Happy Birthday, America! In honor of 250 years since 1776, the Ohio Commission for the U.S. Semi quincentennial (America 250) has chosen a different theme each month to highlight and celebrate Ohio’s rich history. Each month, The Dawes Arboretum’s History Team will be dropping a new collection to our archives that align with those themes. The September theme is Ohio Plays: Sports and Wellness Edition. Read about five different athletic Tree Dedicators throughout history!
A tree was dedicated to the Babe Ruth Baseball League on Aug. 15, 1977. An ash tree was dedicated by Don Edwards, who was responsible for hosting the 1977 Babe Ruth World Series in Newark. This tree was chosen because ash wood is used to make baseball bats. This was the 78th Tree Dedication at The Arboretum.
A red oak tree was dedicated to and by Jack Nicklaus in honor of his tremendous contributions as a golfer and a philanthropist on May 26, 2019. He was The Arboretum’s 111th Tree Dedicator. He talked about the importance of native vegetation and jokingly treated the shovel used to dedicate the tree like a golf club.
The 119th Tree Dedication at The Arboretum was for Archie Griffin. On June 2, 2017, a buckeye tree was dedicated to his honor. His closing statement during his speech was, “With that, I’m just going to say thank you all very, very much for dedicating this tree in my honor. I hope it thrives and lives on for many, many years and is enjoyed by all the Buckeye fans who come to visit this beautiful, beautiful arboretum.”
It was said that after the ceremony, Griffin greeted and posed for photos with nearly everyone in attendance.
On February 27, 1973, Jesse Owens, a track star who set world records while at Ohio State and in the 1936 Olympics, planted a giant dogwood tree. Owens was The Arboretum’s 74th Tree Dedicator. During his dedication, he said, “I am delighted to plant this tree.” He encouraged Americans to appreciate the wide-open spaces they have left and urged the people to save open spaces and plant tree for present and future generations.
The Arboretum’s 24th Tree Dedicator was heavyweight boxing champion of the world from 1926 to 1928, Gene Tunney, who was a longtime friend of The Arboretum’s co-founder, Beman Dawes. He dedicated a northern red oak on June 24, 1931. He said “...the very consciousness that this tree is one of Nature’s masterpieces causes a feeling of unworthiness...whenever I see a noble majestic tree towering to the skies I am reminded of the sweet and gentle lines of Joyce Kilmer, ‘Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree.’”
To learn how to find Tree Dedications, read here.
Several photographs and materials have been digitized and are now available to the public.
To see these archival materials and more on the digital archive, click this link or go to the Advanced Search page and type out “America 250-Ohio” in Search Terms to view the entire collection. For questions concerning the digital archive, please email daweshistory@dawesarb.org.
Are you interested in doing in-person research at The Arboretum? Do you have a history question that you can’t find the answer online? Don’t hesitate to use the Department’s History Research Request Form, where you can get answers to all your Dawes history-related questions and research requests.