This collection contains over 37,000 35mm slides, 3,000 glass lantern slides and garden files that may include descriptive information, photocopied articles (from journals, newspapers, or books), planting lists, correspondence, brochures, landscape plans and drawings. Garden files were compiled by Garden Club of America (GCA) members for most of the gardens included in the collection. Some gardens have been photographed over the course of several decades; others only have images from a single point in time. In addition to images of American gardens, there are glass lantern slides of the New York Flower Show (1941-1951) and trips that GCA members took to other countries, including Mexico (1937), Italy, Spain, Japan (1935), France (1936), England (1929), and Scotland.
A number of the slides are copies of historic images from outside repositories including horticultural and historical societies or from horticultural books and publications. The GCA made a concerted effort in the mid-1980s to acquire these images in order to increase its documentation of American garden history. Because of copyright considerations, use of these particular images may be restricted.
Biographical/Historical note:
The Garden Club of America was established in 1913 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, when the Garden Club of Philadelphia and eleven other garden clubs met to create a national garden club. Its purpose is to foster the knowledge and love of gardening and to restore and protect the quality of the environment through educational programs and gardening and conservation efforts. The GCA was incorporated in Delaware in 1923, with its headquarters established in New York City. Today, local clubs are organized under twelve regional zones. The GCA continues its tradition of hosting flower shows and publishing material related to gardening in the United States.
The GCA's glass lantern slides were used by The GCA for presentations and lectures about notable gardens throughout the United States dating back to colonial times. An effort was made in the late 1980s, in preparation of the 75th anniversary of the Garden Club of America's founding, to collect the disbursed slides. These slides were to eventually form the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens. The informational value of this collection is extensive since a number of images of the more than 4,500 gardens represented show garden designs that have changed over time or no longer exist. While the majority of images document a range of designed upper and upper-middle class gardens throughout the U.S., the scope of the collection is expanding as volunteers photograph and document contemporary gardens including community and vernacular gardens.
The gardens illustrate the design work of dozens of landscape architects including Marian Coffin, Beatrix Farrand, Lawrence Halprin, Hare & Hare, Umberto Innocenti, Gertrude Jekyll, Jens Jensen, Warren Manning, the Olmsted Brothers, Charles Platt, Ellen Biddle Shipman, and Fletcher Steele. Because of their proximity to the gardens, works of notable architects and sculptors may also be featured in the images.
Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
United Kingdom -- England -- East Sussex -- Withyham
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets and an essay.
General:
Buckhurst Park, the home on Buckhurst Estate, dates from 1603 and was visited during the Garden Club of America's 1929 tour to England. An addition to the estate was made by the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens in the early twentieth century. Lutyens designed the gardens with the help of Gertrude Jekyll who assisted with plantings. The Buckhurst Estate served as inspiration for author A. A. Milne in the creation of Winnie the Pooh and the Hundred Acre Wood.
In 1902-1903, Lutyens and Jekyll created a terraced garden consisting of three levels for then-lessors Robert Henry Benson and Evelyn Benson. The top level contained a sunken lily pond. Lutyens also built two stone pergolas on the lowest level of the terrace. Revisiting the historic plantings for this garden, the current owner replanted the terrace in 2011 with lavender, salvia, alchemilla, gorse, digitalis, and various roses.
A complete copy of the GCA tour itinerary was printed in the Bulletin of the Garden Club of America (Fourth Series, No. 5), September 1929, pp. 6-25.
Persons associated with the garden include Robert Henry Benson and Evelyn Benson (former owners, 1920s), Sir Edward Lutyens (architect, 1902-1903) and Gertrude Jekyll (garden designer, 1902-1903).
Related Materials:
Buckhurst Park related holdings consist of 1 folder (4 lantern slides)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
Topic:
Gardens -- England -- East Sussex -- Withyham Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
United States of America -- Tennessee -- Knox County -- Knoxville
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes work sheets, copies of a talk by W. R. McNabb on Knoxville gardens, photocopies of correspondence regarding Rostrevor and other Knoxville gardens, copies of the "routine of work" for Rostrevor, and other information.
General:
Rostrevor was the garden of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Ross; its elements were installed primarily between 1911 and 1928. In the latter year the Rosses added a formal garden largely of their own design, said to be based on one they had admired at the Hill School in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Terraces and a pergola provided the framework for plantings in bloom from March until November. The 12-acre site also included a rock garden made by Paul Adams, extensive lawns bordered by flowering shrubs, elms for shade, and a swimming pool. Most of the images are copies of originals commissioned about 1935 by Mrs. Ross.
Persons and organizations associated with the garden include: Mr. and Mrs. William C. Ross (former owners, 1911-1968); Helen R. McNabb (former owner, 1968-1972); Paul Adams (plantsman); and Barber & McMurry (architects, ca. 1911-1928).
Related Materials:
Rostrevor related holdings consist of 1 folder (24 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens.
