Published Jan 5, 2022 on “The Hightower Lowdown.”
As an old axiom notes, “Mighty oaks from little acorns grow.” From coast to coast, millions of these long-lived jewels have graced our landscape, but one mighty specimen in particular has recently become a hardy symbol of a fast-growing environmental movement. The significance of this oak–rooted on a small piece of land at the corner of Dearing and Finley Streets near downtown Athens, Georgia–is that no one owned it. It was an autonomous being, known locally as The Tree That Owns Itself.
The Tree was already a couple of centuries old back in 1832 when William Jackson, a property owner and prominent resident, expressed his “great affection” for the tree he had long enjoyed, and proclaimed his “great desire to see it protected.” So Jackson formally deeded “unto the said oak tree entire possession of itself [and the plot around it].”
Alas, age and decades of storms took their toll, and even though appreciative locals had tenderly nurtured it, the 100-foot-tall, self-possessed oak finally toppled in 1942. End of story? No! It was common in Athens for people to collect and cultivate the tree’s acorns, growing its offspring in their yards. So, in a citywide effort, a hearty, five-foot-tall direct descendant was soon located, donated, transplanted in the original plot, and granted the same status of self-possession. And there it stands today, now more than 50 feet tall and officially embraced by the city as “Son of the Tree That Owns Itself.” …
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Photo credit: “CO: Jim Hightower keynote speaks at CWA Dist 7 – strongly supports Employee Free Choice Act” by AFL-CIO Field is licensed under CC BY 2.0