'I have heard nothing from William in a long time. Nor know any news where he is'
- John Bartram to John Fothergill, May 6, 1776
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT
This is shaping up to be a remarkable year at Bartram's Garden. The staff has crafted the best-ever schedule of events for your enjoyment including cruises, trips, lectures, and movies in the meadow. Enhancements to facilities, programs, and outreach are in the works as well.
This summer we will greatly increase awareness of the Garden and the Bartram's on both sides of the Atlantic with our participation in the American Roots project at Painshill Park outside London. Curator Joel T. Fry will present the findings of his research for the project, funded in part with a grant from the Willowwood Foundation, at the grand opening on July 15th. Four Bartram staff members will be on hand for the opening and weeklong conference leading to this exciting day, thanks in large part to the generosity of John, Chara, and Leonard Haas.
On June 22nd we will mount the first of what we hope are many exhibits at the Garden, starting with Historic American Landscape Survey - Drawings and Photographs of the Bartram House and Garden. All the while the preservation of our historic structures will continue under a plan developed by historic architect Dale Frens with funding from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission.
Also this summer, our long-awaited dock will be built thanks to a comprehensive grant to the Schuylkill River Development Corporation from the William Penn Foundation and previous funding received by from the City of Philadelphia, the Coastal Zone Management Program of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the Davenport Family Foundation, the George and Miriam Martin Foundation, and Sarah Bohlen.
Concurrent with the construction along the river our entrance will be greatly enhanced as PennDOT replaces the 103-year old Lindbergh Avenue Railroad Bridge. And if all that isnft enough, the community garden along our entrance drive will burst forth with vegetables and flowers planted by students from Bartram Village Head Start in a new program funded by the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, and the Philadelphia Foundation.
So please make it a point to get out to the Garden this year to enjoy this amazingly beautiful place that succeeds largely due to the support of wonderful people like you. On behalf of the staff and board of directors Thank you.
-Bill LeFevre
FUNDING NEWS - AND MIGHTY GOOD NEWS IT IS
On December 31, 2004 the John Bartram Association completed its 15th consecutive year with a balanced budget! The generosity of our members and individual donors to our annual year-end appeal came through once again, and to all who gave goes our sincerest appreciation and thanks. We are also deeply grateful to the following organizations for their generous support of our efforts to preserve, interpret, and enhance Bartram's Garden through operating grants received since last October.
- Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission $24,800
- Connelly Foundation $12,329
- Sunoco, Inc. $12,000
- Hamilton Family Foundation $10,000
- Philadelphia Cultural Fund $9,801
- Brandywine Realty Trust $5,000
- The Philadelphia Foundation $5,000
- Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation $5,000
- Seybert Institution $5,000
- Lawrence Saunders Foundation $5,000
- Caroline J. Sanders Trust #2 $5,000
- Elsie Lee Garthwaite Memorial Foundation $5,000
- Union Benevolent Fund $3,000
- Wachovia $2,500
- Walter J. Miller Trust $2,500
Support the John Bartram Association by checking CODE 3136 on you UNITED WAY pledge form.
In addition, we recently received word of two significant additions to our endowment fund. In early March we received a pledge of $100,000 from the Dorrance Hamilton Charitable Trust and later in the same month a pledge of $300,000 by The McLean Contributionship. The McLean gift is contingent on the Association securing new or increased matching gifts from individual donors over the next three years, which will be matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000 per gift. We are indeed blessed to receive such generous and visionary support. If you wish to participate in the McLean match please contact development director Teddy Ashmead at 215-729-52841 x 102 or Email tashmead@bartramsgarden.org
THE GREAT DESERT: THIRD ANNUAL BARTRAM PINE BARRENS TOUR
Join Bartram Curator Joel T. Fry, and Dr. William Cahill, author of 'William Bartram and the Romance of Learning,' on Saturday June 4th following John Bartram's early exploration of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. The group will visit locations with plants Bartram was known to collect such as Webb's Mill Bog, with an abundance of pitcher plants, orchids, and other rare Pine Barrens natives. Participants will meet at the Red Lion Diner in New Jersey at the intersection of routes 206 and 70 by 9am and carpool to several sites until calling it a day by 5pm. Not all the roads we will travel are paved, but are well graded and passable. Bring lunch, water will be provided. Be prepared for a day outside with moderate walking.
The cost is $25 (non-members $30). Call 215-729-5281x100 to register.
Limited to 20 participants.
Note: We will return to the Pine Barrens again on September 24th for a look at this amazing landscape in early fall.
BARTRAM BIRTHDAY BENEFIT & RIVER CRUISE
Join benefit co-chairs Gretchen Riley and Susie Wilmerding the Thursday before Memorial Day to kick off summer in style and celebrate John Bartram's 306th birthday. Thursday May 26th, 5-9pm Don't miss this gala reception in America's oldest botanic garden and a leisurely cruise down the Tidal Schuylkill (choose to cruise at 5:30 or 6:30 pm). Proceeds support education programs and Garden maintenance.
$150 per ticket including cruise, buffet, house and garden tours, open bar and entertainment.
Call assistant to the director Andrea Taylor to register, 215-729 5281x100.
UPCOMING FREE EVENTS AT THE GARDEN
Saturday, April 23, 2 pm
'American Roots' of Painshill Park
Bartram Curator Joel T. Fry will speak about Painshill Park's new exhibit on 18th c. plant exchange between Europe and America involving John Bartram, Peter Collinson (London), and Charles Hamilton of Painshill Park (Surrey). This lecture highlights Curator Fry's recent research about Bartram's explorations, plant lists and seed exchanges with Painshill. Free.
Saturday, May 7, 7:30 am
Birding the Bartram Meadow
During peak migration, join expert birders and executive director Bill LeFevre for a morning bird walk at Bartram's Garden. Meet in parking lot at 7:30 am. Free.
Wednesday June 22, 6 - 8 pm,
Opening Reception Exhibit: Historic American Landscape Survey - Drawings and Photographs of the Bartram House and Garden
Exhibition runs June 22 - August 26, 12, 4 pm, Tuesday through Sunday
The exhibit features drawings and photographs from the 2001 Bartram House architectural survey and the 2002 drawings of the Garden. Bartram's Garden Coach House, see Museum Shop for entry. Free.
Thursday, August 4, 6 pm
Annual Franklinia Lecture
Curator Joel Fry will present historic background and the newest research about the Bartram's signature plant named after John's friend Benjamin Franklin. Refreshments provided. Free.
Thursday, August 18, 8 pm, 10 pm
Street Movies! from Scribe Video Center, www.scribe.org
Unfold your lawn chair at Bartram's Garden and enjoy innovative films that will open eyes and get people talking. Free.
SCHUYLKILL RIVER CRUISES
Join us for our third season of these popular one-hour boat trips from the Bartram meadow to the Fairmount Waterworks and back. Experience the future of Philadelphia as the 'New River City in America'. Limited seating, $20 per seat ($15 for members), arrive one half hour before departure, moderate walk through the meadow required to board vessel. Call 215-729 5281x100 to register. Reservation form and schedule available on www.bartramsgarden.org
Sunday May 8 - Mother's Day, departing at 2pm & 4pm
Saturday May 21 - departing at 12pm & 2pm
Saturday June 11 - departing at 4pm & 6pm
Sunday June 26 - departing at 4pm & 6pm
Wednesday July 27 - departing at 5pm & 7pm
Thursday August 11 - departing at 5pm & 7pm
Thursday August 25 - departing at 5pm & 7pm
MEMBERSHIP IS CLIMBING
In 2002 the John Bartram Association membership numbered 450. Entering 2005 the membership role stands at 640, an increase of over 40% in less than 3 years, thank you! Please remember to renew your membership in the John Bartram Association in time for the Member's Preview at the Native Plant Sale and feel free to invite others inclined toward horticulture and historic preservation to do likewise. Over 60 of our members recently enjoyed a special Behind the Scenes Tour at the Academy of Natural Science, and development director Teddy Ashmead and membership coordinator Alison McDowell are busy planning future such collaborative opportunities for our members. In addition to funding member programs, membership provides a significant portion of our ongoing operational support. Information on our membership program and the application form are available by clicking www.bartramsgarden.org/support/membership.html
ENGLISH GARDEN TO CELEBRATE 'AMERICAN ROOTS'
On July 15, 2005 Painshill Park, a 160 acre garden in Surrey southwest of London, is set to open a major floral exhibition that recreates the 18th century horticultural exchange between Philadelphia and Europe. Entitled American Roots, the exhibition tells the story of how American seeds changed European gardens forever. The project is made possible by the co-operation of American and British historic and horticultural institutions. These include Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum; Chelsea Physic Garden; Monticello; The Royal Botanical Garden at Kew; Bartram's Garden; and Painshill Park.
