[because] small saplings
do not fill the gaps," observed the Knox Alumnus in 1964, after 78 elms came down due to Dutch Elm Disease. Large trees are also expensive, prompting the College to ask for donations to recover from what a trustee described as the "tree disaster" of the '60s. Today, an informal policy is to plant two trees for every one that's removed, and trees are an integral part, not an afterthought, in the campus landscape planning now underway.
A "giant green dome" once ruled the south lawn of Seymour Union. "Exultingly you spread your mighty strong ribbed branches far and wide," said the 1911 Gale. "Live on, most noble elm!" proclaimed Knox professor Alfred Newcombe at a formal dedication ceremony in 1929. The historian compared "Knox's Grand Old Tree" to Revolutionary War hero General Henry Knox, and it was from thence known as "The General Knox Elm." An entire graduating class could stand in its shade, which grew to a diameter of 143 feet by 1964, when it was felled by the fungus that also took down "Big Ben," its equally famous counterpart at the former Lombard College in Galesburg, as well as countless anonymous casualties.
Unlike the "General Knox Elm," the ginkgo outside Seymour Library can't claim a nickname or a dedication ceremony. But it does have its own webpage, created by dedicated fans who work in the library. They keep a close eye on changes, get reports on its condition, and hold an informal contest to predict when its leaves will drop every fall -- often on a single day. "I adore that tree," says Jason Connell '06, a public services assistant in the library. "It's a big part of our lives."
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