Early School Gardens in Philadelphia
In 1903, R.F. Powell, of the Vacant Lots Association, recommended that the collaborative school garden effort be extended and suggested that an offer be made to the Board of Education to the effect "… that we will be at all expense of securing and preparing suitable school gardens on condition that suitable and sufficient teachers and supervisors be supplied by the Board of Education to manage and teach the children and cultivate the gardens."
Early in 1904, the Public Education Association rolled out the big guns with a public lecture. The presenters included Fannie Griscom Parsons, founder of the DeWitt Clinton Garden in New York City and Herbert D. Hemenway of the Hartford School of Horticulture. The addresses aimed to give a clear idea of school gardens and their educational value, and to develop the possibility of opening a garden in Philadelphia. With a special appropriation by the Board of Education of $3500, the first two Board of Education “experimental” gardens opened on May 12, 1904.
Philadelphia School Gardens 1901-1919
By 1919, there were 30 large school gardens, 22 smaller gardens, 18 flower beds in school yards, and 24 box gardens in the buildings. And, it’s reported that there were 38 garden teachers, assistants and gardeners. The teachers connected with the large gardens worked six days a week, assisted by a gardener 3 days a week.
Generous support for this exhibition is provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities CARES Act.