National Mall Times April 2009 Welcome to National Mall The Adventures of George Boyle after 11:30 A.M. Before the advent of GPS and and Memorial Parks! navigational radios, pilots relied on ground By Ranger George A. McHugh based landmarks and dead reckoning to find April is a great time to their way. On the east coast, railroad tracks experience your national Along the banks of the Potomac River near were an excellent route to follow as they led park! Our ranger staff the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, there from city to city. Lt. Boyle’s instructions were presents interpretive stands a rock, a monument of sorts that marks to follow the rails north from Union Station to programs throughout the the spot where over ninety years ago scheduled Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Inexplicably, after park from bike tours and U.S. airmail services began. On May 15, 1918 his nearly overloaded plane lumbered into the evening walking tours to Lieutenant George Boyle of the U.S. Army was air Lt. Boyle turned in the opposite direction and shorter detailed programs chosen to pilot the first leg of the nation’s first followed the rails southward. of each memorial. scheduled airborne mail service. Less than one hour after his journey began, Lt. The National Cherry Boyle landed his Jenny on a farm near Waldorf, Blossom Festival continues Maryland. Waldorf, approximately twenty- through April 12 and five miles southeast of Washington, D.C., was features a wide variety a far cry from his intended destination. The of ranger programs that landing was so rough that the propeller blades highlight the cherry trees. were broken and required a few days to repair. As for the mail, it would continue onward To learn more about the to Philadelphia later in the day – via ground future of the National transportation. Mall, visit the National Mall Plan website (www. The United States Postal Service issued this stamp nps.gov/nationalmallplan) for airmail to read current Mail had been carried by planes and balloons postage, alternatives, express ideas, before, but only as experiments. The time had illustrating and follow our progress. come to usher in a new era of technological the kind advance and progress. Unfortunately, May 15, of airplane Page through this 1918 was not the day to follow the winds of Lt. Boyle newspaper to find out progress into the future. Some argue that Boyle flew on more about the many was a pilot by patronage, chosen to fly on that his maiden fascinating ranger momentous day because of his connections to airmail programs offered high ranking Commerce Department officials. voyage. A throughout the park. Our Few will contest that Boyle was not a very good very small park staff and volunteers pilot that day. In fact, Boyle was not highly number will be glad to answer any trained and quite inexperienced. of error of your questions. Thanks stamps, for visiting and have a Just before 11:00 A.M. as the flight was such as the one pictured above with the upside- wonderful experience scheduled to depart, the plane’s engine would down Curtiss Jenny, escaped postal inspectors. at National Mall and not start. After a few attempts to start the Today these stamps are a valuable prize for Memorial Parks! airplane, it was discovered that the gas tank was stamp collectors. empty. Staffers frantically scurried for gas and Boyle’s Curtiss Jenny became airborne shortly National Park Service Page 2 Page 4 Page 6 U.S. Department of the Interior • Ranger Led Bike Tours • A Titanic Loss Strikes • Washington Monument National Mall and Memorial Parks Washington Tickets 900 Ohio Drive, SW Page 3 • Eastern National Washington, DC 20024 Page 5 • Tourmobile • National Cherry • Old Post Office 202-233-3520 Blossom Festival • Ranger Led Evening Tower NHS Tours and www.nps.gov/nama or www.nps.gov/mall Walking Tours Presentations National Mall Plan Website: • NPS Cell Phone Tours • NPS Organic Act www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan • Abraham Lincoln • Daily Ranger Programs Radio: 1670 AM Bicentennial Events April 2009, Volume 2 Issue 4 National Mall Times 1 Ranger Led Bike Tours evolved into what Sunday, April 19 – History of the Mall - you experience today. Explore the History of America’s Front Yard Saturday, April 11 – Unexplored Tales of The history of the National Mall is as the City – History of diverse and fascinating as the history the Cherry Trees of our nation itself. From George Washington’s vision of the Federal City Have you ever to the District of Columbia of today, how wondered about the has this span of green space in the heart history behind the of the Nation’s Capital been altered over Japanese Cherry Trees time? How has this area been influenced on the National Mall? by great natural, cultural, historical, Are