Goethe Arboretum
Encyclopedia
Botanical garden
A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...
situated on the north end of the Sacramento State University campus, at 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...
. The arboretum
Arboretum
An arboretum in a narrow sense is a collection of trees only. Related collections include a fruticetum , and a viticetum, a collection of vines. More commonly, today, an arboretum is a botanical garden containing living collections of woody plants intended at least partly for scientific study...
was named in honor of Charles Goethe
Charles Goethe
Charles M. Goethe was an American eugenicist, entrepreneur, land developer, philanthropist, conservationist, founder of the Eugenics Society of Northern California, and a native and lifelong resident of Sacramento, California....
(1875–1966), a land developer, philanthropist
Philanthropist
A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...
, conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
, eugenicist and one of the university’s founding fathers. The Goethe Arboretum began with only 45 tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
s, and over the years has grown into a three acre (12,000 m²), with over 600 types of trees, shrub
Shrub
A shrub or bush is distinguished from a tree by its multiple stems and shorter height, usually under 5–6 m tall. A large number of plants may become either shrubs or trees, depending on the growing conditions they experience...
s, and flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s. The arboretum is maintained by the CSUS Foundation, which administers several sizable endowments left to the university by Goethe.
There is a California native plant
Native plant
Native plant is a term to describe plants endemic or naturalized to a given area in geologic time.This includes plants that have developed, occur naturally, or existed for many years in an area...
section, installed in the early 1980s, containing several varieties of manzanita
Manzanita
Manzanita is a common name for many species of the genus Arctostaphylos. They are evergreen shrubs or small trees present in the chaparral biome of western North America, where they occur from southern British Columbia, Washington to California, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States, and...
and many other native, drought-resistant specimens.
Controversy
Controversy has arisen over the naming of the Goethe Arboretum because of renewed attention to Goethe's zealous racist activities before World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. Goethe, who founded the Eugenics Society of Northern California, recommended forced sterilizations, funded anti-Asian campaigns, opposed immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...
, equated human beings with plants and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s, and praised German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
scientists attempting to "purify" the Aryan race
Aryan race
The Aryan race is a concept historically influential in Western culture in the period of the late 19th century and early 20th century. It derives from the idea that the original speakers of the Indo-European languages and their descendants up to the present day constitute a distinctive race or...
. Goethe also praised the Nazis before and after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Goethe Park in Sacramento was recently renamed River Bend Park after recent public revelations of Goethe's racist views.
In a related controversy, community activists are requesting that the Sacramento City Unified School District rename Charles M. Goethe Middle School. Goethe Middle School has a predominantly African American, Latino, and Asian student population. In 2007 the board voted to rename the school to the "Rosa Parks Middle School".
External links
- CSUS.edu - 'C.M. Goethe Arboretum' (official web page)
- NewsReview.com - 'Darkness on the edge of campus University’s philanthropic 'godfather’ was mad about eugenics', Chrisanne Beckner, Sacramento News & Review (February 19, 2004)
- SacBee.com - 'Curious historical bedfellows: Sac State and its racist benefactor - After receiving honors aplenty from university, C. M. Goethe left most of his big estate to it', Tony Platt, Sacramento Bee (February 29, 2004)
- StateHornet.com - 'Online petition seeks to change name of arboretum', David Martin Olson, State Hornet (February 4, 2005)