examiner, October 23, 2020, which spells her name as "Rafael"; the additional story about Connie is from Gage, Sarah "Native Trees in Bonsai Museum Exhibit," Washington Native Plant Society, August 31, 2021.) SEE ALSO: Jan 26, Mar 8, Sep 15 |
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1921 -- Masao Takanashi was born in Glendale, CA. [He would go on to help
found the San Diego Bonsai Club and be its sensei until his death in 2008.]
(Sulivan, Cary "Masao (Mas) Takanashi," Golden Statements, GSBF, September/October 2008, pg. 10)
SEE ALSO: Mar 3, Apr 10, May 14.
1973 -- The first meeting of The Sunshine Bonsai Group was held at the home of Mrs. Eunice Gill. Eunice had placed an ad in the local newspaper for anyone who was interested in bonsai to get in touch with her. As nine people responded to the ad, they decided to start a bonsai group. [The non-profit group's first venue would be Castley Hall in Glengala Road Sunshine. In February 1974 Mrs. Elsie Gras would give the first of her many talks and demonstrations to the group. That July they would be able to send out newsletters each month and to purchase some pots from the Victorian Bonsai Society. That same year they would also start to put up a display of bonsai at the Sunshine Horticultural Society annual show. This would give them a lot more exposure to the general public, as at this stage they would not be having a show of their own. The following year the Sunshine Horticultural Society would start a Bonsai section at their show with judging being for a novice section and an intermediate section. Mr. Frank Hocking would judge most of the shows. By around 1980 they would start to hold their own shows. The first couple of shows would be a bit disappointing considering the work the members would have to do to make it happen -- undoubtedly similar to many other clubs' experience in the early stages. They would do a lot of demonstrations and workshops in the area during the early 80's, which would help to promote bonsai, visiting every Garden Club between Melton and Broadmeadows for either a talk or demonstration. Frank Hocking and the Victorian Bonsai Society and people such as Elsie Gras, Nell Saffin, Ron Andersen, Max Leversha and June and Con Clark would always be willing to offer their time and services for talks, demonstrations, or workshops for Sunshine.] ("History," Bonsai Northwest Inc., http://www.bonsainorthwest.com.au/about) SEE ALSO: Jan 1, May 15, Jun 17. |
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1914 -- John Yoshio Naka was born in Ft. Lupton, Colorado, just
north of Denver. [He would go on to become a highly respected and influential local, national, and
international teacher andauthor, a Grandmaster of the art.]
(Bonsai Techniques
by John Naka, pg. 257) SEE ALSO: May 19, Oct 1, Oct 10, Nov 5
1918 -- Horace Freestone Clay was born. [He would go on to become a highly influential and respected horticulturist in Hawaii. He would be involved in the development and expansion of bonsai in those islands.] (David Fukumoto in personal e-mail to RJB, 9 Jan 2011) SEE ALSO: Nov 18 |
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2007 -- Bonsai teacher E. Felton Jones died at his home in Durham, North Carolina at age
86. (Please see this archived Tribute Page at
http://web.archive.org/web/20090124092521/http://www.bonsaicarolina.com/feltonjones.htm.)
"E. Felton Jones"
(Jones' passing brought to RJB's attention by personal e-mail from
Clifton Pottberg, 30 Apr 2008) SEE ALSO: Jan 7, Apr 4, Nov 15
(ABS Bonsai Journal, Summer 1975, pg. 35) |
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1900 -- Frederick Lape was born on the family farm near Esperance, Schoharie, NY.
[He would earn a degree in English at Cornell and start
a teaching career at Stanford University, before
he returned in 1928 to the farm to pursue a career in freelance writing. Prolific in prose and poetry, he
would be involved in music, art and theater. Fred would teach for a few years in the late 1930s at
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in
Troy, New York. By the time he inherited his family's 97-acre farm 25 miles west of Albany, he would know
what he wanted to do with it: plant an arboretum that would be open to the public. Fred Lape would aim to
grow every species of woody plant from temperate regions around the world that would survive in the hills of
Schoharie County. Others would come
to share his interest and become an integral part of the operation of the arboretum. George Landis, an
academic colleague, plant collector and friend of Fred's, would be one of the early enthusiasts who helped bring
about the creation of the site. George would then pass away in 1950, leaving most of his estate to Fred.
This bequest would allow Fred to focus his energy on planting an arboretum. The
George Landis Arboretum would be established in 1951 and named for
the "friend who had made it all possible both in life and in death." Fred would collect plants from
nurseries, other arboreta, and botanical gardens through seed exchanges, and from the wild. Incorporated in
1961, the Landis Arboretum would house a collection that includes both common trees and trees rarely found in that
area. It would grow from the 97 acres to over 200 through donations and purchases of contiguous lands.
Fred would keep careful records of his plantings, providing valuable historical documentation of his efforts.
He would chronicle his prodigious efforts to collect and study plants from nurseries, roadsides, forests, and
fields in A Garden of Trees and Shrubs, a book published by Cornell University in 1965.
