The construction surrounding Dwight Hall’s copper beech tree throughout the day. Images are in order from July 18, 2024 at 12:59 p.m. to July 19, 2024 at 11:46 a.m. Photos by Melanie Duronio ’26.
By Melanie Duronio ’26
Publisher & Features Editor
Dwight Hall's copper beech tree took "severe damage" after Wednesday’s storms, according to an email sent by Mount Holyoke College at 12:32 p.m. on Thursday. The trunk had split down the side, creating multiple stress fractures at the tree's base.
The College's arborists and tree consultants began trimming the beech this morning. However, according to Grounds Supervisor Dave Barthelette, by 12:59 p.m. they determined it too “unstable” to safely remain upright.
"It has to be taken down," Barthelette said. "It's devastating."
Students, faculty, staff members and South Hadley residents alike gathered at the construction site to watch as branch after branch fell to the ground. Some stood with clasped hands, others sat on Adirondack chairs. But, either way, all eyes were glued to the 120-year-old tree in stunned silence.
“It’s like they’re taking away a part of Mount Holyoke,” Eonbi Choi ’25 said, observing the construction from inside the library.
LITS Manager of Community Technical Support Aime DeGrenier, who lovingly referring to the beech tree as “her,” recalled celebrating its 100th birthday in 2004, complete with cake and ice cream.
"It's really sad," DeGrenier said. "It's a beautiful piece of history and nature. It's a beautiful piece of the campus. I've walked by it every day for the past 26 years."
The beech was planted in 1904 by botany professor and photographer Asa Kinney to honor his daughter Elizabeth Kinney Worley. Born on Jan. 5, 1904, Worley often visited the campus greenhouse “to help Dad print pictures.” She majored in zoology at Mount Holyoke College and graduated with the class of 1924. She later received an M.S. from Washington University in June 1926 before becoming a lecturer of zoology at Barnard College in Sept. 1929.
From left to right: Botany professor Asa Kinney stands to the far right with fellow members of the Mount Holyoke Botany Department; Photograph of Elizabeth Kinney Murphy, Class of 1924; Elizabeth Kinney (left) as a child with her father Asa Kinney (middle) and baby brother Foster (right). Photos courtesy of the Archives and Special Collections at Mount Holyoke College.
The beech grew to be more than 80 feet tall, “with massive, elephantine branches and burgundy leaves” according to the Mount Holyoke Alumnae Association’s website. It stretched above the round windows of Williston Library’s Octagon Room and the roof of Dwight from its designated patch of mulch.
South Hadley resident and former Dwight employee Madeline Calabrese recalled the movement to protect the beech when the connector between the library and Dwight was built in 1990. The previous director of the library, Anne Edmonds, ensured that the College would not chop the beech down to accommodate construction.
Today, the beech is the “best known tree” on campus. It is sometimes referred to as the “million-dollar tree,” according to the Alumnae Association.
“It’s sad, very sad,” Calabrese said. “They’ve been trying to preserve it for so many years.”
At the time of reporting, construction workers have removed most of the beech’s branches and carried them away with cranes. With chopped, naked arms it stands as a skeleton of its former self.
The storm has also affected other parts of campus. Photos captured yesterday in Blanchard Hall by Emily Steadman ’26 showed significant flooding on the building’s ground floor.
After the beech’s removal, the space outside of Dwight may not be empty for very long. Barthelette assured with a small smile that “there will be a beautiful one replanted in its place.”
As the construction neared its end close to 5 p.m., Sanskriti Giri ’26 and Lisa Wondimu ‘25 reflected on the beech’s life alongside Choi in the library. Without its beauty, Wondimu jokingly noted how “we’re going to lose more of our Pinterest aesthetics” as a campus. But, all three acknowledged the positive impression the beech left on the community as a whole.
“Everything good comes to an end,” Giri said. “That’s reality.”
On July 19, 2024 at 12:00 p.m. EST a quote about Elizabeth Kinney Worley was removed at the request of the Archives and Special Collections at Mount Holyoke College.
Editor’s note: Lisa Wondimu ’25 is a member of Mount Holyoke News’ podcast team.
Quill Leonard ’27 contributed fact-checking.