United States of America -- Virginia -- Charles City County -- Charles City
Upper Weyanoke (Charles City, Virginia)
Scope and Contents:
2 folders, 39 digital images (2019), and 1 35mm slide (reproduction of a 1931 plan).
Varying Form:
Weyanoke
General:
That the 360-foot long garden path was cultivated in the mid-19th century when the two-story Greek Revival brick house was built is undisputed. Less certain is whether there was an earlier version of the garden in colonial times when Upper Weyanoke was settled as a James River plantation. Transport to this location during the colonial period would have been via the river and the owners would have provided a gracious entry. Moreover, there are trees along the garden path that predate 1850, even a live oak not usually grown in this climate. Axial lines and symmetry were features of colonial gardens, and the walk leads directly from the living quarters to the river. The 19th century Colonial Revival garden path may well have been on the site of the original 17th and garden path overlooking terraces. There was a 17th century brick garrison built on the property to defend against native attacks; the second existing house, a 1-1/2 story brick cottage with later additions cited in official documents, was originally built in the first quarter of the 19th century.
Since 2010 the current owners have devoted eight years to restoring and replanting the garden path, a linear grass walkway bordered on each side by southern and saucer magnolia, fig, boxwood, crape myrtle, camellia, vitex, spirea and huge sweet olive that have grown beyond their usual dimensions. After clearing dead vegetation and weeds from the borders they planted 1500 heirloom narcissus, dug a new well and installed a sprinkler system. In 2011 Hurricane Irene toppled 30 trees in this garden and stalled the restoration. With more sunshine reaching the borders previously hidden perennials started blooming again, including peonies, iris, red spider lilies and narcissus. Hundreds of bulbs, shrubs and trees were added to the garden path, especially native varieties favored by pollinators. Weather conditions include strong winds off the James River so non-symmetrical drifts of certain plants have been more successful than trying to sustain matching borders.
The 53-acre property has been inhabited nearly continuously since the 1600's and the word Weyanoke translates to Land of Sassafras in the native language. The sassafras growing at the river end of the garden path is more than 60 feet tall, now at cliff's end due to erosion. The plantation was commandeered by Union troops under Generals Grant and Sheridan during the Civil War; ornamental gardens including terraces would have been trampled. Also, author Mary Johnston used Upper Weyanoke as the setting for To Have and To Hold written in 1900. The property was listed in the Virginia Landmarks Register and the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.
Persons associated with the garden include: the Minge family (former owners, mid-1700's-1840's); Martha A. Orgain (former owner, c. 1842-1854); Fielding Lewis Douthat and Mary Willis Marshall Douthat and family (former owners, 1854-1930's); Dr. and Mrs. Alexander Yelverton Peyton Garnett (former owners, 1930's-1942); Mr. and Mrs. Henry Lawrence Bahnsen (former owners, 1942-1974); Mrs. Louise Moon (former owner, 1974-1997); Mr. and Mrs. John Moon and Sarah Moon Gray (former owners, 1997-2010); Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Lewis Gray (owners, 2010- ); Norman Edwards and Wesley Edwards (gardeners, 2010- ); Chip Callaway (landscape architect, 2010-2014); Abbie Wharton, Sue Thompson and Terry Tosh (landscape designers, 2011- ); Peter Girardi (arborist, 2010- ); Ike Carter (landscaping, 2010- ).
Additional images of Garden Path before and during restoration and after Hurricane Irene (2011); historic images from the Arthur A. and Sidney Shurcliff collections.
Related Materials:
See the Archives of American Gardens' Eleanor Weller Reade Collection and the Hollerith Family Slide Collection for additional images. Measured drawing (1931) by Arthur Shurcliff located at the Colonial Wiliamsburg Foundation Library.
