Witness trees were present for pivotal moments in our history but the stories they would tell, if they could, don’t have to die with them―thanks to a fascinating partnership between national park sites and student artists and designers. Host Todd Christopher visits Antietam National Battlefield’s renowned witness tree ― the Burnside Sycamore ― with natural resources manager Joe Calzarette, explores The Witness Tree Project’s unique mashup of history and design with RISD faculty members and founders Dale Broholm and Dan Cavicchi, and learns about the project’s impact from RISD student and participant Esther Akintoye.

Original theme music by Chad Fischer

Learn more about The Witness Tree Project and view galleries of the objects created by student artists at witnesstreeproject.org.

The Secret Lives of Parks is brought to you by: 

Todd Christopher – Producer & Host
Jennifer Errick – Producer & Host
Bev Stanton – Online Producer

The Secret Lives of Parks is a production of the National Parks Conservation Association. With more than 1.6 million members and supporters, NPCA is the nation’s only independent, nonpartisan advocacy organization dedicated to protecting national parks. Learn more at npca.org