Standing on the Illinois State University campus today, it's hard to envision the underdeveloped vista the institution's forefathers encountered. For Jesse Fell, one of the most renowned founders of the University and the town of Normal, the view was ripe with opportunity to peruse his passion for planting trees.
Much of the beautiful landscaping found on the campus can be traced to Fell, who is remembered as "a lover and planter of trees." Before the University was created, he planted 13,000 trees in the area that would become the town of Normal.
It was Fell's hope that every kind of tree that flourish in Central Illinois would be planted on the University's grounds so that the studies of botany and forestry could be pursued.
This ambitious goal was never realized, but as a result of Fell's early work, the University has inherited an impressive collection of trees on campus. A plan to perpetuate his vision now exists through the development of the Fell Arboretum.
Named and dedicated in 1995, the Fell Arboretum is a curated collection of trees, shrubs, and plants integrated with art and architecture on the Illinois State campus. Members of the Fell Arboretum Society are working to create, from the existing campus landscape, a living laboratory that will be both an educational resource as well as an aesthetic experience.
Jesse Fell's legacy is perhaps summarized best by the familiar axiom often quoted: " He who plants a tree and cares for it, does something for posterity."
