On the lookout for stories of people who’ve made something beautiful, I came across The Book of Hope: A Survival Guide for Trying Times by Jane Goodall (of course I bought it!).
In this wonderful book about hope and the human spirit, the world-renowned primatologist and anthropologist recounts a 9/11 story that didn’t make the headlines. A month after the tragedy, a cleanup worker, Rebecca Clough came upon the singed remains of a Callery pear tree at the site. What was left of the tree was crushed between two blocks
of cement. The roots had snapped and the trunk was deeply charred, but one living branch remained. Rebecca suggested saving the tree by having it sent to a nursery in the Bronx.
Spring time photos of the survivor tree in bloom on the Memorial Plaza in New York, NY on April 22, 2015. Photo by Jin Lee, 9/11 Memorial.
The Survivor Tree
With great care and patience, the tree was nursed back to life and then planted at what is now the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Named the Survivor Tree and situated next to the South Pool of the Memorial, it is thriving and healthy. In fact, of all the trees planted at the 9/11 Memorial, the Survivor Tree is the first to bloom in the spring and the last to lose its leaves in the fall.
Rebecca Clough saw the potential to make something beautiful out of the rubble and devastation. A nearly dead tree was restored and stands strong as a lasting reminder of resilience and hope in the face of all that was lost on that day. Visitors are often seen standing next to the tree wiping away tears.
But the story doesn’t end there
In 2013, in partnership with Bartlett Tree Experts and John Bowne High School in Queens, New York, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum began the Survivor Tree Seedling Program. Each year, the Memorial donates seedlings from the Survivor Tree to communities that have experienced unimaginable devastation.
For more than ten years now, Survivor Tree seedlings have been given to cities and organizations such as:
- Uvalde Memorial Hospital for its role in responding the Robb Elementary School shooting that claimed 21 lives
- The World Health Organization for its response to the COVID-19 pandemic
- The Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian killed 70 people
- Las Vegas, Nevada after a shooter killed 58 people and injured 400 more at a country music festival
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where 11 people were killed and six more were injured in a shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue
- Parkland, Florida where a gunman killed 17 students and staff members at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School
- Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria killed nearly 3,000 people
- Boston, Massachusetts in honor of the three people killed and many more injured when a bomb exploded at the 2013 Boston Marathon
Out of unimaginable tragedy and devastation, Rebecca Clough, along with the experts who brought the Survivor Tree back to health, the 9/11 Memorial and their partners in The Seedling Program made something beautiful that will last for generations to come around the world.
#beautiful #makesomething #makebeautiful #beautify #beautifying #survivor #9-11memorial