History Lecture Series at Woodlawn: Inventing the Colonial Revival Garden

Our History Lecture for October is Inventing the Colonial Revival Garden presented by Val Libby.

By 1880, urban growth, industrialization, and mass immigration had unsettled many Americans, especially city dwellers, and caused them to turn to an imagined past. They believed the colonial towns of New England embodied the more secure, simpler and less stressful life for which they yearned. In response, they purchased and restored old buildings. They also created gardens as picturesque settings for the properties they restored. These gardens bore little resemblance to those of the “cherished” past. Plants were chosen as favorites of a previous generation rather than based on historical research.  Let’s look at the work of creative, if mistaken, designers and the surviving examples of Colonial Revival gardens.

Val Libby retired as a professor of landscape history and public horticulture at Temple University. She has lectured and taught internationally and is the award-winning…