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Bromwell Elementary School | |
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BROMWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (214) Telephone: Mr. Jonathan Wolfer, Principal |
The Peace Tree Our Peace Tree was a significant part of the Bromwell landscape for almost ninety years. This beautiful elm was a well-loved feature of our playground, enjoyed by generations of Bromwell children and their families. Many of them did not even know that the tree was related to one of the darkest periods in modern history. The Peace Tree was planted in a special ceremony by Bromwell students in the year 1918 to mark the end of World War One. This event was part of the many celebrations and memorials held nationwide to mark the first Armistice Day. Armistice Day was the holiday named to commemorate the end of World War One, which had been called The Great War and even, for a time, “the war to end all wars.” Armistice, the ending of hostilities, was declared at eleven o’clock in the morning on November 11th, 1918. It took place, then, in the “eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month.” The anniversary of this day became a national holiday in our country, as in many of the other countries that participated in the conflict. World War One had been fought primarily in Europe. It was a conflict that began in 1914 and raged for four years. Finally, the Allied Powers (France, Russia, Britain, and later Italy and the U. S.) defeated the Central Powers (the Austro-Hungarian, German, and Ottoman Empires). More than nine million soldiers and civilians had died, and about twenty million others were wounded. The war had a profound impact on the history of our world in the twentieth century. Although it was called “the war to end all wars” by politicians and journalists, that did not prove to be the case. In fact, problems unresolved by World War One led to World War Two, an even more devastating conflict. World War One is now considered by historians to be the first war of the modern age. It was the first war to involve armored cars and tanks, submarines, airplanes, and aircraft carriers. It was also the first war to involve flamethrowers, barbed wire, and wireless communication. During the war, chemical warfare and aerial bombardment were used for the first time. Improved weapons such machine guns, light automatic weapons and especially modern artillery were terribly effective in the conflict. All these developments changed the ways in which war was fought, and resulted in great casualties on all sides. The immense loss of life was on a scale never experienced before in human history. After the war, the map of Europe was redrawn as borders and governments changed. The Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire disappeared, and Czechoslovakia, Finland, Poland, Yugoslavia and other independent nations emerged. The Russian revolution had deposed the royal family there, and other European royal families fell into ruin as well. France, Britain, and Germany suffered from great economic problems. In the United States, some people of that time were called “The Lost Generation.” Worst of all, an influenza epidemic had begun in the final months of the war. Passed from soldier to soldier and then taken home to civilian communities after the war, the flu spread around the world. In the end, the flu epidemic killed at least 50 million people. In Denver, the Bromwell community came together to support the soldiers during the war. The Mothers Club, according to President Lida Lamont Brown, "gave many hours in voluntary hospital work, in making bandages and knitting... Mrs. Blunt was our prize winner, giving over 300 hours in service to hospitals and 9,420 hours to the Red Cross." The experience of war hit close to home in the Bromwell neighborhood. As Mrs. Brown related years later, "Dr. Tom Hopkins organized a group of young men, mostly from our neighborhood. They formed Base Hospital #29 and were stationed in England. Major Robert Crosby, one of our first [Bromwell] Kindergartners, was stationed in France." In the Bromwell neighborhood as elsewhere in the United States, Armistice Day became a profound day of remembrance. People would take two minutes of silence at 11:00 in the morning as a sign of respect for the soldiers who died in the war. After World War Two, the Armistice Day holiday was renamed Veterans Day. While Armistice Day was an occasion to remember the dead, Veterans Day was purposefully created to also honor living veterans for their service to our country. Veterans Day is meant to remind us that all soldiers, not only those who died, have sacrificed and done their duty. It is a holiday not only of remembrance of the dead, but of appreciation for the living. Bromwell’s Armistice Day tree survived for a long time. When the old school was demolished in 1976, the wrecking crew was careful to avoid the tree and leave it standing. The new playground was planned around the tree, which offered shade for our central baseball field. In later years, it was simply known as “The Peace Tree,” and each year fewer students or families seemed to know the reason why. Our country, of course, continued to become embroiled in various experiences of warfare as the decades passed along. The horrors of World War One were followed by even the greater horrors of World War Two. The Korean War followed, and the Vietnam War, and the Gulf War and Iraq War. If the origins of the Peace Tree were forgotten by many in our community, the lessons of Armistice Day seem to have also been lost in the world at large. Still, there was the name. Students at Bromwell all remembered that name and passed it along. Even the smallest Kindergartner knew about the Peace Tree. In 1994 the tree was struck by Dutch Elm disease, a fungus carried from tree to tree by the elm bark beetle. This disease starts by killing the upper branches of an elm and then progresses until the roots die. Treatment of Dutch Elm disease is costly and often not very effective. Bromwell’s PTSA decided to raise money for sculptor David Mitchell to carve the trunk into the shape on an eagle, our school mascot. The art of tree carving had begun in the 1950’s, when smaller chainsaws made it possible for one person to carve large pieces of wood. It became popular in Denver during the 1980’s when many neighborhood elms contracted Dutch Elm disease or died of natural causes. In some of Denver’s older neighborhoods, there are still many tree-carvings to be seen: dragons, fairies, and castles. Animals are popular subjects for tree-carvers. Below is a photo of the Peace Tree just before David Mitchell began his work:  During several weeks in October of 1994, Mr. Mitchell worked on carving the tree so that the two main branches became wide-spread wings. Then he worked so that the head and body took shape on the central part of the trunk. The head was lowered, as though the eagle was carrying something. Many students thought the eagle held a worm or a fish in its beak. On closer examination it could be seen to be an olive branch, a well-known symbol of peace. The carving was about fifteen feet high. As Mr. Mitchell worked, students watched with great interest and enthusiasm -- from behind a protective fence, of course. When the carving was complete, everyone was impressed. The larger-than-life eagle seemed both mighty and graceful. Here’s a photo that shows children playing near the tree shortly after the project was completed:  Finally, in 2006, it became clear that the Peace Tree, now called “The Eagle Tree” by our youngest students, was decaying from within. While the outer surface of the carving had been given a protective coating, the inside was still vulnerable. Cracks began to appear on the surface, and teachers were able to see that the inside had become rotten. The entire carving would rock slightly when several students pushed from one direction. In this condition, the carving could topple and hurt someone. Our principal made the difficult decision to have it destroyed. It took only a single afternoon for the carving to be knocked down and hauled away. It is somewhat sad that this important landmark is no longer a part of our community. In another way, however, it may be fitting. After all, Armistice Day is now remembered by very few, and fewer still are the people who actually experienced the horrors or the devastation of “the war to end all wars.” Time moves on, as the old saying goes, and that is particularly true on the school playground where children run and laugh, and grow so quickly. The Peace Tree is gone now, and there are few clues to where it once stood. There is a small, raised mound. A small group of rectangular stone seats were installed by the tree, and they are still there. We have a few photographs, and we have the illustrations made by children that are on this page. Otherwise, there is only the story.  |
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