Related materials found at the Francis Loeb Library, Harvard Graduate School of Design, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Special Collections, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Library, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Williamsburg, Virginia state.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
0.75 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Legislative documents
Notebooks
Photographs
Patents
Legal documents
Date:
1858-1929
Summary:
The papers document an investigation by M.L. Webb, an attorney from Massachusetts, into possible trust violations by the coal and gas industry of New England, New Jersey, and Delaware in the late nineteenth century. Documents assembled by Webb include patents, stock records, photographs, correspondence, hand written notes, published materials, and investigation notebooks.
Scope and Contents:
This collection is a series of records accumulated by M. L. Webb, an attorney in Massachusetts. The records show Webb's desire to track down patents and operations information, as well as financial records for the following coal and gas companies: Bay State Gas Company, Citizen Steam and Gas Light Company, the Kidder Coal and Gas Company, Lowe Water Gas Company, and the New England Gas and Coke Company. Included are three series: Coal Companies (1858-1929), Notes (1868-1929), and Patents concerning machinery involved in the manufacture and illumination of coal gas (1870-1897), a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal that was used in lighting, cooking and heating.
Series 1, Coal Companies, 1858-1929, is divided into five subseries: Subseries 1, Bay State Gas Company, 1872-1926; Subseries 2, Citizen Steam and Gas Light Company, 1872-1925; Subseries 3, Kidder Coal and Gas Company, 1858-1925; Subseries 4, Lowe Water Gas Company, 1874-1925; and Subseries 5, New England Gas and Coke Company, 1872-1925. The series includes articles of incorporation, stock and bond notes, personal notes by M.L. Webb, company and state correspondence, financial histories and notes and ledgers.
Subseries 1, Bay State Gas Company, 1872-1926, includes certificates of incorporation from New Jersey (1875), Massachusetts (1884), and Delaware (1879), all three of which were released to the investigation in 1925; notes concerning Bay State Gas Company bonds from 1885-1925; a notebook of company patent information from 1872-1915;
M. L. Webb's trust investigation notes on the Bay State Gas Company from 1875-1926; and official state records concerning the Bay State Gas Company issued by the State of Delaware (1889-1925).
Subseries 2, Citizen Steam and Gas Light Company, 1872-1925, contains a notebook with mortgage records for the Citizen Steam and Gas Light Company from 1872-1925.
Subseries 3, Kidder Coal and Gas Company, 1858-1925, contains company patent records (1858-1925), company stock records (1878-1884), stock ledger items, a financial history of the Kidder Coal and Gas Company, company correspondence (1878-1929), state government correspondence (1874-1925), and notebooks filled with notes concerning the financial records of the Kidder Coal and Gas Company.
Subseries 4, Lowe Water Gas Company, 1874-1925, consists of articles of incorporation for the Lowe Water Gas Company, issued in 1874 and released to the investigation in 1925.
Subseries 5, New England Gas and Coke Company, 1872-1925, consists of an investigation notebook documenting the New England Gas and Coke Company, 1872-1925.
Series 2, Notes, 1868-1929, consists of notes compiled from the trust investigation by
M. L. Webb and includes notebooks on various coal and gas companies, and a set of unidentified and undated photographs taken by F. B. Boyette.
Series 3, Patents, 1870-1897, contains patent records concerning the manufacture and illumination of coal gas, held by the Lowe Water Gas Company and the Kidder Coal and Gas Company, 1870-1897, specifically patents held by Moses W. Kidder, Joseph Flannery, Person Noyes, and Hiram White.
Arrangement:
This collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1, Coal Companies, 1858-1929
Subseries 1.1, Bay State Gas Company, 1872-1926
Subseries 1.2, Citizen Steam and Gas Light Company, 1872-1925
Subseries 1.3, Kidder Coal and Gas Company, 1858-1925
Subseries 1.4, Lowe Water Gas Company, 1874-1925
Subseries 1.5, New England Gas and Coke Company, 1872-1925
Series 2, Notes, 1868-1929
Series 3, Patents, 1870-1897
Biographical / Historical:
John Edward Charles O'Sullivan Addicks (1841-1919) was an industrialist and capitalist. Addicks became involved with the natural gas business in the 1880s, then in its infancy. He built gas works in Jersey City, and in 1882 he was instrumental in organizing the Chicago Gas Trust. Addicks formed the Bay State Gas Company in Boston in 1884. His success at forming gas monopolies earned him the nicknames "Gas Addicks" and the "Napoleon of Gas." [1] The Coal and Gas Trust Investigation Collection contains documents concerning M. L. Webb's investigation of several coal and gas companies. Webb conducted an investigation of possible trust violations by the coal and gas industry companies, one of which was the Bay State Gas Company.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Edward_Addicks (accessed on April 9, 2010)
Provenance:
Source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Copyright held by the Smithsonian Institution. Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Reproduction permission from Archives Center: fees for commercial use.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
2.4 Cubic feet (3 boxes)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Drawings
Reports
Photographs
Place:
Ashland (Mass.)
Holyoke (Mass.)
Date:
1880-1924
Scope and Contents note:
These records document the activities of the J. & W. Jolly Company of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Included are turbine test reports from the testing flume of the Holyoke Water Power Company, 1890-1912; photographs of vertical water turbine assemblies and parts, ca 1880; a record of wheels, and turbines, ca1896-1921; and tracings of governors for turbines from the Lombard Governor Company of Ashland, Massachusetts, ca1900-1924.
Arrangement:
1 series. Arrangement: By type of collection and chronologic thereunder.
Provenance:
Immediate source of acquisition unknown.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Account book of an unidentified person, possibly living in Massachusetts or Rhode Island, includes entries regarding items purchased and sold, such as bricks and agricultural products, and a record of himself and other persons employed, including the rental of animal teams for ploughing.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Anne Golovin, 1970.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Two account books, 1856-1862, of Henry Fuller, West Springfield, Massachusetts, for agricultural supplies and equipment, and miscellaneous expenses.
Biographical/Historical note:
Fuller was a husband of Mary Leet (Mrs. Jude) Ludington. See also collection #27.
Provenance:
Collection donated by Miss Madeleine Wilkinson, 1955, November 10.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Topic:
Agricultural supplies and equipment -- 1850-1870 Search this
Genre/Form:
Account books -- 19th century
Business records -- 19th century
Citation:
Henry Fuller Account Books, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Identifier:
NMAH.AC.0028
Archival Repository:
Archives Center, National Museum of American History
Lesson book text consists primarily of mathematical exercises, with a few pages devoted to penmanship. Also includes a partial page of the "Republican Gazetteer, Boston, Sept. 4, 1802, used as an end page.
Biographical / Historical:
A note to "Mr. Watkins" (probably Malcolm Watkins, SI curator) from the donor in the collection control file indicates that the lesson book is dated Jan. 10, 1803 and that it was "used in Westford before [Timothy Prescott] moved to Littleton and then Concord."
Provenance:
Collection donated by Gertrude Prescott, April 1963.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Mechanical and Civil Engineering Search this
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Work and Industry Search this
Extent:
20.4 Cubic feet (4 boxes, 82 folders)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Account books
Blueprints
Diaries
Drawings
Letterpress books
Notebooks
Scrapbooks
Place:
Upper Peninsula (Mich.)
Date:
1861-1955
Summary:
Papers document prominent nineteenth-century steam engineer Erasmus D. Leavitt.
Scope and Contents note:
The Leavitt Papers include a Civil War diary, personal account books, photographs, drawings, and engineering materials relating to steam engines.
Arrangement:
The collection is arranged into three series.
Series 1: Engineering Materials, 1861-1955
Series 2: Photographs, 1890s, undated
Series 3: Engineering Drawings, 1874-1906
Historical:
The Calumet and Hecla Company, which was formed in about 1866, was one of the largest mining operations in the Lake Superior region of Upper Michigan. Over 3 billion pounds of copper were removed from its extensive mines by the time operations ceased in 1939. To facilitate the work in both the mines and smelting plants, the company installed some the largest steam engines ever built. The aggregate amounted to over 55,000 horsepower.
