CLEVELAND — 84 years ago, Olympian Jesse Owens planted an oak tree sapling at his alma mater in Cleveland. But the aging tree is in bad shape, so a few local organizations got together to give the old tree new life, in a very cool way.
"You take a piece of stock from that current tree and you graft it to the stock of another tree, and then ultimately we have this tree. It’s genetically the same as the original tree. Simplified, the two trees are grown together," explains Jill Koski, President & CEO of Holden Forests & Gardens, one of the organizations involved in the tree propagation.
Today, the new tree was planted next to the Rockefeller Park Lagoon in Cleveland. It was propagated from one of 4 trees the Olympic Committee gifted Owens back in 1936 – one for each medal he won in the Berlin Olympics in Germany.
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Owens set several Olympic and world records at the Berlin games. He won every event he ran - crushing racial stereotypes Hitler had about whites being the supreme race.
"It makes me feel honored to be able to see the young people get a chance to see a great athlete, what he accomplished, and opened doors for them," says Shaw High School track coach Leroy Carter.
Today, a new generation of African-American track stars looked on at the tree planting. Owens practiced track at James Ford Rhodes High School growing up – just like the students who were at the ceremony today.
"It feels good to walk down the halls of a track star like that," says sophomore track runner Jamere Dancy.
Junior track runner Remy Jackson added, "I feel really honored, like, he won a lot of medals; he achieved a lot of things, and he made history."
Also at the ceremony was Jesse Owens' 2nd cousin.
"I think he would be proud. I think he’s looking down right now. I think it’s a good venture, because the young kids are here to follow," says Tyrone Owens.
The old tree still stands at James Ford Rhodes High School. It’s not in the best health, but tree experts were able to take cuttings of the tree and make several new trees just like the Rockefeller tree. They’ll be planted elsewhere once they mature, ensuring Owens' legacy stays rooted in Cleveland for generations to come.
You can watch the entire ceremony below: