One Family Tradition Returns with the Bloom of Spring

Every family has its traditions — some outlive their originators and are passed down through the generations, while others are relegated to memories and old photographs stored in that dusty box in the attic.

As genealogists we seek out those photographs and especially those traditions – when possible – to unearth aspects of the day-to-day life of our ancestors. Continuing those traditions helps us feel connected to our ancestors and reminds us that we are but one link in a very long chain that spans decades, eras and continents.

There also is a great joy in discovering a family tradition and reviving it – to create your own memories and your own photographs — that may one day find their way to a dusty digital box in a hard drive in the attic.

Now that Spring has returned once again and the final vestiges of winter have been shrugged off, I am reminded of one of my family’s traditions — the annual Easter pilgrimage to the sea of cherry blossoms at Branch Brook Park in Essex County, NJ.

Branch Brook Park, located within Newark and Belleville, New Jersey, is the nation’s first county park — created in 1895.¹ Designed by the Olmsted brothers  in 1900, the park’s famous cherry blossoms arrived in 1927 as a gift from Caroline Bamberger Fuld, of the department store Bambergers. ² Thousands of people each year  visit Branch Brook Park in April for its Annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

Since at least the 1940s, my dad’s family visited Branch Brook Park at Easter time. These special moments were captured and preserved in a series of photographs taken by my great-uncle, Alexander S. Nowicki, a Bloomfield NJ native and photography hobbyist. Thanks to great-uncle Al, we have many beautiful family photos from those trips to the cherry blossoms.

Here are a few of his photographs.

For several years now I’ve revived that annual trip to Branch Brook Park and just like my great-uncle Al my camera was in tow. The cherry blossoms offer a visual treat for any photography enthusiast. I’m sure we gazed upon the same beautiful tress and stood in some of the same spots trying to get that one perfect shot.

Thankfully, the park has been well preserved and enhanced over the years ensuring that future generations can appreciate it the way so many others have including me and great-uncle Al.

For more on Branch Brook Park Visit:

• Branch Brook Park Alliance
• Branch Brook Park – Essex County Park Website
• Branch Brook Park Trip Advisor Page
• Branch Brook Park’s Wikipedia Page

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1 Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Branch_Brook_Park), “Branch Brook Park,” rev. 23:17, 29 November 2015.
2 Ibid.