David White - ECU - Ada, OK
Posted by: 
hamquilter
N 34° 46.463 W 096° 39.917
14S E 713650 N 3850506
This is a most unusual memorial to a well respected geologist.
Waymark Code: WMRZ68
Location: Oklahoma, United States
Date Posted: 08/26/2016
Views: 0
On the campus of East Central University stands an 8 ft. high petrified tree stump, The stump is standing in a circular gravel-covered area, surrounded by a concrete post and chain fencing, and a row of daisies.
A bronze plaque, erected in 1935 reads:
Callixylon Tree of Devonian Age
Pontotoc County, Oklahoma
Dedicated to
DAVID WHITE
Curator of Paleobotany of Smithsonian Institute
And Principal Geologist of U.S.G.S.Presented to the College by
John Fitts
1935
David White (7/1/1862 - 2/7/1935) was a well known and well respected geologist. An article in The Shale Shaker magazine May 2010, reported: The primitive Devonian tree Callixylon whiteanum
was erected at the entrance to East Central University in Ada in
1935. It was found near Goose Creek south of Jesse, Oklahoma. Mr.John Fitts,discoverer of the giant Fitts oilfield presented the stump to East Central in honor of Dr. David White (1862-1935), Curator of Paleobotany at the Smithsonian Institution and Principal Geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey.