Morris Arboretum Preserves Family Legacy

Creatinga family legacy takes patience and careful crafting. One good example of afamily legacy is the Morris family from Pennsylvania. The family created anarboretum that preserves the devotion of the family to art and education. Despitethe fact that all the direct heirs are no longer around, the arboretumaccomplishes these goals. Originally, the arboretum started out as a garden.

In 1887, two siblings, John and Lydia Morris purchased the landdespite the infertile ground soil. The siblings hired a landscape architect from Japan to create an new ornamental garden which was inspired from John and Lydia’s travel. Afterdeath, John and Lydia opened the arboretum to the public. Now, the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania covers over 175 acresof land. It is maintained by afund set up by the siblings. There is always something blooming, even in thecold winter months. With many different attractions such as the SquirrelScramble, Tree Adventure, and Bird’s Nest, among others the arboretum has leftthe Morris family legacy in education intact.

See Teresa Rivas, A Lesson in Family Legacy, Barron’s, Oct. 4, 2013.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse (Professional Legal Marketing (PLM, Inc.)) for bringing this article to my attention.