Access to all Library services will be unavailable on Thursday, July 23, 2026 starting at 9 pm due to server maintenance. Services are expected to resume in the early morning hours of Friday, July 24, 2026.
Join us for a conversation with biologist Beronda Montgomery as we discuss her book, When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy. The history of trees in America is also the history of Black Americans.
Pecan trees were domesticated by an enslaved African named Antoine; sycamore trees were both havens and signposts for people trying to escape enslavement; poplar trees are historically associated with lynching; and willow bark has offered the gift of medicine. These trees, and others, testify not only to the complexity of the Black American narrative but also to a heritage of Black botanical expertise that, like Native American traditions, predates the United States entirely.
In When Trees Testify, award-winning plant biologist Beronda L. Montgomery explores the ways seven trees, as well as the cotton shrub, are intertwined with Black history and culture. She reveals how knowledge surrounding these trees has shaped America since the very beginning. As Montgomery shows, trees are material witnesses to the lives of enslaved Africans and their descendants.
Combining the wisdom of science and history with stories from her own path to botany, Montgomery talks to majestic trees, and in this unique and compelling narrative, they answer.
Register today for this insightful discussion about Black history and botanical mastery.
AGE GROUP: | Adults |
EVENT TYPE: | Environment & Nature | Books, Poetry, & Writing |
TAGS: | Virtual Program | Author Talk |
This is a virtual location. No events are held at this address.
