Battle of the DC Christmas Trees

by Kitty Felde

There are two big Christmas Tree Lighting ceremonies in Washington, D.C.

(photo courtesy National Park Service)

The oldest and most famous is held in President’s Park, behind the White House. The “National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony” began in 1923 when then-President Calvin Coolidge walked from the White House to the Ellipse to flip the switch on 2,500 electric red, green, and white light bulbs that lit up a 48-foot fir tree. The president and his party were entertained by a local choir and a Marine Band quartet.

These days, the ceremony is pure Hollywood. On Wednesday, November 30th, 2022, celebrities like LL Cool J, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain, will be entertaining the president and his family.

There’s a lottery for tickets if you want to attend, too. Unfortunately, the lottery closed the fi

rst of November.

You can watch it on TV. CBS will be broadcasting the event on Sunday, December 11th.

But there’s another, lesser known ceremony down Pennsylvania Avenue: the lighting of the Capitol Christmas Tree.

The Architect of the Capitol calls it “The People’s Tree.”

(photo courtesy Kitty Felde)

(photo courtesy Library of Congress)

On December 24, 1913, thousands flocked to the East side of the Capitol – the side facing the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress. They weren’t there to lobby, they were there to celebrate what was described as Washington’s first “community Christmas.”

A 40-foot Norway Spruce, covered in patriotic red, white, and blue electric bulbs, was surrounded by nativity scenes and a sign reading “Peace on earth, good will to men.” Boy Scouts provided crowd control. The Marine Band played the “Star Spangled Banner” and a choir sang Christmas hymns.

Two years later, the tradition was cancelled due to lack of funds.

The Washington Post ran with the headline: “Shock Awaits Santa Clause: No Community Christmas Tree Will Be at the Capitol for Him.”

No word on whether coal was left in the stockings of members of Congress.

(photo courtesy of House of Representatives)

Half a century later, then-Speaker of the House John McCormack had a tinsel-covered tree placed in Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol, between statues of John C. Calhoun and Lewis Cass. He declared that it was “most appropriate” for a tree to be placed in “the heart of legislative activity of our country.”

He kept lobbying the Architect of the Capitol to plant a tree on the West Front Lawn. On December 18, 1964, a 25-foot Douglas Fir was declared the “Congressional” tree and decorated with white lights and a star on top. The tree died due to wind and root damage.

The tradition returned in 1970 when the Architect of the Capitol asked the U.S.  Forest Service to provide cut trees from National Forests around the country.

 (Photo credit: James Edward Mills of Choose Outdoors)

This year, the 78-foot Red Spruce comes from the Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina. It will be decorated with more than 7,500 ornaments decorated by school kids and civic organizations around the state.

In Welcome to Washington Fina Mendoza and The Fina Mendoza Mysteries series, the tree comes from Southern California and is decorated with things Fina and her sister Gabby love: dogs and cats and fast racing cars. The girls get to hit the button that lights the tree. This year’s tree lighter is a nine-year-old Cherokee boy named Coche Tiger.

Appropriately, since the Capitol Christmas Tree tradition pre-dates that of the White House, its lighting ceremony will be held the day before on November 29th.

No ticket lottery necessary: just show up on the West Lawn of the Capitol.