Skip to main content
Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.
Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.
Certificate For the Planting of Trees in Memoriam of John F. Kennedy
Image courtesy of the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA.

Certificate For the Planting of Trees in Memoriam of John F. Kennedy

Artifact IDMO 63.40.1
Object Type Certificate
Date 1964
Medium Printed paper
DimensionsOverall H 16 in x W 18 in (40.6 cm x 45.7 cm)

Physical Descriptionprinted certificate in green ink of two figures standing in a field planting trees. Text at top "Tree Fund" and text in hebrew. Printed by the Jewish National Fund for the planting of trees in Israel in memoriam of President Kennedy. Dated January 1964.
Historical NoteWithin Judaism, the celebration and commemoration of individuals during various rites of passage and stages of life have been symbolically marked by the planting of trees. To build a living testimonial to President John F. Kennedy's memory, members of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Fund of the Workmen's Circle Home for the Aged in Media, Pennsylvania donated funds to plant 100 trees in Israel's Freedom Gardens. These were part of the more than 5,700 trees planted in Israel following Kennedy's death.

As one scientist has put it, planting trees is “a way of saying we are here.” Today, however, scientists are weighing the effects of the greening the Israeli desert on the fragile ecosystems of traditional desert and shrublands.




Additional Details
Credit LineJohn F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston, MA; Gift of the Estate of President John F. Kennedy
Use Restriction StatusUnrestrictedUse Restriction NoteReproduction or other use of these holdings or images thereof is unrestricted.
Not on view