The Emancipation Oak

I have always admired Live Oaks (Quercus virginiana), but they became one of my favorite trees years ago while I was living outside of Charleston, South Carolina. Even though their botanical name indicates they are found here in Virginia, they only grow in a limited part, the southeastern corner of the state where they are at their northern limit. In Charleston and other parts of the South these trees reach a physical stature they will never attain here, and in the Lowcountry they are as integral to the cultural and natural landscape as sky, marsh and water. There the branches are home to Resurrection Ferns (Polypodium polypodioides), and the trees are draped with Spanish Moss (Tillandsia usneoides) giving the look of unkempt, but wise old sages.

There is one local specimen (pictured in this post) of Live Oak that while not the largest or oldest in the country, is perhaps the most historically important, and it could easily be argued is one of the nations most significant living trees of any species. I am speaking of the Emancipation Oak in Hampton, Virginia. It is located perilously close to Interstate 64 where millions of people pass it yearly (more often waiting in traffic), unaware of what is on the other side of the guardrail.

Prior to the Civil War it was forbidden in Virginia to teach slaves how to read and write, but that did not stop Mary Smith Peake a free woman of color from teaching in her home. In 1861 the fleeing Confederate forces burned the city of Hampton as they left, and most buildings did not survive, including Peake's home. That same year General Benjamin Butler of nearby Union-held Fort Monroe declared that slaves were now "contraband" of war and would not be returned to their former owners. As a result slaves flooded into the area for their first taste of freedom and set up encampments beyond the fort walls. With few buildings left in the city, Peak educated children and adults sheltered by this already large Live Oak. Under the shade of this same tree in 1863 newly freed African Americans heard the first reading in the South of Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and hence the tree's name.

Shortly after the Civil War a school was founded on this site whose roots began with this tree and would later grow into Hampton University. It is one of the nation's oldest historically black universities, and among many noted former students is Booker T. Washington. The Emancipation Oak still thrives on campus and its canopy now covers about 100' of ground. The trunk itself is 9-10' from side to side and many of its long branches touch the ground, some of which are cabled for support. Though not as tall as it is wide, if you were to climb to the top, you would be able to see nearby Old Point Comfort the home of Fort Monroe, jutting into Hampton Roads harbor. Ironically it was at that site in 1619 that the first Africans were brought here, against their will, to what would become the United States. They were on board a Dutch ship and were traded with the English in exchange for food and safe harbor. Although I could find no reference as to how old the Emancipation Oak is, I want to think it was a mere acorn in 1619.

My impetus for writing this post came from several sources. First of all as said earlier, Live Oaks are one of my favorite trees; I wanted to see this storied specimen for myself; it is Black History Month in the United States; and I am still delightfully trying to wrap my brain around the two words "President Obama" and all of the events that brought us to this place in time. I also wanted to create a post and submit it to the Festival of Trees, a "monthly blog carnival devoted to all things arboreal" I discovered by visiting Local Ecologist who will be hosting February's event at the end of the month.