Explore the layered histories of DC, from the perspective of witness trees at Dumbarton Oaks Gardens. Students will tour historic trees in the gardens & consider the history a tree may have witnessed. The tour will explore the ways in which human and ecological histories intertwine, & will center on Indigenous & enslaved histories at the site as explored in Bound by the Beverleys. Students will reflect by writing & drawing in a nature journal at the photography exhibit, Trees of Dumbarton Oaks.
Schedule// 10 mins: Introduction to Dumbarton Oaks and dendrochronology 45 mins: Tour of trees in Gardens (weather permitting) 25 minutes: Activity in photography exhibit. 10 minutes: Closing reflection and surveys
Detailed Outline// Introduction (10 minutes, museum): Tour guide will introduce students to landscape of Dumbarton Oaks and give overview of the layered history of site. The tour guide will then explain various methodologies of dating trees, or dendrochronology, demonstrating using a sliced tree trunk.
Tour (45 minutes, gardens): Students will tour historic trees on Dumbarton Oaks’ campus, including a 275-year-old white oak, Civil War-era ficus and katsura, and a beech tree. Students will receive cards of various leaves that the tour guide will distribute. At each stop, students use these cards to try to identify the tree and guess its age. The tour guide will discuss the history of tree, and the histories the tree may have witnessed. The tour will center the histories of the Piscataway and Nacotchtank people and of the Black enslaved and free people who worked at the throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Students will also analyze the way in which the current gardens, designed by Beatrix Farrand, highlight historical trees.
Activity (25 minutes): After tour, students will pick one of the trees on tour—or a tree that has personal significance for them—and imagine what that tree might have witnessed, using writing or drawing, or a combination of media. Students are encouraged to think about the way the trees relate to their own histories. After they finish, students will have chance to share their thoughts with the group.
Closing (15 minutes):After they finish, students will have chance to share their thoughts with the group. Facilitator(s) will make sure to guide the discussion thoughtfully and respectfully, pausing when necessary to help students think critically about their work. (Activity leaders will receive training prior to facilitation).
Objectives// Students will be able to: -identify several trees and understand a method of dendrochronology -understand how the histories of trees and land can help us think more deeply about human histories. -think critically about historical narratives, and become familiar with the multi-layered human histories of Dumbarton Oaks, Georgetown, and the D.C. area. -engage imaginatively with human and natural histories through a verbal or visual narrative