WSU’s historic roots mentioned

WSU has "made" the most recent issue of Dartmouth College’s alumni magazine – because of the roots of a cluster of trees on campus.

The magazine focused on Dartmouth’s "unknown history" and included Dartmouth’s ties to WSU.

It said, "Nathan J. Morrison, class of 1853, found fame by becoming the first president of Fairmount College (now Wichita State University). There he took on another, more unusual role: prairie tree farmer."

The next two paragraphs relate how Morrison shipped elms and later evergreens from Daniel Webster’s New England tree farm to spruce up the 20-acre prairie campus at the turn of the 20th century. Webster was another Dartmouth alum.

"It is not known if all the trees still stand, but historians agree that three old pines on the campus today may indeed be from Webster’s farm," the article said.

George Platt, associate professor emeritus of public administration and WSU’s unofficial historian, said the trees referred to in the article are located south of Wilner Auditorium.

Platt has enlisted the help of Bill Wilhelm, College of Engineering dean, to determine if indeed they are those early trees. Wilhelm will measure the height and diameter of the trees, which are indicators of age.

– Amy Geiszler-Jones