Prof Tries To Enshrine Tree

The white pine which stood behind University Hall saw many changes in its 150 year history, and now, following its fall in last week's hurricane, the tree may see one final change--its transformation into a college memorial.

A movement is afoot to turn the wood now lying in about 25 pieces on the ground into an inscribed bench recalling former College President John T. Kirkland.

Former master of Eliot House and Eliot Professor of Greek Literature Emeritus John H. Finley '25, wrote to Kirkland House Master Donald H. Pfister this week suggesting that the historic wood be used to make a bench for Kirkland House.

"In 1815, the great President Kirkland splendidly enclosed the north end of the Old Yard by completing University Hall," Finley said yesterday, "The area behind that was all full of woodpiles, outhouses, and someone even said pigsties, although I'm not sure about that. Kirkland planted a row of pine trees there, and [this tree] was the last one of these."

Harley P. Holden, curator of the Harvard University archives, said the area in which the tree stood used to be called University Minor. "It was common parlance among students at the time to say they were 'going to the mines' when they were going to use the facilities. 'Mines' was of course derived from Minor," said Holden.

The quadrangle also served as the College pigpen and garbage dump prior to the Kirkland administration. Historical accounts say University Minor was rat-infested and dangerous.

Finley said that Kirkland, who served as president from 1810-28, commissioned architect Charles Bulfinch to build University Hall in the Federalist, neoclassical style. According to "Three Centuries of Harvard," a college history book by Samuel Eliot Morison, Kirkland called the Yard an "unkempt sheep commons," and completed other improvement projects including the construction of Holworthy Hall.

The move to preserve the tree's wood came as an unpleasant shock to Matthew L. Ranen '89 and Nathan B. Tropp '89, who yesterday afternoon had made considerable progress rolling part of the trunk back to their Wigglesworth suite. "It would have made a great table," Ranen said.

Nathaniel Wice '89 took a more philosophical view of the issue. "One man's table, a university's history," he said