Altadena Tree Stories - The Witness Trees

The Altadena Tree Stories project creates an archive of the communityʼs trees preserved through oral history interviews and photographs to demonstrate resilience.

Witness Trees live through generations of transformation and hold the stories of the communities within which they live. Throughout history, witness trees have endured such events as war and injustice and seen resilience and survival.

The surviving trees of Altadena are anchors for recovery—familiar landmarks in an altered world. These are the "witness trees," living archives of the people, animals, and plants that have shaped this place over generations. The witness trees of Altadena have stories to tell. This project seeks to document these trees and the community’s memories they hold. Through photography and short oral histories, we aim to preserve the human, ecological, and cultural narratives embedded in this landscape, help the community process grief, and provide testimony to the value and benefits of trees in Coastal Chapparal ecosystems.

This is a collaborative project between Mona Patterson, an Altadena resident and science journalist, and Andrea Gaffney, a San Francisco Bay Area landscape architecture photographer and urban designer.

Have a tree story you’d like to share?

There is no fee for the documentation.
The interview and photography will require about an hour of your time.
As a small token of gratitude, you will receive a small instant print of your tree.
If you’d like to have your trees and memories documented, please contact us: