Hamilton Biology Professor Emeritus Eugene Putala presented a talk titled "The Root Legacy: Homestead, Glade and Glen" on Saturday, Sept. 29, on the deck of the Outdoor Education Center. His remarks were part of the celebration of the opening of the Emerson Gallery exhibition, "The Best Kind of Life: Edward W. Root as Teacher, Collector and Naturalist."
Putala delivered a fascinating history of the Root family from England to Connecticut to Massachusetts to upstate New York. He detailed the Root family relationship with the College reviewing the contributions of Oren Root, a Hamilton graduate, professor and the first to start planting trees in what was to become the Root Glen; his son Elihu, a U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator who expanded the family holdings on College Hill Road and further expanded the glen plantings; and Elihu's son Edward about whose life, art and art appreciation the current Emerson show is focused.
Edward Root taught art appreciation at the college for two decades, and both he and his wife Grace engaged in expanding the plantings in the glen. Among some of their projects in the glen and neighboring gardens, were the addition of more than 175 species of Alpine plants and the introduction of hybridized German Irises. "The Root legacy is the installation of a lot of beauty on campus," Putala declared. "Their legacy, through their imagination, transformed Hamilton itself."
Putala delivered a fascinating history of the Root family from England to Connecticut to Massachusetts to upstate New York. He detailed the Root family relationship with the College reviewing the contributions of Oren Root, a Hamilton graduate, professor and the first to start planting trees in what was to become the Root Glen; his son Elihu, a U.S. Secretary of State and U.S. Senator who expanded the family holdings on College Hill Road and further expanded the glen plantings; and Elihu's son Edward about whose life, art and art appreciation the current Emerson show is focused.
Edward Root taught art appreciation at the college for two decades, and both he and his wife Grace engaged in expanding the plantings in the glen. Among some of their projects in the glen and neighboring gardens, were the addition of more than 175 species of Alpine plants and the introduction of hybridized German Irises. "The Root legacy is the installation of a lot of beauty on campus," Putala declared. "Their legacy, through their imagination, transformed Hamilton itself."
