TEMPLE
UNIVERSITY AMBLER WINS BEST OF SHOW AT THE
2005 PHILADELPHIA FLOWER SHOW
Temple
University Ambler Landscape Architecture and Horticulture students and
Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler volunteers won Best of
Show in the Academic Educational category at the 2005 Philadelphia Flower
Show for their detailed presentation, “Progressive Women in
Horticulture: A Driving Force in Philadelphia — 1904 to 1924.” The
exhibit earned a perfect score of 100 from the judges.
This marks the fourth straight year that the Ambler campus has garnered a major exhibitor award at the Flower Show. The exhibit was additionally honored with a Special Achievement Award in Horticulture from the Garden Club Federation of Pennsylvania.
“To win Best of Show, to earn this distinction at an internationally recognized exhibition, it’s immensely gratifying for the students and volunteers who have put so much into this project for the past several months,” said Dr. Lolly Tai, Chair of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture at Temple University Ambler. “Our 2005 exhibit is a unique celebration of our horticultural past, the very foundation of the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture programs that we offer at the Ambler campus today. They paved the way for our students to pursue their dreams and fully utilize their creativity in the green industry. Without them, I think the visual tapestry of the region, and the nation, would be very different today.”
In a span of just 10 years, a group of progressive women, no longer willing to be trapped in established roles such as teacher or nurse, created four organizations, which had an immediate and enduring impact.
While the suffragettes were fighting for the right to vote, the likes of Jane Bowne Haines, Ernestine Abercrombie Goodman, Mrs. J. Willis Martin, Mrs. E. Francis King, and Elizabeth Leighton Lee were fighting a battle of a different sort — the right to choose their own futures.
The
Garden Club of Philadelphia, founded in 1904, was followed by the
Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women in 1910 (the forerunner of
Temple University Ambler), the Garden Club of America in 1913, and the
Woman’s Farm and Garden Association in 1914 — their founding members
would shape the future of public and private horticulture for years to
come. It is their drive and determination that Temple University Ambler is
commemorating at the 2005 Philadelphia Flower Show, which continues
through Sunday, March 13.
Temple
University Ambler’s Flower Show exhibit includes three fully realized
“garden vignettes” — gardens that signify the achievements of the
Garden Club of Philadelphia, Garden Club of America, Pennsylvania School
of Horticulture for Women, and the Woman’s National Farm and Garden
Association. The display includes a colonial revival garden, a greenhouse,
and a war garden (later called victory gardens), that visitors have the
opportunity to walk through while learning about the historical
significance behind them.
“Our
involvement in the Flower Show each year is an excellent learning
experience for our students —
the reality of getting a project done of this magnitude on a very tight
schedule — that provides them with an excellent opportunity to work as a
team,” said Temple University
Ambler Assistant Horticulture Professor Sinclair Adam, who helped
coordinate this year’s exhibit. “There was a real sense of community
on this project; everyone from the Department (of Landscape Architecture
and Horticulture) to alumni and volunteers to the campus library staff was
involved in seeing the exhibit to completion. To be able to compete at
this level, and to be honored for their efforts, this is an accomplishment
that everyone involved should be proud of.”
With
the Flower Show’s 2005 theme of “America the Beautiful,” exhibit
planners decided the timing was perfect to honor the pioneering women who
broke ground in more ways than one. According to Sue Pringle, a senior in
Horticulture at Temple University Ambler, students and volunteers are
excited about giving Flower Show visitors a chance to learn about a piece
of history of which they might not be familiar.
“This was the starting-off point of a movement that gave women other options. They didn’t have to be housewives, or teachers, or governesses,” said Pringle, who is also a member of the Landscape Arboretum of Temple University Ambler Advisory Committee, which helped spearhead this year’s exhibit. “Horticulture allowed them to get dirty, to work in the mud, to climb trees and they were no less the women for it. They were brave enough to change the status quo. Because of them, I’m able to come back to school now if I want to; I’m able to try different things without anyone telling me that I can or can’t do it.”
Temple University Ambler has a long and
illustrious history with the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, which
produces the Philadelphia Flower Show, taking home “Best of Show”
awards in 1987, 1989, 1990,
1991, 1993, 1997, 2002, and 2003 and prestigious honors from Garden
Club Federation of Pennsylvania in 2004.
Learn more about the award-winning exhibit here.
CONTACT: James Duffy, (215) 283-1290, duffyj@temple.edu, release available via e-mail
