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Every gold medal winner from the 1936 Olympics was
presented with an oak seedling to take back to his
or her home country to plant and spread the word
about the Olympic spirit. Of the 24 gold
medals awarded to US athletes in 1936 (including
eight to athletes from the Los Angeles area), only
six of these trees are still known to exist
nationwide, and until recently, two of these trees
were located at USC.
One of these two oak seedlings
was planted at USC as
a result of the Olympic gold medal won by alumnus
Ken Carpenter for his first place win in the discuss
throw; the other for USC alumni
Foy Draper and
Frank
Wykoff, who were members of the first place 400
meter relay team, which included Jesse Owens and
Ralph Metcalfe.
Owens had won four Gold Medals
at the Olympics so the team decided to award the oak
seedling to the two USC members. At least two
of Owen's other Olympic trees still exists:
one at his high school, James Ford Rhodes High
School in Cleveland, Ohio, and the other at
Ohio
State University. (Owens planted his fourth
oak seedling at his mother's home in Cleveland but
it is not known whether it still exists.)
The two trees that came to USC were planted in
Associates Park, between the Bovard Administration
Building and the Physical Education Building on the
university campus. They remained practically
unknown to the campus for many years, until one of
them died in 2002 from root rot. A mature
replacement oak has been planted and a
new plaque,
with the names of the four members of the relay
team, is now at its base.
The only other Olympic tree in the Los Angeles area,
still known to exist, was awarded to
Cornelius
Johnson for his gold medal win in the high jump and
can be found in the backyard of a home on Hobart
Street in Korea town. Of the two others, one
was awarded to
Forrest Towns for his Gold Medal win
in the 100-meter high hurdles and is located on the
University of Georgia Campus, and the other was
awarded to
John Woodruff for his win in the
800-meter race and is located at his high school in
Connellsville, Pennsylvania.
OLYMPIC TREE CEREMONY
4-30-05 PHOTO GALLERY
Other
Olympic Tree Photographs
Other Articles Concerning the
Olympic Tree
http://www.usc.edu/dept/pubrel/trojan_family/autumn05/AlumniAndFriends.html
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