The Suffrage Oak
The Suffragette Oak is a Hungarian oak tree (Quercus frainetto) in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow, planted in 1918. It was named Scotland's Tree of the Year in 2015.[1][2]
History
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The tree was planted in Kelvingrove Park by Louisa Lumsden[3] on behalf of suffrage organisations on 20 April 1918 to commemorate the right to vote being granted to some women in February 1918.[4][5]
The Sunday Post reported on the event as follows:
A ceremony that was probably unique in the annals of the votes for women campaign took place this afternoon in Kelvingrove Park, where a young oak tree was planted by representatives of the Glasgow Women's Suffrage Societies, in commemoration of the passing of the Representation of the People Act. There was a goodly gathering of ladies, many of whom wore the tricolour and other sashes associated with the different Suffrage Societies.
Miss Frances Melville, who presided, described the granting of the vote to women as the most important change that had taken place in the long and chequered history the British Constitution
Miss Louisa Lumsden, L.L.D., who planted the tree, referred to the noble work of the pioneers of the movement, and pleaded for the setting aside of any narrowness, pettiness, class feeling, and prejudice in connection with the consideration of political and other questions.
— Various, Sunday Post 21 April 1918
In October 2017 the tree lost around 30 per cent of its canopy during Storm Ophelia and suffered a large tear to its trunk. To save the tree and protect the public, Glasgow City Council had to reduce its height and rebalance the canopy.[6] The off-cuts were gifted to the Glasgow Women's Library to create items for sale that celebrate the efforts of the suffragettes.[6]
Recognition
On International Women's Day in 1995, the Women's Committee of Glasgow City Council erected a plaque next beside the tree which reads, ‘This oak tree was planted by Women's Suffrage Organisations in Glasgow on 20 April 1918 to commemorate the granting of votes to women.'[7]
In 2015 the tree was named Scotland's Tree of the Year by the Woodland Trust after being nominated by Glasgow Women's Library.[2] The award was presented to representatives from the Glasgow Women's Library at the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh on 27 October 2015.[8]
The Woodland Trust nominated the Suffragette Oak for the 2016 European Tree of the Year award.[9]
See also
References
- ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ a b "Suffragette Oak is tree of the year". BBC News. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ "Roll of honour: Ten Scottish women who fought for the right to vote". The National. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
- ^ "Suffragette Oak is Scotland's Tree of the Year". Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ "GLASGOW WOMEN AND THE VOTE. COMMEMORATION TREE PLANTED". Sunday Post. 12 April 1918.
- ^ a b "Pieces of historic Suffragette Oak tree will help raise funds for Glasgow Women's Library". The National. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ "The Suffrage Oak: Marking 100 Years of Women 'Living and Growing' into the Body Politic – Women's History Scotland". Retrieved 19 May 2021.
- ^ Gillett, Karrie (28 October 2015). "Century-old Glasgow oak tree hailed as Scottish 'tree of the year'". scotlandnow. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
- ^ "European Tree of the Year". www.treeoftheyear.org. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
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