By early summer 1919, with World War I over, many soldiers were on their way home. But for hundreds hospitalized at Camp Lewis, now JBLM, home was still a long way off. To help cheer them up, the Tacoma Rose Society and the YMCA hosted a rose show.
Annual Tacoma Rose Show Was Red Cross Fundraiser
Founded in 1911, the Tacoma Rose Society had to cancel its annual rose show in 1918 because of the war. Their 1919 comeback show, they decided, would be a Red Cross fundraiser. The group would collect admissions and sell donated roses.
But couldn’t more be done to help soldiers? Captain Robert Fisher, leader of Camp Lewis’ YMCA “hospital hut,” thought so. He approached the Tacoma Rose Society and local women’s organizations with an idea: if convalescent soldiers couldn’t come to the rose show in Tacoma, why not bring it to them afterwards?
The Tacoma Rose Society and women’s groups agreed. The event would be the first rose show ever held at Camp Lewis.
Tacoma Rose Show Held in Tacoma Armory
The show was held on Friday, June 20, and Saturday, June 21, in the Tacoma Armory. The Armory was transformed into a flower wonderland. At the center of the main room was a ten-foot-tall potted tree fern surrounded by a pyramid of flowers and ferns. Maidenhair ferns were draped over exhibit tables.
The public donated flowers for decoration as well as judging. Around 50 prizes were awarded Saturday night. Judging was led by University of Washington botany professor and president of the Pacific Northwest Rose Society, Ivan W. Goodner. Local judges were Tacoma Parks superintendent George Hill, Tacoma Parks rose culturist J.H. Hadley, and former Tacoma Rose Society president Carl Morisse.
Rose “Festival” Opens at Camp Lewis
After the event wrapped up in Tacoma, the rose show was moved to Camp Lewis. Held Sunday, June 22, through Wednesday, June 25, in the YMCA’s hut no. 7 or “hospital hut” near the post’s base hospital, the event was more informal than the Tacoma show. Patients were looking for a chance to do something different and have a place to relax for a few hours. This was more than a show, organizers declared. It was a “rose festival” and a “rose fete.”
Flowers arrived fresh daily from Tacoma, Olympia, Seattle, and Portland. Tacoma donors could bring their flowers to the YMCA building every morning to be brought to the post.
Volunteers filled the “hut” with flowers of all types, not just roses. Evergreen arches provided a green backdrop that made the colorful flowers pop. The hut’s library was decorated with dozens of single rosebuds in vases. Writing to the Daily Ledger on June 29, Jean Palmer Nye described how the event offered “Not only a taste of summer and sunshine, and roses and glory, but a full meal of them, all that anyone could grasp at one time.” He counted peonies, lilies, daisies, and columbines among the roses.
Many of the boxes, vases, and baskets used for the floral displays had been made by convalescent soldiers at Camp Lewis.
Exhibits were displayed at booths sponsored by women’s organizations and clubs. These included Coast Artillery Mothers, First Presbyterian Church of Tacoma, Immanuel Presbyterian Church of Tacoma, Seattle D.A.R., Tacoma YMCA, and Tacoma YMCA Women’s Auxiliary. The Tacoma YWCA took over the balcony in the common room, transforming it into an arbor of flowers and greenery where they served sandwiches, lemonade, and homemade candies.
Clubs served refreshments at their own tables. First Presbyterian Church served over 1,000 cookies during the four-day festival. They gave away homemade candy on Wednesday. Coast Artillery Mothers, whose sons were serving in the Coast Artillery, served iced tea and wafers.
Clubs Provided Entertainment, Not Just Flowers
The four-day Camp Lewis rose festival proved popular, attended by hundreds of patients, doctors, nurses, and more than a few civilians. Bouquets were also delivered daily to patients unable to leave the hospital.
Each day brought afternoon and evening musical programs sponsored by participating women’s organizations. The Seattle DAR held a “strawberry and ice cream festival” on Sunday afternoon. Tuesday was “Strawberry Day.”
On Sunday, a chaplain held a morning service at the show. Movies were screened Monday through Wednesday evenings.
The festival’s final day was sponsored by the Presidents’ Council of Washington State Federation of Women’s Clubs. To take advantage of the beautiful weather, refreshments were served on the nearby picnic grounds. Roses were brought outside to decorate the tables and grounds. The Tacoma Ladies’ Musical Club performed in the afternoon while the young people of the First Presbyterian Church gave a concert in the evening.
As volunteers took down their booths, they offered the flowers to any soldier who wanted them.
Captain Robert C. French, leader of the YMCA’s hospital hut, declared the rose festival a wonderful success and thanked all groups for their participation. Jean Nye declared to the Daily Ledger that the event was a gesture of thanks from the women of America to their returning soldiers as they welcomed their sons, fathers, and brothers back home from the war.
Honoring Soldiers in 1919 and Today
Few buildings remain on JBLM from the World War I era. Most prominent is the Red Shield Inn, now the Lewis Army Museum, a great place to learn about the post’s history.
The Camp Lewis Rose Show took place over 100 years ago. But it highlights the many creative ways that people in Pierce County and Tacoma have found to support and recognize service members over the years, and today.