1951-1959 Recorded History

        Trees on the Union College campus have always been an important part of the school's identity. Thus, trees on campus have received attention equally to some of the college’s largest buildings. The first mention showing the importance of trees came after a September 1954  meeting of the Trustees Executive Committee. Following that meeting the Grounds Committee was asked to submit a plan showing the work necessary to plant and maintain the trees on campus. This sparked the addition of the Trees section in the future biannual grounds committee reports.

        While trees were nowhere near the most pressing of issues mentioned in Grounds Committee reports, they did receive notable amounts of attention. In 1955  the United States Tree Service estimated that an annual cost of $5000 was needed to maintain the colleges trees. Taking inflation into account, that is around $50,000. The reports were not the bearers of good news as a New York State Forester found multiple trees infected with Dutch Elm Disease. This was not the end of these troubles as the next few reports continued to show increased losses in elm trees. One solution attempted to protect these trees was the use of a spray to kill all Eml beetles responsible for spreading the disease. This solution however is not permanent and did not fully protect the trees into the future. Luckily, the Grounds Committee had planned for the death of many trees and when they were removed it didn't take long for a replacement to go up in its place.

Bibliography:

Union College. (1959). (rep.). Building and Grounds Committee Report (pp. 1–69). Schenectady, NY.