HAMPTON, Va. — Celebrating the country’s 250th birthday is an opportunity to highlight American history here in Hampton Roads. A tree on the campus of Hampton University stands as a living part of that history.
“The historic significance is substantial," HU professor Bev-Freda Jackson said about the tree known as the Emancipation Oak. “The first reading in the south of the Emancipation Proclamation happened here.”
Watch: More than 300-year-old 'Emancipation Oak' at Hampton University serves as living witness to history
The Emancipation Oak stands not just as a reminder of that historic reading but also as a reminder of how, like the oak, the university began from a seed and has grown into so much more.
Next to the tree, a building marks the spot of an outdoor classroom where black people were once educated in secret.
“If we think of the history of Hampton Institute and Booker T. Washington, right? The seeds of that agricultural education began, they were planted, here with Mary Peake and that work in 1861 and then born [into] Hampton Institute and, now, Hampton University," said Jackson.
Watch: Norfolk may have hosted the first Emancipation Day Parade in the United States back in 1863
The tree is helping continue that legacy by serving as a teaching tool.
“Something that’s, sometimes, not talked about so much in science is context. So we have this wonderful opportunity to talk about what we see today was very much impacted by what happened in the past. So we have this continuity of time that we have to consider when we look at the ecology now and moving forward into the future as well," explained HU associate professor Dr. Shawn Dash.
The tree isn’t the only way the university is able to focus on the future. At the time of this story the university was re-imagining workforce development, including technology like a Google certification students can earn, along with traditional careers paths like nursing and welding.
Watch: Hampton University expanding workforce development program
“That re-imagination, just like in our history we reimagined what [the workforce] looked like for the area, we’re still doing the same thing. So, still reaching back to our roots," HU professor Dr. Glenda Evans said.
Another testament to the history, and the significance of that mighty oak and all it represents.
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