For the past eighty-four years, the huge magnolia tree on campus has been lit for the holidays. The traditions started in 1935 and has continued to the current year, where Winthrop will be celebrating 84 years of the festive lights being hung around the tree.
The first evidence we see of the magnolia tree is a picture of the tree from a previous Johnsonian issue printed on Dec. 18,1964. Although the magnolia tree lighting started in 1935, an article was first written in the Dec. 11,1978 issued by Margaret Caroll and Bonnie Jerdan. The two staff writers for the Johnsonian wrote:
“The tree, located on the lawn in front of Tillman adjacent to the fountain, is no ordinary tree,”
“The huge magnolia blossomed into a colorful array of green, red, blue, and yellow at 4:30, Dec. 5, when Hill Culp, director of the physical plant, supervised the lighting ceremony after Rock Hill’s Christmas parade.”
At the time the article was written, the magnolia tree lighting was a part of the Winthrop campus for forty-three years, and according to Caroll and Jerden, the only time the tree was not lit was when there was an energy cut-back”. Other than that one year, the tree has continued to be a tradition planned and played out by the Winthrop Student Alumni Council.
Shayna Foxworth, the staff advisor for the Winthrop Student Alumni Council, gave current information on the tradition of the tree lighting to go hand in hand with the information given by the previous staff writers of the Johnsonian.
“New and returning students that attend this event will learn about the Southern Magnolia Tree and how this event came to be,” Foxworth said. She continued with, “the tradition started in 1935 when members of the Young Women’s Christian Association asked the director of Winthrop’s physical plant to find a campus Christmas tree.”
The ladies at Winthrop sang Christmas carols and gathered together as a community of women to continue the tradition of lighting the tree. This year, “the Annual Tree Lighting will provide an opportunity for Winthrop Students to count down to the lighting of the Southern Magnolia Tree with regard to the students who took initiative to highlight a holiday that was important to them,” Foxworth said.
By continuing this tradition, students have been given the opportunity to participate in a community based event that brings all students together for the holidays. The event will be held on Friday, December 2nd, beginning at 6 PM. There will be performances, cider and cocoa, and dazzling lights when the tree is given power.
