Of all the unusual names for cherries, few have raised as many questions as the Black Republican.
On a recent visit to McCormick Place, we explored the biodiversity in their rooftop garden. The specialist onsite was tending and harvesting spring items. She encouraged us “Eat the cherries! There are so many!” So we did and wow! The most juicy, delicious cherry I’ve ever had. She explained the tree was 5 years old and it was the first year it bore fruit. What a delight!
But it gets better! I asked her if it was some type of heritage varietal. She told us she got the seeds from Ark of Taste and that it’s a Black Republican Cherry Tree. I was curious so looked into this.
Here are excerpts from an article by Tyler Boudreaux:
“The story of the Black Republican cherry begins with Henderson Lewelling, the eldest son of a Quaker family who ran a successful nursery in Iowa in the late 1830s". [...] Today, his house in Salem is preserved as the Lewelling Quaker Museum. It’s also a federally recognized landmark, though not for its fruit trees — the Lewelling house was once a stop on the Underground Railroad".
"Located just 20 miles from the Missouri border, Salem was a Quaker settlement where runaway slaves were welcomed.”
It is always important to celebrate the significance of such history, but this week especially. Biodiversity is both plant and human diversity; they are naturally intertwined.
Read the full article here: https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/special-programming/blacker-the-cherry-republican-lewelling-abolition-horticulture
Image: SL Fruit Service
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