[The book would contain a chapter (pp. 91-99) on bonsai based on a 1961 New York Times article about his early experiences and trials-and-errors with American plants. His interest had started during his college days and he began with two stunted junipers (J. virginiana) that were growing in his cow pasture. He made two shallow boxes out of thin pine to house the plants as bonsai containers -- and books on the subject -- were unheard of on the American market. Initial success with the long-suffering junipers led to repeated attempts with other plants. When the first books in English did appear (1940s), he got his first instructions in the proper technique of wiring and shaping. By the time the arboretum was begun, Fred's collection included about a dozen bonsai. At first public interest was casual, but gradually it increased. A dozen years later the collection included an American larch (his best specimen), juniper, red spruce, white pine, pitch pine, hemlock, white birch, beech, hornbeams, and shadbush. [Fred's friends, with the help of a few small grants, would continue to plant and maintain the grounds. In the later years of his life, finding increasingly difficult to manage the Arboretum, he would slowly transfer management to the Board of Trustees. He would create a small endowment fund prior to his death in 1985. Seven hundred volunteer members would continue his legacy.] ("The Lape Immigration: The 275 Year History of the Lape Family in America," https://sites.google.com/site/lapefamily/Home ; "A Garden of Trees and Shrubs," https://openlibrary.org/books/OL5942777M/A_garden_of_trees_and_shrubs ; "Landis Arboretum History," https://web.archive.org/web/20070513100831/http://www.landisarboretum.org/history.htm, a search inquiry of this web site on 01/29/04 resulted in no records for the term "bonsai." What happened to Fred's trees?; "Listing of AHS Member Reciprocal Admissions to Arboreta, Gardens, and Conservatories: George Landis Arboretum," https://ahsgardening.org/gardening-programs/rap/program-information-for-gardens/ ; "Landis Arboretum," https://web.archive.org/web/20080605114246/http://www.championtrees.org/oldgrowth/surveys/Landis.htm ; "A Pioneer of American Bonsai" by Dorothy S. Young, Bonsai Journal, ABS, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1968 Spring, pp. 11-12 is mostly derived from A Garden of Trees and Shrubs)
1934 -- Lewis Buller was born in Harrison Township, Oklahoma to Ellen Curtis Buller and
Arthur Buller. [He would spend his childhood years in New Harmony, Indiana. Lew would enlist in the
Army after high school immediately after the Korean War,
but would be diverted from service in Korea to a job as a clerk-typist in Japan. Lew would consider his two
years serving in Japan to be among the best of his life, and would often give thanks to his high school typing
teacher for this stroke of good luck. After leaving the military Lew would study accounting and economics at
Indiana State University and the University of Illinois where he would earn
a PhD in Accounting. During his years as a student, Lew and his first wife, Betsy Buller, would welcome
the births of their two sons, Steven and Lyle. Lew's academic life would include work as a professor at
Indiana State University and a year as a visiting professor in Bergen,
Norway. He would also spend six years working for the American Institute of CPAs
in New York City, and a number of years at the international accounting firm
Coopers & Lybrand (now Pricewaterhouse
Coopers) where he'd be a Director of Technical Education. Lew would do what few accounting professors
would dare to do and taught a CPA review course to students as he studied for the exam himself. In May of
1968, after taking the CPA exam with his students, he would receive a gold medal for the highest CPA exam results
in the state of Indiana. Lew would move from the East Coast to San Diego in 1982 where he'd meet his second
wife, Martha Altus, during his first week in town. Lew would work as a professor at
San Diego State University for several years and as a controller for a large
local company.
("Lewis Buller Obituary," The San Diego Union Tribune, Nov. 11, 2018; Facebook PM from Jaime Chavarria to RJB, Jan. 18, 2024) SEE ALSO: Feb 24, Nov 5 1972 -- The first edition of the Japanese book Bonsai Masterpieces to include the 90-page English supplement by Yuji Yoshimura and Samuel H. Beach was published. (The original 352-page Japanese edition of Nippon Bonsai Taikan (Grand View of Japanese Bonsai and Nature in Four Seasons) was published on April 29, 1970 by the Japanese Bonsai Society, Inc.) The full-size English booklet included a small b&w photo of each of the 208 full color images in the Japanese edition, along with a translation of most of the text. Both the booklet and the large Japanese edition came presented in a traditional cloth-covered slip case at the advertised price of ¥20,000 or US $110.00 by Tokyo's Seibundō Shinkōsha Publishing Co. (Advertisement, Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XI, No. 10, December 1972, pg. 21, which has Beach's middle initial as "S."; notes from the English booklet seen by RJB in the Phoenix Bonsai Society's library holdings) 1984 -- " The Eighteen Scholars," a set of four postage stamps based on a Northern Song dynasty hanging scroll which includes depictions of several types of penjing, was issued by the Republic of China (Taiwan). SEE ALSO: Jan 23, Jan 29, Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
