WHEREAS, in the mid-19th century, David and Isaac Wallace, antebellum Jewish immigrants from Bavaria who settled in Statesville, established the largest herbarium in the world; and
WHEREAS, they supplied botanical material to more than 100 local distilleries and pharmaceutical factories, opened markets across America and Europe, and shipped ginseng by the ton to China; and
WHEREAS, among the institutions holding Wallace specimens in their botanical collections are the Smithsonian Institution, Harvard University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the North Carolina Museum of History; and
WHEREAS, Wallace herb displays were the centerpiece of North Carolina exhibits at the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia and the 1878 Paris Exposition, winning gold medals, as well as being exhibited at the 1893 Chicago and the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fairs; and
WHEREAS, the Wallace brothers and their descendants were founders of Statesville’s Temple Emanuel, organizers of Statesville’s public schools, and civic leaders and benefactors across the city and state;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim October 15, 2023, as “WALLACE BROTHERS HERBARIUM DAY” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.