Emancipation Oak
The large sprawling Live Oak tree is 98 ft. in diameter, with branches which extend upward as well as laterally, as if offering refuge. In 1861, Mrs. Mary Smith Peake, used the shade of this tree to teach the children of former slaves.
In 1863, the Virginia Peninsula's black community gathered under this Live Oak to hear the first Southern reading of President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation.
The Emancipation Oak is designated as one of the 10 Great Trees of the World by the National Geographic Society and is part of the National Historic Landmark district of Hampton University.