Standing near the entrance to Hampton University in Hampton, Virginia, is a large specimen of a Southern live oak tree (Quercus virginiana) estimated to be between 150 and 200-years-old. Impressive in size and stature, it stands 50-feet tall and has branches that extend almost 100-feet in diameter around the tree. This venerable old oak is considered a “Witness Tree” for its presence during several significant historical moments. In the years preceding the Civil War, the tree occupied land near Fort Monroe, which remained a Union-occupied military installation in the Confederate…
