Mellody Hobson and George Lucas recently cut the ribbon for the new Gordon Parks Arts Hall on the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools campus. The commanding structure has already consumed a portion of the old Scammon Garden. The community should tell President Zimmer to keep the lawn fronting the new building in the name of Jonathan Young Scammon and Maria Scammon.

This year marks the 125th anniversary of both the University of Chicago's birth in Hyde Park and Mr. Scammon's death. It also marks the 150th anniversary of the 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery. Few people contributed to the University, the city, and to emancipation as profoundly as Mr. Scammon. He came from the East Coast two years before the city's founding and became a prominent figure here. He founded the original campus, served as a trustee, and donated significant land to the new campus. He and his wife also contributed considerable organizational and fundraising support over many years to the school.

He was one of the most outspoken proponents of the Underground Railroad, and a prominent abolitionist. He was a trusted friend of Abraham Lincoln, instrumental to his political success, as well as one of his pallbearers. John Scammon's history is inseparable from that of Chicago, because not only did he contribute mightily to building our inland city, he founded and sustained many of its institutions, including the Art Institute, the Chicago History Museum, the Chicago Academy of Sciences, and many others.

There is a legal covenant on a portion of the former Scammon homestead that decrees that it be forever named in memory of the Scammon family. The north lawn, where their home actually sat, is not included in the covenant. However, due to the University's own neglect of the matter, ironically, the protected land is known as the Blaine courtyard, while the north lawn has been lovingly called Scammon Garden (or simply Scammons) for 112 years. There are now hints that officials may be considering renaming this lawn after an unknown donor.

Meanwhile, the Scammon name has disappeared from campus history. He himself neither asked for, nor expected, any personal gain from the University. There is no building or land actually named after him. Because he lost his fortune in the Chicago Fire, virtually nothing in the city is named after him. Meanwhile, living individuals, most of whom owe a great deal to Scammon's University of Chicago, are having enormous monuments made here in their names. What would these people think of a University that could so blithely forget such a major contributor?

We are asking that:

• Scammon Garden maintain its name in perpetuity
• The land house a native-plant garden for science study as it did in the past; the lilacs be returned; and the memorial trees be replanted
• The grounds remain open to the public at all times, as they always have
• No further construction take place on the grounds

See also materials at j.mp/savescammon.