Lindsay Schakenbach Regele in The Conversation: ‘Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the ‘Trail of Tears’
If people know the name Joel Roberts Poinsett today, it is likely because of the red and green poinsettia plant. But much like the history of the U.S., Poinsett had a complex and troubling past
Lindsay Schakenbach Regele in The Conversation: ‘Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the ‘Trail of Tears’
In the late 1820s, while serving as the first ambassador from the U.S. to Mexico, Joel Roberts Poinsett clipped samples of the plant known in Spanish as the “flor de nochebuena,” or flower of Christmas Eve, from the Mexican state of Guerrero. He then introduced it to the U.S. on a trip home from Mexico.
The plant has been named poinsettia ever since.
But much like the history of the U.S., Poinsett had a complex and troubling past, writes LindsaySchakenbach Regele, associate professor of History and author of the new book “Flowers, Guns, and Money: Joel Roberts Poinsett and the Paradoxes of American Patriotism” (University of Chicago Press, 2023).
Read her article Joel Roberts Poinsett: Namesake of the poinsettia, enslaver, secret agent and perpetrator of the ‘Trail of Tears in The Conversation (Dec. 19)