you curious and social events through time? Come about their arrival see and hear how the National Mall has in Washington, D.C., evolved into what you experience today. the different species found along the Saturday, April 25 - Off the Beaten Path – National Mall, or how Brainiac! America’s Smartest People Join National Park Service rangers every to identify a cherry Saturday and Sunday from tree from the similar-looking crabapple The United States was founded as 1:00 P.M. - 4:00 P.M. for FREE guided bike tree? Then join National Park rangers a nation where anyone can achieve tours of the Nation’s Capital. (Family for a bike tour around the National Mall greatness by only exercising their Tours are given on the third Sunday of to explore the history and science behind minds and striving for excellence. the month from 2:30 P.M. - 4:30 P.M.) these famous flowering Japanese cherry In our history, a small number of trees. people, some born here, and others Tour season begins Saturday, March who traveled to find freedom and 28 and continues through Sunday, Sunday, April 12 - On This Date in History independence, have changed the world November 29, 2009. Please bring your – The Assassination of Abraham Lincoln through their brilliance and dedication. own bike, helmet (required), and water. America’s best minds have led in the President Abraham Lincoln presided fields of politics and economics, have For more information call Bike Program over four long years of civil war that made breakthroughs in science and Coordinator, Ranger Jason Martz at resulted in over 600,000 American technology, and have led the cause for 202-438-4391 or check our website: deaths. When the war came to a close human and civil rights around the world. www.nps.gov/mall in early April, 1865, the nation looked Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Edison, and forward to peace. On April 14, 1865 Albert Einstein are recognized as some Saturday, April 4 – Off the Beaten Path – the president and first lady decided to of the smarter people who ever lived. Beginnings and Ends attend an evening of entertainment Joseph Henry and Edward Everett made at Ford’s Theatre. Actor, and southern incredible contributions to the world, As the cherry trees bloom and gradually sympathizer, John Wilkes Booth had yet they are often overlooked. Join fade away, we are reminded of other other plans for the president. While the NPS rangers for a bike tour focusing on events in April that represented great Lincolns enjoyed the play “Our American famous minds and overlooked geniuses beginnings and tragic ends. On April Cousin,” Booth entered the State Box in our American history. 13th we celebrate the birthday of and shot the president. Lincoln died at Thomas Jefferson, whose memorial is 7:22 A.M. the following day and Booth surrounded by the flowering blossoms. escaped into the Maryland countryside. As those petals fall on the FDR Memorial Join park rangers for this bike tour that we will mourn the death of Franklin will follow the strange series of events D. Roosevelt on April 12th. Dr. Martin leading up to, and including, Lincoln’s Luther King Jr. was assassinated on assassination. Rangers will focus on the April 4th and will one day have a chain of events that the conspirators memorial among the cherry trees followed leading up to the fateful day around the Tidal Basin. At the Lincoln when they nearly took down the entire Memorial, we will discuss the Civil War, American government. which began on April 12th and ended four years later on April 9th. The month Saturday, April 18 - People of DC - of April is not just a time to enjoy the Famous Names, Extraordinary Stories beauty of the National Mall, but can also be a time of exploration and reflection. Get to know the people behind the Join NPS rangers for a tour examining city. See and hear how the influential Sunday, April 26 – Unexplored Tales of the historic events of this time. personalities of Washington, D.C. have the City affected the city, the landscape, the Sunday, April 5 - History of the Mall - architecture, and the culture of the Learn the truth surrounding the Explore the History of America’s Front Nation’s Capital over time. Presidents, Presidents of the United States: strokes, Yard First Ladies, Governors and Mayors, heart attacks, depression, gout, authors, poets, famous and infamous dysentery, or worse. They’re human too, The history of the National Mall is as characters alike have helped shape but their job description often hides the diverse and fascinating as the history the history of Washington, D.C. These truth from the public. Were you taught of our nation itself. From George people have helped influence, not only that George Washington cut down a Washington’s vision of the Federal City the city, but the entire nation.