American Roots is a unique cultivation of horticultural partnerships in existence for two and a half centuries. The Park's owner and creator The Hon. Charles Hamilton, like many of his English and European contemporaries in the mid-1700s, was fascinated with the American colonies. This curiosity drove a keen appetite and desire for seeds and exotic plants from across the Atlantic. At the center of this trans-Atlantic exchange was John Bartram in Philadelphia.
This is a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness of the Bartram's and their work in audiences at home and abroad. Opening day for American Roots marks the final event of an international conference focusing on 18th century culture entitled "Way's of Making and Knowing." The conference, sponsored by the Yale Centre for British Art and The Wellcome Trust, runs July 10 through July 15 in London. Bartram's Garden will be well-represented with executive director Bill LeFevre, education director Christy Schneider, head gardener Todd Greenberg, and gardener Nancy Wygant attending, and curator Joel Fry presenting.
Fry will offer a preview of the American Roots exhibit and his research during a free lecture in the Bartram Coach House, Saturday, April 23rd at 2pm. For additional information on the American Roots exhibit visit www.painshill.co.uk
BARTRAM'S GARDEN IS A FAVORITE PLACE FOR LEARNING
Evaluating programs can be challenging but recent words of praise from teachers of visiting school groups demonstrate the effectiveness of Bartram's quarter-century old education program. Last year Bartram's Garden introduced a one-page evaluation form for teachers to encourage comments and suggestions. Each school visit includes a house and garden tour and hands on activities such as making cider or butter. One teacher appreciated the "hands on experience and knowledgeable guide (who) was happy to respond to student questions and observations". One 5th grade teacher added, "Absolutely this is my favorite place for class learning." Another 7th grade teacher wrote that she valued learning about "the historical background and its relevancy to today's health (and) organic interests."
The relevance of a field trip often depends upon how easily teachers can match the trip to the state curriculum standards schools must follow. This past winter, Bartram staff revised teacher information packets with a chart demonstrating how each trip meets Pennsylvania State Standards. One kindergarten teacher appreciated this chart and said, "You've really done your homework. These standards give me information to hand in to the principal."
These teachers work with some of the 8,500 students Bartram's Garden reached through field trips and off-site programs in 2004. Last year over 700 students from Southwest Philadelphia visited free of charge through grants from Frederick Heldring and the Dolfinger-McMahon Foundation. In 2005, thanks to help from Mr. Heldring, John Haas, the Hamilton Family Foundation and the Arcadia Foundation, 2100 students from our neighboring Southwest Philadelphia community will enjoy free school trips, including all important and difficult to fund bus transportation, to Bartram's Garden. Hopefully, the teachers of these students will agree that Bartramfs is their favorite place for learning and fun. -Christy Schneider
A NEW BUT FAMILIAR FACE IN THE GARDEN
Todd Greenburg, a resident of West Philadelphia and a student in the horticulture program at Temple University Ambler, became the John Bartram Association's head gardener in January following the resignation of former head gardener Jay Danzenbaker. Todd may be a familiar face to some as he worked in the Garden last summer as a Fairmount Park intern. Todd, not one to let the grass grow under his feet, began his new job, bought a house, and got married all in the first three months on the job. We wish him the best of luck in his new position and can't wait to see what he does in his second three months.
PLANNING FOR OUR FUTURE
In addition to the Preservation Plan currently under development by historic architect Dale Frens, several other planning initiatives are underway as we work to insure the future of the Garden and prepare for increased visitation in the next few years expected with the completion of the Schuylkill River Trail and revitalization of the Lower Schuylkill River. In March the planning committee began a review and revision of the Plan of the John Bartram Association 2002-2007 under the leadership of planning chair Claire Sawyers and guided by facilitator Sandra Graham.
A proposal for an Interpretive Plan will be presented to the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area in April and if funded, could be complete by Spring 2006. This plan will follow through on previous research on interpretive themes by the late Martha Halpern. The landscape committee is preparing a Request for Proposal for a Site Master Plan that would for the first time address the entire 45-acre site as a whole. Finally students from the Landscape Architecture program at Temple Ambler studied the Garden and the industrial landscape between the Garden and the Grays Ferry Bridge in their Fall 2004 design studio. Look for a display of the students work here later this summer. This studio, under the direction of Temple professor Baldev Lamba will repeat this fall as the next class continues to envision the future with youthful eyes.
