Biennial Conference on Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes
Every two years, Southern Garden History Society co-sponsors a Conference on Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes in Winston-Salem, NC. The conference co-sponsors include Old Salem Museums & Gardens and Reynolda House Museum of American Art.
The conference’s mission is to discuss historical horticulture, garden history, and landscape restoration in the southern states. The program presents topics of interest to the professional and layman alike and provides participants an opportunity to learn and share information about this field in the South.
More information is available on the Old Salem website.
The 22nd biennial Conference on Southern Gardens & Landscapes, sponsored by Old Salem Museums & Gardens, Southern Garden History Society, and Wake Forest University Department of History, was held September 26-28, 2019, in Winston-Salem, NC. In Saturday’s session, Dreck Spurlock Wilson, ASLA, NOMA, presented “Closer than Botanists to Landscape Architects: George Washington Carver and David Augustus Williston.”
Due to time constraints, Mr. Wilson was unable to conclude his presentation with the documentary video “Wings for This Man.” Mr. Wilson states: “Wings for This Man” was filmed in 1941 by the U.S. Air Force and narrated by Des Moines, Iowa sportscaster Ronald Reagan. It is the only film record of landscape architect David Augustus Williston’s (1868-1962) landscape design and civil engineering of the Tuskegee Airfield (1941) where the legendary “Tuskegee Airmen” trained. Until now the declassified film has not been publicly viewed.
Please click on image of film to view:
Previous Conferences:
2017 – Gardening in a Golden Age: Southern Gardens & Landscapes of the Early 20th Century and the Challenges to Their Preservation
2015 – Learning from the Past/Planting for the Future
2013 – Feeding the American South: Heritage Gardening & Farming
2011 – A New World: Naturalists and Artists in the American South
2009 – Returning to Our Roots: Planting and Replanting the Historic Southern Garden
2007 – Lost Landscapes, Preserved Prospects: Confronting Natural & Human Threats to the Historic Southern Landscape
2005 – Unearthing the Past, Planting the Future: Issues and Challenges in Southern Landscape Restoration
2003 – A Genius & His Legacy: Frederick Law Olmsted in the South
2001 – Cultivating History: Exploring Horticultural Practices of the Southern Gardener
1999 – Plans and Plants of the Southern Landscape
1997 – Breaking Ground: Examing the Vision and Practice of Historic Landscape Restoration
1995 – The Influence of Women on the Southern Landscape
1993 – Many People, Many Cultures: The Shaping of the Southern Landscape
1991 – The Southern Vernacular Landscape
1989 – Gardening for Pleasure in the South
1987 – Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes
1985 – 400 Years of Southern Gardens and Landscapes
1983 – Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes
1982 – Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes
1980 – Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes
1979 – Restoring Southern Gardens and Landscapes: A Conference for the States of the Upper South