On Day 31 in 365 Things To Do in Glendale, Ca visit the Miss American Green Cross at Brand Library.
Here is what the Glendale City Website has to say about this statue:
The statue of Miss American Green Cross was created in 1928 as a tribute to an early 20th Century tree society and a symbol of the deforestation that was taking place across the country at that time.
After a car crashed into the statue, it was dumped behind Brand’s Castle, and laid abandoned for 30 years. Hikers discovered it in an overgrown canyon in the mid-50′s reporting that the arm of Miss American Green Cross was missing. It was assumed that vandals had carried it off. In 1981 the monument was taken to the city maintenance yard where she remained for 10 more years ~ until Glendale Parks, Recreation and Community Services, along with the organization Glendale Beautiful, raised money to have her restored.
The statue was created to commemorate preservation of our forests and to remind everyone that trees are a renewable resource – if you manage them properly. Even in 1928 there were forward thinking environmentalists…
A long time resident and loyal Kendyl’s Open House blog reader, Pat Savatgy (Hi, Pat!) commented that she remembers when this statue was actually about 1/2 mile up the fire road toward the Brand Family Cemetery. She said that in it’s former location vandals would often deface the statue with paint.
You know, any city in America will have your basic statue of some historic figure (some old, white dude, right?). But, here, in Glendale, we have some truly interesting stuff.
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