OUR O.G. HAUTIE

WALTER TENNYSON SWINGLE

Born far from the date-loving desert, Walter Tennyson Swingle was an unlikely hero of the ancient date palm. But this globetrotting, fruit-obsessed maverick nevertheless launched the American date industry and saved the Medjool date from extinction.

Along the way, he also invented the Tangelo, classified the Key Lime and Monk Fruit, and even introduced fig growth to America with an Italian wasp smuggled home in a cigarette case.

But his most legendary exploit? His marriage to fellow plant enthusiast and frequent co-author Maude Kellerman Swingle. Ah, the sweet scent of botanical romance.

THE ROOTS OF A PLANT PRODIGY

Young Walter grew up in rural Kansas. By age 9, he had completed the full curriculum of his local school. He spent the ensuing years of his childhood poring over plant literature, exploring local fauna, and even befriending a young mountain lion. His love of botany was so strong that he reportedly taught himself German to stay up-to-date on the latest botanical content.

Walter enrolled at Kansas State Agricultural College (a.k.a. Kansas State University) at age 14 and was named Assistant Botanist at the Experimental Station three years later. During these years, he was mentored by the renowned botanist William Ashbrook Kellerman, built a lifelong friendship with fellow botanical superstar David Fairchild, and made a distinct impression on critical members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

THE AGRICULTURAL EXPLORER

After graduating, Walter was named an “Agricultural Explorer” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and began his “Indiana Jones (of Botany)” era. He travelled through the Mediterranean, Middle East, Africa, and Asia, identifying plants that could flourish in the United States. Among his discoveries were figs, monk fruit, pistachios, and - most importantly to our story! - dates.

After encountering the Deglet date palm in Algeria and observing the Saharan’s similarities to Southern California’s desert climate, Walter set out to prove that these palms could thrive in the American west. The first challenge was transportation: Walter personally transported more than eight tons of offshoots across the desert, traveling hundreds of miles by camel and train to deliver them to their transport ship bound for America.

Growing these offshoots in the United States proved another challenge. Despite careful observation during his travel, Walter found that the trees responded differently in their new environment. But he was undeterred by early setbacks - including the assertion from the Secretary of Agriculture that Walter “had proven, beyond the slightest doubt, that Deglet Noor would not succeed in America.” He developed the crop protocol that enabled the date palm to thrive in its new climate and launched the American date industry in the process.

GOD SAVE THE QUEEN (DATE)

While we know that great dates come in all shapes and sizes, one particular fruit - the Medjool Date - has held rank for millennia. Known as the “Queen Date” for its size, mystique, and rumored status as the dessert of ancient royals, the Medjool is native to the Moroccan desert and was fiercely protected from exports for nearly all modern history.

In the early twentieth century, however, a deadly plant disease known as Baioudh ravaged the Moroccon Medjool crop and threatened to drive the species to extinction. In 1927, the colonial French government called on Walter, by then famous (*among plant people) as a plant whisperer and date expert, to save this ancient plant.

And that he did. With the help of a local tribal leader, Walter brought eleven Medjool offshoots from a Moroccan oasis to an isolated part of the Mojave desert. From these eleven offshoots, he nurtured nine healthy palms that were replanted in the Coachella valley.

With these nine offshoots, Walter Tennyson Swingle became part of the Medjool legacy. All Medjool date palms grown in America and many of those grown in Morocco and across the globe are descendants of the nine offshoots cultivated deep in the American desert.

WALTER & MAUDE <3

While Walter clearly had a way with the date palm, trees weren’t the only dates he cared about.

Remember William Ashbrook Kellerman? Another O.G. in the world of botany, he mentored Walter during his early years in Kansas and even turned his university class over to Walter’s instruction the day his daughter, Maude Kellerman, was born. (Spoiler alert: this was not Maude’s last intervention in Walter’s life.)

Two decades later, Walter reunited with Maude in Washington, D.C. Now a “pretty, vivacious, and intelligent” woman, Maude had her own rich history of adventure and intellectualism. She travelled Europe instead of finishing high school - but still became one of the first women to graduate from Ohio State University. Fluent in four languages, she became a botanical translator in addition to her work as the editor and publisher of two mycological publications.

Sparks flew among the plant-loving pair, and their ensuing courtship included long carriage rides through the D.C. streets that, in part thanks to Walter’s efforts, were now lined with Japanese cherry blossoms. Long, sexy talks about citrus pollination sealed the deal. They married in 1915.

In Volume 18 of The Carrell, Frank Venning writes of Walter and Maude:

“Swingle never ceased to wonder at [Maude’s] versatility, her adaptability, the seeming ease with which she could accomplish things, and he came to depend more and more on her advice and help in his work. He was always amazed at her talent as a manager. She was, as he said, ‘a truly remarkable woman.’"

Theirs was a partnership made in plant-person heaven.

AHAUTE LEGACY

Individually and collectively, Maude and Walter were a rare combination of academic and adventuresome. They co-authored papers and books, travelled extensively, and raised four brilliant children who each made an individual mark in the world.

Their story is personal to me, the founder of Haute Date, for many reasons. Walter and Maude are my great-grandparent. They are an anchor of my family history and a forever-unfolding story of two people who balanced big visions with the courage and work ethic to chase them. I carry their names (both Kellerman and Swingle!); they are the reason my grandfather sends us boxes of dates every Christmas and my excuse to make Tangelo mimosas. But most of all, they are a steady source of inspiration, proving through their generational legacy the values of hard work, undying curiosity, beautiful partnership, and the pursuit of wonder.

Haute Date would not be here without them. (But, I suppose, neither would I!)