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The
Gerald D. Coorts Memorial Arboretum The Gerald D. Coorts Memorial
Arboretum on the Tennessee Tech campus was officially dedicated on March 7,
1997 (Arbor Day). It encompasses all of the grounds from South Hall to Derryberry Hall bordering on Dixie Avenue. Dr. Coorts was dean of
Tennessee Tech’s College of Agriculture and Home Economics (now Human
Ecology) from 1985 until his death in June 1994. This memorial honors a
person who dedicated his life to the services of others. The Cookeville Tree
Board, of which Coorts was a member, proposed the
memorial, and Tennessee Tech and the Board followed up with the plan to
establish the arboretum. Coorts, the first in his family to attend college, earned bachelor’s
and master’s degree from the University of Missouri and a Ph.D. from the
University of Illinois – all degrees in plant and soil science. Before
joining Tennessee Tech in 1985, Coorts served for
17 years at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, eventually becoming
chairman of Plant and Soil Science. He also taught at the University of Rhode
Island and Purdue University, devoting his entire career to education. In addition to his tenure as dean, Coorts
was a member of the Tennessee Tech Garden Club, Cookeville Rose Society, and
Bryan Symphony Orchestra Board. He was president of the Tennessee Council on
Agriculture and served on the USDA Commission on Higher Education. After the dedication ceremony in South Hall, a white
beech memorial tree was planted on the Quadrangle in his honor. Also, a stone
memorial (now located in front of South Hall) was erected, and the plaque on
the stone reads, “Dr. Coorts’ life was a dedication
to the beautification of God’s earth through sight and sound.” When the memorial
stone was relocated from the Quadrangle to its current location, it was
placed upright on a concrete pad. Before the concrete was dry, leaf
impressions were made in a concrete “lip” of the pad. One leaf from every
tree located in the Arboretum at that time was pressed into the wet concrete.
The border area of the pad was reserved for imprinted bricks, which were sold
at $50 per brick to raise funds to support maintenance and expansion of the
arboretum. The project is complete with some 60 bricks having been sold and
installed. The Cookeville Tree Board makes an annual donation to
support maintenance of the arboretum, but its proper operation depends upon
additional donations from the public. Dr. Douglas Airhart,
professor of horticulture, is arboretum manager and the dean of the colleges,
receives donations and oversees the expenditures and the arboretum account. The Tennessee Urban Forestry Council and the Tennessee
Federation of Garden Clubs, Inc., certified the Gerald D. Coorts
Memorial Arboretum as a Level 2 arboretum in August 2003. It maintains that
certification to the current date. |
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