Thomas Jefferson Statue
The trees between Washington Hall and McGlothlin-Street Hall are hybrid oaks (Quercus lyrata x virginiana) planted by Professor Baldwin, who followed the "ten-step method": plant a tree, walk ten (long) steps, plant another tree. The two rows of oaks accent the north-south axis formed by Blow Hall and Barrett Hall, intersecting the east-west "quadrangle" of the Sunken Garden.
The statue of Thomas Jefferson is a gift from the University of Virginia. At the statue's dedication on November 11, 1992, U.Va. President John Casteen made note of Jefferson's $17,000 debt to the College –which caused financial hardship leading to the College's closure in the 1880s, and was never fully repaid – and expressed his hope that this debt would be forgiven with the statue's donation. The dedication plaque includes a quotation by Jefferson: "I look to the diffusion of light and education as the resource most to be relied on for ameliorating the condition, promoting the virtue and advancing the happiness of man."
The brick wall in the southwest stairs behind the statue features a plaque commemorating the many contributions of Professor Baldwin, who helped make the College's campus into a living archive of woody plant species.
