History: Vaughn Home magnolia

Vaughn house with newly planted magnolia, 1886. Stella Vaughn is standing by the magnolia. From William and Stella Vaughn Papers. Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives photo

Vaughn house with small magnolia, c. 1920s. From William and Stella Vaughn Papers scrapbook, Box 25. Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives photo SC.MSS.0477.Box25.001

he Vaughn House and magnolia 3-540 in 2020. Photo by Taylor Hopkins under a CC-BY license.

In front of the Vaughn House, now known as the Robert Penn Warren Center, sits a magnolia tree seen as a sapling in early photos from Stella Vaughn’s scrapbook. Stella Vaughn was only 10 years old when her family moved onto the Vanderbilt campus after her dad was appointed as one of the original “Academic Department (now the College of Arts & Science) chairs in 1882. After growing up on Vanderbilt’s campus, in 1892 Stella became one of the first female students to enroll at Vanderbilt University. After graduating in 1896, Stella began teaching women’s physical education and accomplished more “firsts” as she became Vanderbilt’s first female instructor and started the first Vanderbilt women’s basketball team. Stella was a Commodore through and through and spent her life on Vanderbilt’s campus representing women. The small magnolia seen in Stella Vaughn’s scrapbook would grow up alongside Stella as she went from playing beneath it as a child to one day holding the unofficial title of “dean of women”. Today that once small magnolia is a magnificent tree towering above the Vaughn House.

Return to the historical tree tour page for magnolia 2-481.