Workers remove a willow tree, clearing the land for the construction of the Pharmacy Building

Description:	Workers remove a willow tree in order to clear the land for the construction of the Pharmacy Building and a truck is filled with branches. 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, a 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. The decision was so unpopular that in the description of the Pharmacy Building in the 1950 Drift, Butler Universitys yearbook, the removal of the tree was the main feature of the text, which was titled We Gained a Building and Lost a Landmark (p. 8). This new building-which was to house the laboratories, classrooms, and offices of the pharmacy school-means that no longer would the pharmacy students be left out of the Butler scheme of things. . . . There was one sad note, however, connected with the occasion. We had to give up our beloved willow tree. Much fuss was raised by some members of the student body because the tree had to go. With sad faces, and their arms bearing black bands, a few students bore the last remains of the tree--drooping branches. Some cynics expressed the thought that such carrying-on meant that Butler had gone to the dogs. But the mourners ignored them, for they knew that the dogs had gone elsewhere; their tree was no longer.
Origin:	1949-10
Source:	http://palni.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/BldgsGrnds/id/2624
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, 39.839996, -86.172404 39.839996 -86.172404
Subjects:	Construction projects Willows Weeping willow Trees Butler University--Buildings College buildings Butler University--History Indianapolis (Ind.)--History Pharmacy Building Pharmacy and Health Sciences Building Fairview campus

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