ILLINOIS STATE CELEBRATED EARLY ARBOR DAY HOLIDAYS IN STYLE

ILLINOIS STATE CELEBRATED EARLY ARBOR DAY HOLIDAYS IN STYLE

Campus Known for Number, and Diversity, of Trees

By Tom Emery

Friday, April 25 is Arbor Day in Illinois, a holiday that was created to plant, and celebrate, trees across the nation. Arbor Day is one of the earlier examples of a national movement to protect the environment.

Much of the physical history of Illinois State University has defined by trees, particularly at the Fell Arboretum. For decades at ISU, Arbor Day was a special day on the calendar.

In many Midwestern states, Earth Day comes just before Arbor Day, which has roots dating to 1872 and was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton, a journalist and newspaper editor who served on the Nebraska board of agriculture,

On Jan. 4, 1872, Morton suggested a holiday to plant trees the following April 10 that he called “Arbor Day.” Some one million trees were planted across Nebraska on that date. In 1885, Arbor Day became a legal holiday in Nebraska.

Morton, who died in 1902, later served as Secretary of Agriculture in the second administration of Grover Cleveland from 1893-97.

Illinois and many neighboring states celebrate Arbor Day on the last Friday in April, which this year is April 26. However, Arbor Day is observed on different dates in many other states, owing to differences in local climate.

The earliest known reference to Arbor Day at ISU dates to 1896, when the Vidette reported that “a successful Arbor Day program was given by the pupils of all grades at the Model School.” The big event of the day was the planting of an elm tree by the students. The tree was named after Jesse Fell, which was a highly appropriate – and historically reflective – choice.

Fell was the energetic Bloomington businessman whose yeoman efforts ensured that Illinois State University would be located in Bloomington-Normal. Fell was also a lover of trees, and had a vision

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There is also the Fell Arboretum, reflecting his love of horticulture. From what university historians call “his vision of a world populated with trees,” Fell took an intense interest the development of the Quad, which remains a breathtaking centerpiece of the school. As part of the design, Fell planted nearly 1,850 trees on the campus, most of them by himself.

Today, the 490-acre Arboretum is home to 154 species of trees, and is known worldwide for its aesthetic splendor and horticultural diversity.

During this era, the Lincoln Memorial Trees were also a cherished part of the physical campus. On May 3, 1865, the same day that the Lincoln funeral train rolled through Normal, the university decided to plant an evergreen in the fallen President’s honor. The story of this Lincoln Memorial Tree, and its successors, is part of the Lincoln legacy on the campus.

The story of the Lincoln Memorial Trees was painstakingly researched in 2017 by Dr. D. Leigh Henson, a 1964 Illinois State graduate who enjoyed a long teaching career, particularly at Missouri State University.

In 1897, the university’s Arbor Day commemoration was a sophisticated exercise that included trees planted by children in each department of the Model School. The new trees were named after influential graduates in the university’s history.

Nine years later, the celebration had grown into an exercise of no less than thirty-three different student presentations, including songs, the reading of a proclamation by the Illinois governor, and discussion of such topics as “The Heart of a Tree,” “How, When, and What to Plant,” “Selections from Whittier,” “Bird Life,” and “The Red Squirrel.”

The Vidette paid homage to Arbor Day in 1902 by noting its congruence to American values. “Of all the days we have set apart for special observance,” wrote the paper, “none more fully harmonizes with the spirit of American institutions than does Arbor Day…What could be more appropriate than that such a land should set aside a day whose celebrations looks to the beautifying of our homes and to the improvement of our material surroundings?”

Poor weather drove the 1918 Arbor Day celebration inside to the Auditorium, but that didn’t stop participants from their primary mission. The Vidette reported that, after the program, the group “marched to the campus” and “the Thomas Metcalf building, and there planted the tree.” Each teacher and one child from each of the eight primary grades, as well as university teachers, assisted in filling “a spadeful of earth” to anchor the new addition.

In 1972, the Vidette reported that the university’s Grounds Department had a goal of planting one hundred trees, to celebrate the centennial of Arbor Day. The television section of the paper also took the opportunity on April 7, 1978 to highlight the re-airing of “It’s Arbor Day, Charlie Brown,” a Peanuts animated special that had premiered in 1976.

The Bloomington-Normal community has shared in Illinois State’s commitment to tree development. In 1988, Bloomington was honored as a Tree City USA by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

Today, the number, and diversity, of trees remain a striking hallmark of the Illinois State campus that has enthralled generations of students since Jesse Fell’s visions of 160 years ago.

Tom Emery may be reached at 217-710-8392 or ilcivilwar@yahoo.com.