Addisyn Hatton shovels soil around the new Anne Sullivan Tree
TUSCUMBIA-A massive water oak tree that served as playground for Helen Keller and survived for more than 200 years before being damaged in a tornado, has a new life at Ivy Green in Tuscumbia.
Tom Hunter of American Heritage Trees, along with second graders from West Elementary School in Russellville, planted a replacement for the tree – that was known as the Helen Keller Oak – on Monday, April 25. The new tree was sprouted from an acorn off of the Helen Keller Oak. The new oak will be called the Anne Sullivan Tree.
“Helen Keller loved the old tree. She played in it as a child and she wrote about it,” Hunter said. “Now, Helen Keller’s legacy will live on through the new tree.”
Hunter, who operates American Heritage Trees – along with his wife Phyllis – at a 75-acre farm in Lebanon, Tenn. – that has been in his family since 1800 – was sad when he learned that the Helen Keller Oak had been cut in 2015 because it was dying and in danger of falling.
“It was a piece of American history,” he said. “Thirty years ago, it was estimated to be more than 200 years old. It is very likely that it was a sapling in 1776 when America was born. It was definitely here during the Civil War and was here for all the ups and downs of our nation, the good times and the bad.”
The old tree was more than 10-feet across its base. Its stump remains, next to the spot selected for the new tree.
Garrett Reid helps Tom Hunter plant the Anne Sullivan Tree at Ivy Green
Sue Pilkilton, executive director of Ivy Green, said Anne Sullivan – Helen Keller’s teacher – once climbed the tree to rescue Keller who had become stranded high in its branches as a powerful thunderstorm took aim at Tuscumbia. Keller, who was deaf and blind, enjoyed climbing the tree and feeling the textures of its bark and leaves.
Mike McMackin, president of the Helen Keller Birthplace board of directors, said the tree was one of Helen Keller’s favorites at Ivy Green.
When Tom Hunter learned of the demise of the Helen Keller Oak, he told Pilkilton to not worry because American Heritage Trees had successfully germinated several of the acorns he collected from the tree in 2014.
“We collect seeds and cuttings from America’s great trees that have grown up at the homes and sites of America’s heroes, like Helen Keller,” Hunter said. “We use those seeds and cuttings to grow new trees to replace the great trees as they are lost. We also sell some of the trees we grow to help pay for the work we do to preserve the legacies of America’s great trees.”
Garrett Reid, a second grader who helped plant the new tree, said it was a thrill to be a part of giving the Helen Keller Oak a new lease on life. Reid suggested that it be called the Anne Sullivan Tree.
Addisyn Hatton, who also helped with the planting, said she looks forward to visiting Ivy Green to watch the new tree grow.
