Donors
- Elizabeth Allen
- William F. Andrews
- Alexandra (Lexie) Armstrong
- Phyllis and George Avant
- Jean Ann and Barry Banker
- Clara and Neil Bass
- Gwen and Jim Bond
- Lissa Bradford
- Robert S. Brandt
- Owsley Brown II
- Buchi Plumbing
- Ann and Frank Bumstead
- Fred Cassetty
- Susan and Hap Castner
- Ann and John Clay
- Mary Blair Cochran
- Chase Cole
- Dr. and Mrs. Robert D. Collins
- Philip N. Bredesen and Andrea Conte
- Chenault McClure Conway
- Jean Cook
- William C. Cook, Cumberland Collectors
- Beth Curley, Nashville Public Television
- Daniel Brooks Corzine
- Kendra Cotton
- Brownlee O. Currey
- Ann and Tom Curtis
- Jane Shaw Dean, Grace Cathedral
- Nancy and Mark Deaton
- Becky DeCamp
- Edwin F. DeMoss
- Jo and Ben Doubleday
- B. W. Durham Jr.
- Dye Van Mol & Lawrence
- Dr. and Mrs. E. William Ewers
- Jane Fabian
- Kendra and Turney Foster
- Owsley Frazier
- Sandra Frazier
- Lisa and Luke Froeb
- Becky and Jim Fyke
- Sandy Garrett
- Delores Gilreath
- Kate R. W. Grayken
- J. David Grissom
- Robert E. Harwell
- Douglas Henry
- HG Hill Realty
- Louise Fitzhugh Hickox
- Anna Kate and Hayne Hipp
- Jackie Humphrey, PNC Wealth Management Group
- Daniel A. Huneke
- Harold E. Jackson Jr.
- Barbara and Howdy Johnston
- Peggy Joyce, Alex and Cayce Joyce, Sue and Douglas Joyce
- Kathleen and A.J. Kazimi
- Robert Kitchel
- Michelle Mays
- Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hill McAlister
- Tori and Mac McClure
- Debbie and Wylie McDougall
- Betsy V. McInnes
- Chita and Rick Middleton
- A. Stevens Miles Jr.
- Barbara and T. N. Murphy Jr.
- Allison and Fred Murray
- Steve Nelson, William Roberts, SunTrust Bank Private Wealth Management
- Mr. and Mrs. Russell Oldfield
- Elizabeth and Doug Owen
- Ophelia and George Paine
- Anne (Mrs. Douglas) Parsons
- Carl F. Pollard, Hermitage Farm
- Robin, David, Erin and Sara Puryear
- Marie C. (Patsey) Reed
- Margaret Ann Robinson
- Robert W. Rounsavall III
- Irv Rubenstein
- E. Peter Rutledge
- Brigitte Suhr and Gregory Schultz
- Susan and Luke Simons
- Ruth Singley
- Nancy Offutt Stablein
- Lem Stevens
- Anne and Jay Stewart
- William M. Street
- Kittie Sullivan
- John Syer
- Thomas F. Taft Sr.
- Virginia and Bobo Tanner
- Laurence O. Trabue Jr.
- Amelia Trickett
- Alex, Mary, DeeDee Wade, Bill Egbert, George Anderson, Wade & Egbert Insurance
- Patricia Wallace
- Peggy and John Warner
- Robert and Ruth Warner
- Nancy Weaver
- Mary Webb
- Dudley White
- Sue Whitson
- Ann Wiley
- Betsy and Ridley Wills III
- David K. and Paula Wilson
- Justin and Barbara Wilson
- WL Lyons Brown Jr. Charitable Foundation
- Susan and David Wood
- Sam Deaner and John Woolard
Nashville Tree Foundation works to preserve and enhance Nashville's urban forest by educating the public, planting trees in urban areas, identifying the oldest and largest trees in Davidson County, and designating arboretums.
“The true meaning of life is to plant trees under whose shade you do not expect to sit."— Nelson Henderson
Elizabeth Moorhead “Betty” Brown
August 20, 1939 - July 1, 2011
Betty Brown rests today on the family farm under a grove of trees, while thousands of others can sit under trees she planted in Nashville.
“We will miss her leadership, her smile, her infamous High Tree Party hat, her willingness to get her hands dirty while planting a tree and her courage every time we see a big old tree,” said a statement from the Nashville Tree Foundation Board of Directors.
Betty Brown’s love of the outdoors began as a young girl as she climbed trees and played in the creek on her family’s farm way out in the country in Kentucky. She brought that passion for all things green with her when her young family settled in Nashville in 1965.
For more than four decades, she was a leader in the effort to protect the city’s environment and its green spaces as well as intricately involved in many other civic activities.
NTF president Pat Wallace presents commemorative platters to founding board members Joan Armour, Betty Brown, Ann Thomason, and Eleanor Willis.
During the celebration of Nashville’s 200th birthday in 1979-1980, she co-chaired the committee that established the permanent landmark of the celebration — Century III Riverfront Park and it is dotted with trees!
She and two other civic-minded young women from Century III — Joan Armour and Eleanor Willis — joined ranks again for Davidson County’s participation in Homecoming ’86, planting 1,986 trees for the state’s bicentennial.
Realizing a lot of people loved trees, the three went to Aladdin Industries’ Victor Johnson, who was ahead of his time as an environmentalist, with an idea to form a non-profit to preserve and enhance Nashville’s urban forest. With his wise advice and a generous donation, the Nashville Tree Foundation received its charter May 7, 1986, with Betty as president, a position she held for 23 years.
Under Betty’s leadership, the Foundation stepped up just nine days after a disastrous tornado leveled 20,000 trees in 1998 and formed ReLeaf Nashville. The volunteer board of seven women (and no paid staff) raised a million dollars in six months and recruited and organized volunteers who planted 6,757 trees in four years instead of the five in the original plan.
She was never happier than working in her wildflower garden in a grove of trees that was featured in Southern Accents magazine and on Nashville Public Television or putting new trees in the ground at the Foundation’s annual plantings throughout the city.
Betty stepped down as president in 2009, but continued as a member of the Foundation Board. She and the other founding board members were honored at the 24th annual High Tree Party April 29, 2011.