Category: History
Category
I study rat nests − here’s why rodents make great archivists
Rats and other rodents and pests can make great archivists. That’s because they forage food and build dens, storing fabric, paper, animal bones, plant remains and other materials under floorboards,…
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“So I was the new flower that had to flourish and be that tall”
The 15th annual Philadelphia Indigenous Peoples’ Day Celebration will be held at Bartram’s Garden on Sunday, October 12, 11am–5pm. We sat down with the event co-host and one of the…
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Meet Ciara Williams, our Lenape Research Fellow!
Last spring, Bartram’s Garden began the search to find our very first Lenape Research Fellow. The creation of this fellowship project was to answer a deep need that we have…
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Historic Tulips
This article was featured in the April 2025 Bartram’s Garden collaboration with the Southwest Globe Times newspaper. Few flowers evoke the feeling that spring has truly sprung as much as…
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New Tools for Garden Visitors with Low Vision Created by Local Accessibility Advocate and Philly Poet
This article was featured in the April 2025 Bartram’s Garden collaboration with the Southwest Globe Times newspaper. For Southwest Philadelphia neighbors, Bartram’s Garden is a place to experience nature in…
Read MoreJoel’s Wisdom in the Garden: Remembered by Mandy Katz
In fond memory of Curator Joel T. Fry (February 22, 1957–March 21, 2023) Almost one year past the date of Joel’s surprising illness and death, I still find myself in…
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Remembering Joel T. Fry (1957–2023)
Acclaimed historian Joel T. Fry, the long-time curator at Bartram’s Garden, died on March 21, 2023. Beyond his family, his memory is cherished by the dozens of gardeners, historians, archaeologists, scientists, and colleagues, both here in Philadelphia and worldwide, who relied on Joel as an inexhaustible source of scholarly expertise, dry wit, and constant inspiration.
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Ailanthus: John Bartram and Philadelphia’s Most Notorious Tree
Few trees define America’s urban environments more than Ailanthus altissima, or the “Tree-of-Heaven.” If you are not familiar with that name, you are undoubtedly familiar with the tree itself. Ailanthus…
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