Noted 19th century steam engineer Erasmus Darwin Leavitt was hired to design the series of huge multi-cylinder engines. Each had sufficient power to support several operations at one time. While an engine drove one of the hoists, it might also power pumping, conveying, and air compressing machinery. At the peak of operations there were at least 50 steam engines of all sizes providing power to Calumet and Hecla. Falling copper prices during the 1920s and the economic depression of the 1930s ultimately forced the mines to close. The engines were of no further use and their countless tons of cast iron and steel ended up in the scrap drives of World War II.
Biographical:
Erasmus Darwin Leavitt was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, in 1836 and died in 1916 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was educated in the Lowell public schools, entered the machine shop of the Lowell Manufacturing Company in 1852, and served three years as an apprentice. He spent one year with Corliss and Nightingale and was later assistant foreman of the City Point works in South Boston, where he was in charge of building the engines for the flagship "Hartford." From 1859 to 1861 he was chief draftsman for Thurston, Gardiner & Co., of Providence, Rhode Island, leaving to enter the United States Navy in the summer of 1861.
Leavitt served during the Civil War and he was detailed to the Naval Academy at Annapolis as instructor in steam engineering. Resigning in 1867, he resumed the practice of mechanical engineering, making a specialty of pumping and mining machinery. He was consulting engineer of the Calumet and Hecla Mining compan from 1874 to 1904 during which time he designed the equipment. He was also consulting engineer for Henry R. Worthington, the Dickson Manufacturing Company, City of Boston and City of Cambridge, and designed the pumping engine for the City of Louisville, Kentucky. He was advisory engineer and designed machinery for the Bethlehem Steel Company and for South African mining companies. He was a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and formerly its president; the American Society of Civil Engineers, American Institute of Mining Engineers, Boston Society of Civil Engineers, American Society of Naval Engineers, an honorary member of the British Society for the Advancement of Science, life member of Franklin Institute, and member of Institution of Civil Engineers and of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers of Great Britain. He was also a fellow of American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1884 Mr. Leavitt received the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology of New Jersey. Leavitt retired from active practice in 1904. He married Annie Elisabeth Pettit in 1867, and had three daughters, Mary, Margaret and Annie.
Source
Cambridge Chronicle, March 18, 1916
Related Materials:
Materials at Other Organizations
Michigan Technological University Archives and Copper Country Historical Collections
Calumet and Hecla Mining Company Collection
Provenance:
Collection materials donated by Calumet and Hecla, Inc. in 1960 and by Thomas E. P. Rice, 1977.
The collection came to the Smithsonian in 1960 from Calumet & Hecla, Inc. In the course of a reorganization in 1952 mining had been dropped from the company name as the emphasis was on chemicals, foundry work, and forest products. Its remaining mining activites in other areas of Michigan were phased out during the 1960s and in 1968 Calumet & Hecla merged with Universal Oil Products, Inc. Late in 1970 Universal Oil Products scrapped what was left of the Calumet & Hecla physical plant and its remaining assests were auctioned off.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
6.5 Cubic feet (16 boxes, 188 pieces of original artwork)
Type:
Collection descriptions
Archival materials
Black-and-white photographic prints
Pastels (visual works)
Advertisements
Business records
Date:
circa 1936-1995
Summary:
The collection documents the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood through correspondence, photographs, paintings, and print advertisements.
Scope and Contents:
188 pieces of original advertising art (mostly pastel drawings), and photographs, correspondence, and business records, documenting the development and evolution of the Breck Girls advertising campaign. Original advertising art includes portraits of famous models, such as Cheryl Tiegs, Brooke Shields, Kim Basinger, and Erin Gray. Artists represented include Charles Sheldon and Ralph William Williams. The 2006 addendum consists of approximately one sixth of one cubic foot of papers relating to Cynthia Brown's selection as a Breck Girl, 1988 and her induction into the Breck Hall of Fame.
