GCA Born In 1891

The first Garden Club in America was born January, 1891 in Athens, Georgia.  Twelve ladies met and little did they know that they were lighting the way for thousands to follow.

The Garden Club of Alabama, Inc. was established April 28, 1932 at the Jefferson Davis Hotel in Montgomery.  Mrs. Charles Bricken of Montgomery was the first President.  Membership was open to all Garden Clubs with 15 or more active members.  Dues were 10 cents per member.  Alabama was Federated in 1934, with 708 clubs and 13,817 members.  By this time, the country was in a Great Depression and Garden Clubs were struggling for mere existence.  However, over 100 people attended the first State Convention in Mobile.

  The Garden Club's goal was to get a stock law.  During the 1934-35 administration the first Judge's School was held.  In this era, Alabama adopted the goldenrod as the State Flower, but some called it a weed that had been defined as "a plant out of place."

  On GCA's 10th Anniversary in 1942 Mrs. R. J. Woods of Mobile became the Club's President.  With the onset of World War II, the world was changing, and GCA was changing with it.  Fearing that the effects of war would interfere with Garden Clubbers, some asked Mrs. Woods about disbanding for the duration.  She said, "No, members could better serve their country through organization."

  Garden Clubbers participated in many lines of war work:  Victory Gardens were planted; clubs held Victory Garden Harvest Shows; clubs supplied flowers, plants and shrubs to Army and Navy hospitals; military posts were landscaped.  Mrs. Woods, Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Wheeler lead the organization in patriotic projects:  the purchase of an ambulance; raising $2500 for the Red Cross's overseas mission; caring for British graves; planting thousands of bulbs and trees at Northington General Hospital in Tuscaloosa.  Westwood Garden Club of Birmingham planted 80,000 daffodil bulbs in large V-shaped beds (for victory) along Highway 78 between Jasper and Birmingham.  Many clubs had canning kitchens and held supper parties for soldiers.  Everyone visited hospitals.

  The first issue of Hortensia won a First Place Award from National in 1942.

  In 1944-45 Alabama was the first state to celebrate "Bird Day."  The governor proclaimed a state Bird Day each year.

  In 1950-52 Mrs. Edwards started the Christmas Lighting program in Selma, and it spread over the state of Alabama.

  The Helen Keller Gardens at Talladega State School for the Blind was planted and won the Bronze Seal Award from NCSGC in 1960. The Garden Clubs of Phenix City, for $15,000, had the distinction of owning the only Garden Club House in the state.

The Garden Club of Alabama, Inc. was legally incorporated during the 1961-63 term, and had its first State Flower Show "Alabama's Debut."

In 1965 a table was placed in Kellogg Hall as a gift from The Garden Club of Alabama, Inc., honoring Mary Louise Merriwether.

  As you can see, The Garden Club of Alabama ladies have always been busy and caring.  We should be proud to belong to such a distinguished heritage of service.  Every member of our Garden Club of Alabama family should work for our goals.

  This story was shared as a reminder to all of us:  Some people were sightseeing in Florida and stopped to walk through a nature trail.They enjoyed the birds, animals, flowers and other interesting things.  They reached a beautiful pond of water with alligators all around.  By the pond they saw different species of trees, but one tree had been uprooted years ago and was lying in the water.  Its branches had turned upward and had grown into a beautifully shaped tree.  Around its trunk someone had written these words

"NEVER GIVE UP - LOOK WHAT I'VE DONE."

This History of our Garden Club was taken from an address given by  President  Mary Fay Crumly to the Fall, 1996 District Meetings.

 

1932-2007

"I Hear The Sounds " Within these pages are the voices of people and cultures from around the globe, in eras past and present, celebrating their relationship with the natural world. Like many sounds of nature, their words have powerful meaningful rhythms.