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Lyster Dewey: A stash of history

Hemp advocates dig into the details of a diary kept by Lyster Dewey from 1896 to 1944. Dewey cultivated hemp on a plot called Arlington Farms, which today is the site of the Pentagon.

Lyster Dewey, a botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the early 1900s, is seen measuring a 4-meter-tall hemp plant at Arlington Farm. Exotic varieties of hemp -- Keijo, Chinamington and others -- were grown on a tract of government land known as Arlington Farms.

Lyster Dewey, a botanist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the early 1900s, is seen measuring a 4-meter-tall hemp plant at Arlington Farm. Exotic varieties of hemp -- Keijo, Chinamington and others -- were grown on a tract of government land known as Arlington Farms.

Courtesy of Adam Eidinger

Dewey, with a scoop devised for "threshing" hemp seed from individual selections. The gangly plant, once a favorite of military rope makers, is now banned from production.

Dewey, with a scoop devised for "threshing" hemp seed from individual selections. The gangly plant, once a favorite of military rope makers, is now banned from production.

Courtesy of Adam Eidinger

A small trade group, the Hemp Industries Association, bought Dewey's diaries. The group's leaders hope the diary will convince the universe that hemp is not a demon weed. <br>
<br>
Dewey is seen here with his daughter, Mary Genevieve, near their home on Wallach Place in D.C. in 1899.

A small trade group, the Hemp Industries Association, bought Dewey's diaries. The group's leaders hope the diary will convince the universe that hemp is not a demon weed.

Dewey is seen here with his daughter, Mary Genevieve, near their home on Wallach Place in D.C. in 1899.

Courtesy of Adam Eidinger

Dewey sits at his office desk at the Department of Agriculture with hemp on his desk, circa 1920. In his diary, Dewey gives a glimpse of his disciplined life and how hemp was used for ropes on Navy ships and for World War II parachute webbing.<br>
<br>
Hemp activists hope to spur the government to lift the ban on hemp production, a policy that especially riles activists because foreign-produced hemp oils and food products can be legally imported.

Dewey sits at his office desk at the Department of Agriculture with hemp on his desk, circa 1920. In his diary, Dewey gives a glimpse of his disciplined life and how hemp was used for ropes on Navy ships and for World War II parachute webbing.

Hemp activists hope to spur the government to lift the ban on hemp production, a policy that especially riles activists because foreign-produced hemp oils and food products can be legally imported.

Courtesy of Adam Eidinger

The diary was found recently at a garage sale outside Buffalo, N.Y., but was never publicly released. Even as legalized medical marijuana has become more and more commonplace, cultivation of the industrial hemp plant -- with its minuscule levels of the chemical that gives marijuana its kick -- has remained illegal in the United States.

The diary was found recently at a garage sale outside Buffalo, N.Y., but was never publicly released. Even as legalized medical marijuana has become more and more commonplace, cultivation of the industrial hemp plant -- with its minuscule levels of the chemical that gives marijuana its kick -- has remained illegal in the United States.

Courtesy of Adam Eidinger-Hemp Industries Association

Gallery Credits:
Producer Stephen Cook Text Editor Sakina Rangwala

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