Arrangement:
Collection divided into four series.
Series 1: Company history, 1946-1990
Series 2: Photographs, 1960-1995
Series 3: Print ads, 1946-1980
Series 4: Original artwork, 1936-1994
Biographical / Historical:
Dr. John Breck is credited with developing one of the first liquid shampoos in the United States, in Springfield Massachusetts in 1908; Breck is also credited with introducing the first ph-balanced shampoo, in 1930. During the early years of the business, distribution remained localized in New England, and the product was sold exclusively to beauty salons until 1946. Advertising for the brand began in 1932, but appeared only in trade publications, such as Modern Beauty Shop.
Edward Breck, son of the founder, assumed management of the company in 1936. Breck became acquainted with Charles Sheldon, an illustrator and portrait painter who is believed to have studied in Paris under Alphonse Mucha, an artist noted for his contributions to Art Nouveau style. Sheldon had achieved some measure of fame for his paintings of movie stars for the cover of Photoplay magazine in the 1920s, and had also done idealized pastel portraits for the cover of Parents magazine. He created his first pastel portraits for Breck in 1936, launching what would become one of America's longest running ad campaigns. When the company began national advertising (and mass distribution) in 1946, the campaign featured Sheldon's 1937 painting of seventeen-year old Roma Whitney, a spirited blonde. Ms. Whitney's profile was registered as Breck's trademark in 1951. When he retired in 1957, Sheldon had created 107 oil paintings and pastels for the company. Sheldon was known to favor ordinary women over professional models, and in the early years of the campaign, the Breck Girls were Breck family members, neighbors or residents of the community in which he worked; company lore holds that nineteen Breck Girls were employees of the advertising agency he founded in 1940. A Breck advertising manager later described Sheldon's illustrations as, "illusions, depicting the quality and beauty of true womanhood using real women as models." The paintings and pastels form a coherent, if derivative, body of work which celebrates an idealized vision of American girlhood and womanhood, an ideal in which fair skin, beauty and purity are co-equal.
Ralph William Williams was hired to continue the Breck Girls campaign after Sheldon's retirement. Between 1957 and his death in 1976, Williams modified the Breck Girl look somewhat through the use of brighter colors and a somewhat heightened sense of movement and individuality. The advertising manager during his tenure recalled that at first Williams continued in Sheldon' manner, but in later years, as women became more independent, he would take care to integrate each girl' particular personality; he studied each girl and learned her special qualities. During these years, Breck Girls were identified through the company's sponsorship of America's Junior Miss contests. Williams work includes pastels of celebrities Cybil Shepard (1968 Junior Miss from Tennessee), Cheryl Tiegs (1968), Jaclyn Smith (1971, 1973), Kim Basinger (1972, 1974) and Brooke Shields (1974) very early in their careers.
By the 1960s, at the height of its success, Breck held about a twenty percent share of the shampoo market and enjoyed a reputation for quality and elegance. Ownership of the company changed several times (American Cyanamid in 1963; Dial Corporation in 1990). The corresponding fluctuations in management of the company and in advertising expenditures tended to undermine the coherence of the national advertising campaign. In addition, despite William's modifications, the image had become dated. Attempts to update the image misfired, further limiting the brand's coherence and effectiveness. Finally, increased competition and an absence of brand loyalty among consumers through the 1970s and 1980s helped push Breck from its number one position into the bargain bin. The Breck Girl campaign was discontinued around 1978, although there have been at least two minor revivals, first in 1992 with the Breck Girls Hall of Fame, and again in 1995 when a search was begun to identify three new Breck Women.
