Tiffany Seymour: At the left top is Mary Anne Good. She`s the one who in 1860
planted the elm tree on her property. There was no street there then, but eventually the
site of the tree became the intersection of Greenwood and Wolseley. There were no
problems with the tree at all until the 1950`s. There were concerns that people would run
into it, and a big sign to keep right of the tree. I believe at one time the tree was listed in
Ripley`s Believe it or Not as the smallest park because there was a little boulevard around
it. So they were going to tear the tree down and all the ladies from Wolseley came
together and protested and locked their arms together around it to save the tree. There
were 12 ladies. It was a big deal: there were reporters and cops there. I believe the year
was 1957. The Mayor Stephen Juba came and sent everyone home. They decided to keep
the tree. It made the news."
Shortly after that, 3 university students went and vandalized the tree, and then they tried
to save it; and then it was set on fire! They had the sign on the tree: `tree under repair in
attempt to save its life'. In the end someone blew it up with a stick of dynamite. Isn't
that terrible?"
The scene at the top right depicts the women meeting and persuading the Mayor to save
the tree.
