In the spring of 2010 a new sapling was planted near the southeast corner of Memorial ’70.
The tree is a seedling of the 100-year old American elm that survived the bomb blast at the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995.
Seeds from the Survivor Tree are planted annually and the resulting saplings are distributed each year on the anniversary of the bombing.
Survivor saplings have been distributed to Columbine High School, New York City mayor Rudolph Guiliani after the September 11, 2001 attacks and to Virginia Tech after the campus tragedy in 2007.
The WSU survivor sapling was donated by the citizens of Bel Aire, a suburban community north of Wichita, through the Bel Aire Tree Board. There is also a survivor sapling planted in Bel Aire in honor of the late Randy Jackson, WSU plane crash survivor. The Jacksons are residents of Bel Aire.
For more information, visit the Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum website.