Historical Name: Oklahoma City Survivor Tree
Common Name: American Elm
Latin Name: Ulmus americana
On April 19, 1995 a terrorist bomb blast destroyed the Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City killing 168 people. A 65 year old American Elm tree growing in a nearby parking lot was severely damaged and embedded with shrapnel from the explosion. At first the tree was scheduled to be cut down and perhaps saved as evidence in legal proceedings. But instead it was kept alive and eventually became the centerpiece of the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum. The National Memorial and Museum, in cooperation with the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry has collected seeds from the tree and has grown offspring for distribution. UCNJ obtained one of these seedlings in 2015. It was transplanted into the Grove in 2016.
The parent tree in Oklahoma is seen as a symbol of human resilience and serves as a tribute to renewal and rebirth. An inscription near the tree reads: “The spirit of this city and this nation will not be defeated; our deeply rooted faith sustains us.” The offspring tree in the Grove may be 1438 miles away from its parent, but it can also serve as an inspiration for us here in New Jersey.