Scope and Content: The 188 pieces of original advertising art (62 oil paintings on board, 2 pencil sketches on paper, and 124 pastels on paper) and related photographs, correspondence and business files in this collection document the development and evolution of the Breck Girl, a highly successful and long-lived advertising campaign whose hallmark was its vision of idealized American womanhood. The collection is a perfect fit with other 20th century Archives Center collections documenting the efforts of American business to reach the female consumer market. The Estelle Ellis Collection (advertising and promotions for Seventeen, Charm, Glamour and House & Garden and many other clients) the Cover Girl Collection (make-up), the Maidenform Collection (brassieres), and the Tupperware Collections offer a prodigious body of evidence for understanding the role women were expected to play as consumers in the 20th century.
These advertising images also offer fertile ground for research into the evolution of popular images of American girlhood and womanhood. The research uses of the collection derive primarily from its value as an extensive visual catalog of the ideal types of American women and girls, arising and coalescing during a period in which 19th century ideals of womanhood were being revisited (the depression, the war years, the immediate post-war period) and continuing, with slight modifications and revisions, through several decades during which those historical ideals were being challenged and revised.
Related Materials:
Several items of packaging, 1930s-1980s are held in the former Division of Home and Community Life (now Division of Cultural and Community Life); an 18k gold Breck insignia pin is in the former.
Provenance:
The Dial Corporation through Jane Owens, Senior Vice President, Gift, June 1998.
Restrictions:
Collection is open for research but is stored off-site and special arrangements must be made to work with it. Contact the Archives Center for information at archivescenter@si.edu or 202-633-3270.
Rights:
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Essex -- Beverly
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, photocopies of articles, historical images, biographical and other information.
General:
The 55 acres acquired in 1950 by the Seamans family comprised the upland area with house, woodland, meadow and pond, and the low-lying wetlands and sandy beachfront. For most of their history these two sections had been separate. The first recorded owner of the upland was Cornelius Larcom, of French Huguenot descent, who acquired it for farmland in the early 1700s. It remained a working farm and family homestead for five generations of Larcoms who lived in the homestead until 1890. Although the original homestead was replaced by a larger house in the 19th century, an historic log cabin remains. It was once quarters for slaves belonging to David Larcom who died in 1775. Juno, one of his female slaves, was freed and continued to live on the property. When the Boston & Maine Railroad extension reached Beverly Farms in 1890, the value of the property soared and was split up into two and purchased separately by 1907. Eventually, the two properties were consolidated into today's "Sea Meadow," but there were virtually no changes over the next century.
Overlooking Massachusetts Bay, the 18-acre garden boasts whimsical designs by its former owner, Eugenia "Gene" Merrill Seamans. Plant material in formal beds, near the house, are carefully chosen, as well as wildflowers, native shrubs and grasses which densely cover the transition to meadow and pond. On the grounds are informal adaptions of formal elements, such as an allée of lindens with a hint of geometry; a folly, that floats above an outcropping, accessed along a hidden path of alpines; and an extensive herb garden nestled in a rocky ledge by the kitchen doors. In the wetlands is a rustic footbridge which crosses the tidal creeks, dotted by berry bushes and banks of towering pink and white mallows.
Persons associated with the garden include the Larcom Family, (former owners, 1730-1853?); the Dexter Family (former owners, 1885-1920); Augusta Putnam (former owner, 1920-1945); Oliver Ames (former owner, 1945-1950); Robert & Eugenia Seamans (former owners, 1950-2010); H. J. Collins & Associates (pool & tennis court designer, circa 1980); Beverly Benson Seamans (sculptor, 1970-1990); Austin Lydon (garden assistant, 1951-1965); Dick & Sylvia Forgit (garden assistants, 1966-1986); Bob & Cindi Bell (garden assistants, 1987-2011).
Related Materials:
Sea Meadow related holdings consist of 1 folder (15 35mm slides (photographs); 5 digital images)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
Capitoline Garden, The, Cobb House Condominium (Boston, Massachusetts)
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Suffolk County -- Boston
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, copies of articles about the garden from the 1920s and 1930s, and other information.
