Eliza Scidmore

PHOTOGRAPH BY ELIZA SCIDMORE, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION

Eliza Scidmore, who photographed students at this Japanese middle school more than a century ago, was infatuated with Japan. By the time of her visit, National Geographic’s first woman writer, photographer, and member of its board already had pressed the White House to plant Japanese cherry trees—“the most beautiful thing in the world”—along the Tidal Basin in the capital. She prevailed.