When Trees Testify: Learning From and With Trees

Beronda L. Montgomery will discuss themes from her recent book, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy, including the ways seven trees—as well as the cotton shrub—are intertwined with Black history and culture. The histories of trees in America are also the histories of Black Americans. Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely.

The program is presented by the Clarke Forum for Contemporary Issues and the Morgan Lecture Fund and co-sponsored by The Trout Gallery and is in conjunction with the Trout…