Beautification: A Legacy of Lady Bird Johnson “The environment after all is where we all meet

Beautification: A Legacy of Lady Bird Johnson

“The environment after all is where we all meet; where we all have a mutual interest; it is the one thing all of us share. It is not only a mirror of ourselves, but a focusing lens on what we can become.”

- Lady Bird Johnson, “Speech at Yale University,” (New Haven, Connecticut, October 9, 1967).

As a champion of conservation efforts and environmental causes, Lady Bird Johnson initiated the Beautification Project to improve the quality of life for residents of Washington, D.C. through the renewal and improvement of public spaces. The environmental and aesthetic improvements of Beautification included tree-lined avenues, floral displays, design guidelines, improvements to pedestrian circulation, renovation of historic buildings, and litter clean-up.

Beautification Luncheon.  Foreground L-R: Sec. Stewart Udall, Lady Bird Johnson, Laurance Rockefeller looking at an architectural model of the Washington DC Mall area during a Beautification Luncheon in the White House State Dining Room. The 1967 luncheon in part discussed proposed changes to the Mall (Robert Knudsen, LBJ Library, White House Photo Office collection (C5209-33).    

Beautification was far more complex than a garden club project. 

According to Johnson, “Though the word beautification makes the concept sound merely cosmetic, it involves much more: clean water, clean air, clean roadsides, safe waste disposal and preservation of valued old landmarks as well as great parks and wilderness areas. To me…beautification means our total concern for the physical and human quality we pass on to our children and the future.”

Lady Bird Johnson and two young people standing among blooming white azaleas during a Beautification Tour of Washington, D.C. (Robert Knudsen, LBJ Library, C1754-25).  

Lady Bird Johnson selected her adopted hometown of Washington, D.C. as the pilot city to show the nation how Beautification could enhance the overall quality of life. The city afforded Johnson the perfect opportunity to showcase the potential of the program. The prominence of Washington, D.C. garnered national visibility to highlight the progress of the effort.

“The Story of Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson’s Beautification Program” is from the LBJ Library moving picture collection created by the White House Naval Photographic Unit, aka the Navy Films. The films consist of monthly reports on the activities of President and Lady Bird Johnson from 1963-1969. This edited content is from the LBJ Library audiovisual archives.

Lady Bird Johnson formed a coalition of both public and private entities, involving Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall, local officials, planners, landscape architects, citizens, and school groups. 

Spring brings color to the trees on the East Potomac Golf Course at Hains Point in Washington, D.C. (NPS Photo).

Lady Bird’s legacy is still evident in Washington, D.C. today. 

Daffodil drifts soften the hillsides of the Rock Creek and Potomac Parkway, as well as the George Washington Memorial Parkway and Lady Bird Johnson Park. Cherry trees line the road of Hains Point, sprays of blossoms frame views in the monumental core, and the Floral Library near the Washington Monument bursts with color in the springtime. Street trees shade avenues throughout the city, and efforts to clean the city’s waterways have continued into the present.  

Find more in the full article at nps.gov: Beautification: A Legacy of Lady Bird Johnson