Emancipation Oak - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Emancipation Oak is a historic tree

Tree

A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...

located on the campus of Hampton University

Hampton University

Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...

in what is now the City of Hampton, Virginia

Hampton, Virginia

Hampton is an independent city that is not part of any county in Southeast Virginia. Its population is 137,436. As one of the seven major cities that compose the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, it is on the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula. Located on the Hampton Roads Beltway, it hosts...

. The large sprawling oak is 98 feet (30 m) in diameter, with branches which extend upward as well as laterally. It is designated one of the 10 Great Trees of the World by the National Geographic Society

National Geographic Society

The National Geographic Society , headquartered in Washington, D.C. in the United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational institutions in the world. Its interests include geography, archaeology and natural science, the promotion of environmental and historical...

and is part of the National Historic Landmark

National Historic Landmark

A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...

district of Hampton University. The tree is a Live Oak (Quercus virginiana).

History

During the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

(1861 to 1865), Union forces retained control of nearby Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe

Fort Monroe was a military installation in Hampton, Virginia—at Old Point Comfort, the southern tip of the Virginia Peninsula...

and it became a place of refuge for escaped African American

African American

African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...

slaves seeking asylum. The Army defined them as contraband

Contraband (American Civil War)

Contraband was a term commonly used in the United States military during the American Civil War to describe a new status for certain escaped slaves or those who affiliated with Union forces after the military determined that the US would not return escaped slaves who went to Union lines to their...

to avoid returning them to slaveholders. Prior to the Civil War, and following the slave rebellion led by Nat Turner

Nat Turner

Nathaniel "Nat" Turner was an American slave who led a slave rebellion in Virginia on August 21, 1831 that resulted in 60 white deaths and at least 100 black deaths, the largest number of fatalities to occur in one uprising prior to the American Civil War in the southern United States. He gathered...

in 1831, Virginia law had been changed to prohibit the education of slaves.

In November 1861, the American Missionary Association

American Missionary Association

The American Missionary Association was a Protestant-based abolitionist group founded on September 3, 1846 in Albany, New York. The main purpose of this organization was to abolish slavery, to educate African Americans, to promote racial equality, and to promote Christian values...

asked Mary Smith Peake

Mary S. Peake

Mary Smith Peake, born Mary Smith Kelsey , was an American teacher and humanitarian, best known for starting a school for the children of former slaves starting in the fall of 1861 under what became known as the Emancipation Oak tree in present-day Hampton near Fort Monroe...

(1823 to 1862) to teach children of freedmen at the contraband camp related to Fort Monroe.(Jones-Wilson et al., 1996). She was said to start her classes outside, under the tree. Peake was the first black teacher of the AMA, which expanded to support numerous educational institutions in the South. Her base was 3 miles from the protective safety of Fort Monroe, but her classes also attracted adults at night. Soon the AMA provided the Brown Cottage

Brown Cottage

Brown Cottage was the first building of the educational institution in Hampton, Virginia now known as Hampton University.See also articles Mary S. Peake and Hampton University...

for her classes. She taught up to 50 children during the day and 20 adults at night.

In 1863, the Virginia Peninsula

Virginia Peninsula

The Virginia Peninsula is a peninsula in southeast Virginia, USA, bounded by the York River, James River, Hampton Roads and Chesapeake Bay.Hampton Roads is the common name for the metropolitan area that surrounds the body of water of the same name...

's black community gathered under the oak to hear the first Southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...

's Emancipation Proclamation

Emancipation Proclamation

The Emancipation Proclamation is an executive order issued by United States President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863, during the American Civil War using his war powers. It proclaimed the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation's 4 million slaves, and immediately freed 50,000 of them, with nearly...

, leading to its nickname as the Emancipation Oak.

After the conclusion of hostilities, a school was founded here in 1868 by General Samuel C. Armstrong

Samuel C. Armstrong

Samuel Chapman Armstrong was an American educator and a commissioned officer in the Union Army during the American Civil War...

and the American Missionary Association as Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute, a land grant school. From 1872 to 1875, one of its many students was Booker T. Washington

Booker T. Washington

Booker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, author, orator, and political leader. He was the dominant figure in the African-American community in the United States from 1890 to 1915...

, the son of a freedman. He became a famous educator who founded Tuskegee Institute. In collaboration with the philanthropist

Philanthropist

A philanthropist is someone who engages in philanthropy; that is, someone who donates his or her time, money, and/or reputation to charitable causes...

Julius Rosenwald

Julius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...

in the early 20th century, Washington and staff at Tuskegee Institute helped found dozens of rural schools for African-American children across the south.

Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute became Hampton Institute in 1930. It gained university status in 1984, becoming Hampton University

Hampton University

. It is one of Virginia's major institutions of higher education. In the 21st century, the Emancipation Oak still stands to provide both shelter and inspiration to the school's students and staff.