A historic American elm on the grounds of the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C., has survived for more than 150 years, quietly witnessing generations of American history. Planted around 1850, the Smithsonian Witness Elm was already established decades before the museum opened in 1910. Since then, it has seen 33 US presidents, major national events and sweeping changes to the city around it. Its survival is especially remarkable because Dutch elm disease later killed millions of American elms across the country, leaving this tree as a living reminder of a once-common part of the American landscape.
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