Even though Cranbrook experienced a few snow flurries today, the campus daffodils are also in bloom. It reminds me of what was known as “Daffodil Hill.” In 1953, in anticipation of Cranbrook’s Golden Jubilee celebration (the 50th anniversary of the year the Booths purchased the original 175 acres), Henry Scripps Booth led an effort to raise funds to plant daffodils at Cranbrook House.
The Cranbrook Foundation Daffodil Fund was established and enough money was raised to plant 10,000 daffodils in the fall. By 1955, visitors were flocking to the campus just to see them.
News clipping, The Birmingham Eccentric, 1953. Cranbrook Archives.
News clipping, The Detroit News, 1955. Cranbrook Archives.
Middle School girls planting daffodils for Earth Day, 1990. Cranbrook Archives.
Originally known as “Golden Glade,” the area soon became known as Daffodil Hill, Spring 1985. Ralph Mize, photographer. Cranbrook Archives.
– Leslie S. Edwards, Head Archivist
Cranbrook Kitchen Sink 
Oh , daffodil hill! Such fond memories. What would it take to replant the bulbs LB had removed ??
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I don’t know, but it sure was pretty!
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