 |
Scope of the
Collections
 The
Archives of American Gardens (AAG) currently documents over
6,000 gardens throughout the United States. Images in the
archives, which date from the late nineteenth century to
the present, highlight such features as garden furniture
and ornamentation, fountains, sculptures, fences and gates,
parterres, and garden structures. The design styles represented
range from large Italianate estates to herb and rose gardens,
cottage and patio gardens, and community gardens.
Shumway Garden, Lake Forest, Illinois. Photographer unknown.
c. 1930s. |
|
|
The Archives of American Gardens includes
images and supporting documentation related to garden design
in the U.S. from the following collections.
Garden Club of America Collection:
Over 40,000 images and related files that document thousands
of gardens throughout the U.S.
J. Horace McFarland Collection:
447 glass lantern slides and 3,145 black and white photographs
dating from 1900 to 1961. Dr. McFarland was a well-known
author, publisher, horticulturist, and authority on roses.
His printing company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania published
many of the seed and nursery catalogs in the United States
from the 1910s until the 1950s. Numerous images from the
company's archives have appeared in journals and books.
Thomas Warren Sears Collection:
Approximately 4,600 black and white glass negatives of gardens
and landscapes dating from 1900 to 1966. The negatives were
taken by Sears, a well-known Philadelphia landscape architect,
and include both American and European gardens.
W. Atlee Burpee & Company Collection:
The collection consists of approximately 12,715 items, including
account books, diaries, seed trial records, office correspondence,
contest letters, seed catalogs, and other items relating
to the W. Atlee Burpee & Company and its competitors.
The collection ranges from 1873-1978, with the majority
of items dating from 1890-1930.
Lewis and Valentine Collection:
Specializing in moving and replanting large trees, the
Lewis and Valentine Nursery was one of the most prominent
landscape contracting companies in the eastern United States
during the first half of the twentieth century. The collection
includes brochures, photographs, books, trade catalogs,
company papers, and letters from clients dating from 1918
to 1970. It was a gift from the late Hewlett Withington
Lewis, former owner of the Lewis and Valentine Nursery.
"The Chimneys"
Collection: This
collection documents "The Chimneys," the Manchester,
Massachusetts estate of Katharine Lane Weems, a sculptor
of animal figures. It includes landscape and architectural
plans, photographs, 35mm slides, glass slides, journals,
and books dating from 1903 to 1981.
Perry Wheeler Collection:
35mm slides, photographs, plans, drawings, and correspondence
from the 1940s through the 1970s that document the work
of Perry Wheeler, a Washington, DC landscape architect who
specialized in the design of private gardens. Wheeler is
particularly noted for his work on the White House gardens
in the 1960s.
Robert M. Fletcher
Collection: Approximately 150 images of a sampling
of private gardens in California designed by landscape architect
Robert M. Fletcher.
Horticulture Services Division
Collection: Photographs, 35mm slides, postcards,
and stereographs documenting artifacts collected by the
Smithsonian Institution, Horticulture Services Division
(fountains, urns, wrought iron furniture, etc.) as well
as the history and contemporary practice of horticulture
and landscape design in the United States. Subjects include
landscape architecture, garden equipment, and plants as
decorative elements. Materials date from the late 1800s
to the present.
Over 800 historic stereograph views maintained
by the Horticulture Services Division reflect some aspect
of decorative arts in floral, garden, or landscape design.
|
|
The Archives of American Gardens (AAG), a collecting unit
in the Smithsonian Institution Horticulture Services Division,
offers landscape designers, historians, researchers, and garden
enthusiasts access to a collection of approximately 80,000
photographic images and records documenting historic and contemporary
American gardens. Because gardens are both fragile and ephemeral,
photographs are an important means of obtaining data on the
evolution of American spaces. AAG preserves important resources
for investigating significant aspects of U.S. cultural and
landscape design history. 