General:
Located on Beacon Hill, this garden is a well-preserved vestige of the post-1900 movement to convert the service areas of 19th-century townhouses into gardens. The garden was originally designed in 1928 by Harvard landscape design graduate Robert Nathan Cram to lie behind two adjoining Joy Street houses (ca. 1810) that he owned. The Depression intervened, however; Cram, financially ruined, died a suicide in 1930 and subsequent owners made many changes. Finally, in 1984 the property was converted to condominium apartments. The condominium association has imaginatively planted and carefully maintained its unique little courtyard. Remarkably, the outlines of Cram's original design are still in place, with several features intact: a chin-deep "plunging pool" fed by a dolphin-head fountain and a pergola supported by twisted columns.
Persons associated with the garden include Robert Nathan Cram (landscape architect, 1928-30) and James Hicks Stone (architect, 1928).
Related Materials:
The Capitoline Garden, Cobb House Condominium related holdings consist of 1 folder (9 35 mm. slides (photographs); 3 photographic prints)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Nantucket County -- Nantucket
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, garden plans, a description of the garden by Julie Jordin, a tree and shrub list, and detailed historical information (including photocopies of public documents) about the property.
General:
The 1834 Charles Coffin house is the site of this one-third acre garden in the center of Nantucket town. Surrounded by mature maple and elm trees that protect it from the island's harsh climate extremes, the garden features a formal front yard and a backyard that includes several garden "rooms." The front yard is enclosed by the original wheat sheaf fence found in the attic during a restoration, while the plant material is composed primarily of trimmed boxwood hedges in keeping with Coffin's conservative Quaker tradition. The backyard includes a large cutting garden on the west side of the house, while established hydrangeas, azaleas, rhododendrons, and hostas provide a border for the lawn and a backdrop for the pond. A period sunken garden features two 19th-century statues flanking the steps and opposing camelback sofas created out of boxwood. A twisted steel gazebo hides underneath wisteria in a shady back corner.
Persons and firms associated with the property include: Charles Coffin (former owner, ca. 1830s); Paul Faulkner "Chip" Callaway and Callaway & Associates (landscape architects, 2000-2002); and Julie Jordin and The Garden Design Co. (landscape designers, 2004-2006).
Related Materials:
78 Main Street related holdings consist of 1 folder (17 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Berkshire County -- Stockbridge
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, and additional information.
General:
This 19-acre site was established as an orchard in the early 1700s by the Carter family and remained a working farm until after World War II. Former owner James C. Carter built the brick Federal-style house in 1830, which was restored by the current owners, who acquired the property in the early 1980s. New landscaping was also undertaken. Stone walls, heirloom 19th-century apple trees, fields, and lawns were incorporated in the design and connect the various gardens as well as the present to the past. A variety of plantings, from tree and herbaceous peonies to smokebush, mock orange, and hydrangea grace the terrace gardens, while summer gardens feature several varieties of helianthus. The park-like setting is complemented by mature trees and additional older heirloom buildings, such as a late 18th-century blacksmith house now restored as a guest house. The overall effect highlights and enhances the natural topography, history, and beauty of the land and the surrounding Berkshire Hills.
Persons associated with the site include Helga S. Orthofer (landscape designer and photographer, late 1980s to date) and James C. Carter (former owner, 1830).
Related Materials:
Kaiserhof related holdings consist of 1 folder (18 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Stockbridge Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Essex -- Wenham
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, historical images, and biographical and other information.
General:
Old Farm has a sunken and enclosed garden designed in 1912-1913 by Ellen Biddle Shipman in the Colonial Revival style to complement the 17th century farm house, described as a cloistered space within the more than one hundred acres of fields and woodlands that comprise this property. The garden was one of Shipman's earliest documented professional commissions, a rectangular plot sub-divided by stone and gravel walks into smaller rectangular beds surrounded by a low dry stone wall. At the far end there is a stone apse or excedrae with room for outdoor seating and a lily pond, now dry. Shipman's original stone terrace directly behind the house, stone walkway down the middle of the garden, and stone steps that lead up to the excedrae have grown over with grass and the American elm trees that shaded the enclosed garden have been replaced by other mature trees. The flower beds have been retained in their original shapes and siting, and have three distinct seasons of blooms: first daffodils, followed by irises, phlox and peonies, then fall asters.
