History: Divinity School’s dogwood
Dogwood 2-539 planted in honor of John Keith Benton. Photo by Steve Baskauf under a CC BY license.
This tree was planted in memory of John Keith Benton who died in 1956 and for whom Benton Chapel was named. It is described on p. 34 of The Trees of Vanderbilt.
Dean Benton served a number of leadership roles in the theological education community outside of Vanderbilt. He is also known for being Dean of the Divinity School in 1953 when Joseph Johnson was admitted as the first black student at Vanderbilt. 1 That event was not without controversy as Johnson was initially rejected for admission and subjected to a variety of restrictions on his participation in campus life. 2
This 1958 photo shows the tombstone of several important Methodist bishops of Tennessee in the foreground and the construction of the Divinity School in the background. Vanderbilt University Special Collections and University Archives photo archive image PA.CAF.GRAV.006
Construction of the Divinity School was completed in 1959 and its chapel was named after the recently deceased Benton. We do not know precisely when the dogwood was planted, but the Vanderbilt Garden Club probably planted it sometime during the early 1960s as part of the landscaping around the new school.
Return to the historical tree tour page for dogwood 2-539.
1 A Time of Change, Determination and Courage.
2 “Ask Me Anything: Who were the first African-Americans to graduate from Vanderbilt”. The Vanderbilt Hustler 119(14):8. 9 February 2007. http://hdl.handle.net/1803/708