Willow tree on the site where the Pharmacy Building now stands

Description:	This willow tree was located on the site where the Pharmacy Building now stands and the number 16 is printed in the low right corner of the photograph. In 1945, Butler University merged with the Indianapolis College of Pharmacy, forming the Butler University College of Pharmacy, but classes continued to be offered in the former organizations building at 800 East Market Street in Indianapolis. The College of Pharmacy Finance Committee was formed to raise money for a new building on the Universitys campus and by October 1949, more than $600,000 of the estimated $700,000 needed to construct the building had been raised from 619 individual and corporate donors. The remaining assets from the former Indianapolis College of Pharmacy were also used to pay for the construction. In order to clear the chosen building site, this popular willow tree needed to be removed. Many people, including students and area residents, were unhappy with decision. Originally, the tree was a part of Fairview Park, a popular trolley park opened by the Citizens Street Railway Company in 1890 and operated until the early 1920s. The company merged with the Indianapolis Traction and Terminal Company in 1911, forming the Indianapolis Street Railway Company, and the University relocated to the area in 1928. According to the article Willow Death Brings Moan in the October 20, 1949, issue of The Butler Collegian, the willow tree was planted in 1913 by Ross Ludlow, who was the superintendent of Fairview Park at the time (p. 1). The article also states that Natural elements failed to destroy Butlers weeping willow tree for 36 long years; then man-made machinery dealt the fatal blow in a matter of hours. Additionally, the same newspaper featured a poem titled Willow Weep No More that appears to have been based on Edgar Allan Poes The Raven (p. 1). Willow Weep No MoreTwas upon a Wednesday dreary, Students eyes were red and bleary, Too much benzedrine and No-doz, Loss of sleep had had its toll. What a gruesome sight to greet them, Horror of all horrors meet them, Where once stood the stately willow, Now is but a yawning hole. Where has gone the weeping willow? Limbs that blow and leaves that billow, Tall and priestly weeping willow, Shot for pills and thiazole. Gone as Butler U. progresses, Gone with green and flowing tresses, Now a martyr to all nature, Only this and nothing more.
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/2622
Collection:	Butler University Buildings and Grounds Collection
Rights:	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Copyright:	In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Geography:	Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 39.840188, -86.171948 39.840188 -86.171948
Subjects:	Willows Weeping willow Trees Plants Butler University--Buildings College buildings Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History Pharmacy Building Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building Fairview campus

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