The original 17th century house had rooms on either side of the chimney in front with a lean-to rear section. In the late 19th century the rear section was raised to two stories, and in the early 20th century the house was restored by preservation specialist Joseph Everett Chandler. Ellen Biddle Shipman added trellises for vines and a garden in front of the house planted with boxwood, roses and oleander.
Persons associated with the garden include: John H. B. Kent (former owner, 1836-1910); Benjamin F. and Adelaine L. Peach (former owners, 1899-1910); Alanson L. and Frances Pomeroy Daniels (former owners, 1910-1933); John S. and Mary B. Amory (former owners, 1933-1961); Ellen Biddle Shipman (landscape architect, 1912-1913); Joseph Everett Chandler (preservation architect, 1915); Lawrence Tennis (gardener, 2004- ); Beverly Benson Seamans (1928-2012) (sculptor).
Related Materials:
Old Farm related holdings consist of 1 folder (3 35mm slides (photographs); 15 digital images)
Additional materials also located in the Benjamin Howe Conant Collection of Photographs, Wenham Museum, Wenham, Massachusetts; Ellen McGowan Biddle Shipman archive #1259, Carl A. Kroch Library Division of Rare and Manuscripts Collection, Cornell University , Ithaca, New York
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Berkshire County -- Williamstown
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, site plans, and additional information.
General:
Located on one acre, this property with its enchanting garden of flower borders and majestic trees dates back to the 19th century when the Ide family owned it. Thomas Walsh, the subsequent owner, paid little attention to the upkeep of the grounds, so when the current owners bought it in 1978 they began creating a garden based on classic English gardens. This small, densely planted garden surrounds a charming old carriage barn turned into the central residence. Deep beds along the south, east and north perimeters contain mixed plantings of trees, shrubs, and flowers. Towering trees, borrowed views that look onto acres of neighboring lawns and glimpses of the distant mountains create an expansive sense of the Berkshire landscape.
An urn in the front of the carriage house beckons the visitor to follow the bluestone path and steps that lead from the driveway to a narrow sunken garden. A circular water garden around a central waterfall is visible at the north end of the property. The flanking wide bluestone walkway and seating area are planted with creeping plants. This water area is surrounded by circular borders and a cedar pergola connecting the lily pool to the ornamental kitchen garden. Arches made of local cedar support a mix of vegetables and climbing flowers. Each border has a distinctive identity. An island bed is wrapped around towering old pines, contains a folly, with concrete columns and water dripping into a smaller pool. Foraged pieces of old marble suggest a ruin while the colorful pink and mauve hues and brightly colored flowers growing in clay pots and several broken columns create a sense of whimsy. The focal point of a second island bed is a clematis-covered weathered window frame bearing an inscription from Andrew Marvell's 17th century poem, "The Garden". Looking through this frame captures the landscape beyond and symbolizes the creative act of garden-making, of ordering and framing nature's wildness.
Persons associated with the garden include: Ide Family (former owners, 19th century), Thomas Walsh (former owner, date unknown-1977), Elizabeth Bartels (landscape architect, 1989), Little and Lewis (artists, 2000), Niels Oleson (garden designer, builder, gardener, 2000-present) and Ilona Bell (garden designer and gardener).
Related Materials:
Ilona's Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (18 35 mm. slides (photographs))
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Topic:
Gardens -- Massachusetts -- Williamstown Search this
Collection Citation:
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Nantucket County -- Nantucket
Date:
2007 Aug.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
United States of America -- Massachusetts -- Nantucket County -- Nantucket
Date:
2007 Jul.
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials 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. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
