64-1 - Arnold Arboretum

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Issue: 64-1

Benjamin Bussey, Woodland Hill, and the Creation of the Arnold Arboretum

Arnoldia, History

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Free and open every day.

We are committed to the Olmstedian principle that everyone is entitled to open space, so our gates are open to everyone, every day, free of charge.

Funded by our community.

The Arnold Arboretum has been funded by the generosity of the supporting public since our founding in 1872. Give today and continue that legacy.

For over 7,000 years, the land on which the Arnold Arboretum now sits has been inhabited and used by diverse societies and cultures of Indigenous Peoples, including most recently, the Massachusett Tribe. Read about the deep history of the Arboretum landscape.

The Arnold Arboretum acknowledges that benefactor Benjamin Bussey, who bequeathed the land on which the institution now is sited, bought the property with funds amassed from trade in goods produced by enslaved persons. Read about the Arboretum and its entanglement with slavery.

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