The Herb Society of America 1933-1993 (Pink Book)

The Herb Society of America 1933-1993

A History by Dorothy G. Spencer

The Herb Society of America 1933-1993

A History by Dorothy G. Spencer

© Copyright The Herb Society of America, Inc. 1995

Published by The Herb Society of America, Inc. 9019 Kirtland-Chardon Road Kirtland, Ohio 44094

To

Priscilla Sawyer Lord

Author; Historian, Raconteur, and Friend

TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface and Acknowledgements, p. vi

Chapter One, p. 1 The Society Until 1945

Chapter Two, p. 21 The Changing Face of The Society Membership, New Units, Members-at-Large Chairman, Rotation, By-laws, Board of Directors, Nominating, Staff & Office, Planning Committees

Chapter Three, p. 33 Keeping in Touch Presidential Visits, Newsletters & Round Robins, Annual Meetings, Awards & Recognition

Chapter Four, p. 46 The Committees as a Reflection of Change Committees: Bibliography, Botany & Horticulture, Slide/Lectures, Library, History & Archives, Scholarships, Herbarium, Commercial Research, War Emergency (1950s), Publicity, Headquarters Search

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Illustrations, p. 68

Chapter Five, p. 81 Publications, Ways & Means, Travel Publications Committee: The Herbarist, Leaflets, Judging Herbs, Herb Garden Design, Beginners* Guides,Travelers' Guide, Cookbooks, Journals, Supported Publications, Committees: Ways & Means, Travel Chapter Six, p. 95 Gardens—The Tussie Mussie Trail Teaching, For the Blind, Historical, Chemurgic, For Children, The National Herb Garden Chapter Seven, p. 109 Reaching Beyond Gardens Exhibits, Scholarly Studies, Herb Days & Symposia, Crafts Appendix, p. 119 Past Presidents Awards & Recognition The Units Member-at Large Regions Annual Meetings Scholarship Recipients

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Preface and Acknowledgements The Herb Society of America began as a group of qualified ama­ teurs bound together by friendship, a desire to learn more about herbal plants and a commitment to sharing what they had learned through gardens, publications and exhibits. Dr. Anderson— founder, teacher, and first President—in a letter published in the March 1967 Bulletin described the founders as “...a diverse group....All were able, all creative; their personalities were widely different. No group of near-geniuses ever worked together so closely and harmoniously.” The early groups, predecessors of units, were friends of friends who responded to contemporary chal­ lenges—unemployment, war, and misconceptions about herbs—in ways appropriate to the area in which they lived. At the same time, those more widely scattered qualified amateurs, recommended by friends, participated in the activities of The Society through vo­ luminous correspondence and attendance at Annual Meetings.

Friendship, learning and sharing have enabled The Herb Society of America to grow and prosper for sixty years.

I have chosen to let the founders speak for themselves. They were intelligent, articulate people with a clear purpose who deserve better than a paraphrase in this history. There are many direct quotations in addition to those of the founders because The So­ ciety continued to be well served by equally astute members in many positions, and it seemed appropriate to let them speak for themselves also. Rather than following a strict chronological or­ der I have emphasized the way this group of herbal friends and educators have worked as a society through their committee struc­ ture to achieve their goals. Other peripheral—but none-the-less important—ways of learning and sharing the use and delight of herbs, such as herb days, crafts, exhibits and symposia, have been included as a part of the picture of The Herb Society of America. vi

My thanks to Sharon Gregor, Archivist, for making available Mrs. Cole’s correspondence, Mrs. Cunningham’s notebook, Mrs. Wil­ liams’ papers and the letters of former presidents which were gathered for the 50th Anniversary Meeting. The responses I have received from subsequent presidents have helped me clarify my ideas about the direction The Society has taken in the past ten years. The complete file of Board Minutes so carefully organized

by Jamie Barrow when she was first vice president were invalu­ able for answering my questions when the Reports of the Annual Meeting could not. My gratitude to Betty Stevens and her Advi­ sory Committee for the confidence they expressed in my ability to do this project and to all those members who encouraged me.

Thanks also to Elizabeth M. Postell, Publications Chairman and friend, for reading, editing and bringing my words to print. Lastly, I thank my husband for his understanding and interest.

I have herin communicated such notions as I have gathered either from reading of several authors, or by conferring sometimes with scholars and sometimes with country people; to which I have added some observations of my own, never before published, most of which I am confident are true, and if there be any that are not so, yet they are pleasant.

Willliam Cole in The Art of Simpling

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Chapter One The Society Until 1945 In a 1950 interview in the St. Louis Globe Democrat on the occa­ sion of the sixteenth Annual Meeting of The Herb Society of America, Dr. Edgar Anderson recalled receiving a call while he was on the staff of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard from a lady rep­ resenting a small garden group. “We wanted to do something more worth while than the ordinary garden club so we’ve started study­ ing herbs. Will you give us some botany lessons?” A fortunate meeting: for although Dr. Anderson professed small knowledge of herbs he suggested that he and the group study together to learn more. In the preface to his book Plants, Man and Life (2nd ed.

1967) he wrote of himself, “Ever since my late teens I had been explaining botany to visitors at various botanical gardens. Those I most enjoyed had deep-seated curiosity; good, disciplined minds; broad interests; but little technical understanding of plants.”

Throughout the fall and winter of 1932 the group met every week to study rosemary, their chosen plant, for which they grew, dried, and mounted specimens for future dissections and microscopic ex­ amination and library research. Later they studied horehound in the same detail. When two years later, on May 14, 1935, the group incorporated as The Herb Society of America in the state of Mas­ sachusetts, Dr. Anderson was among the signers of the document.

He was made first president of The Society at the first Annual Meeting, March 1935. Martha Genung Stearns (Mrs. Foster) wrote of him in The Herbarist of 1954, “As guide, philosopher and friend to the Boston group, he helped materially to found the Society.”

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Although Dr. Anderson left Boston to serve on the staff of the Mis­ souri Botanical Garden in 1936, his interest in The Society and its work continued, and in 1941 he founded the St. Louis Unit which played an active role in herbal activity in that area. A scientist of international repute, he believed that “a huge bulk of our botani­ cal knowledge was not accumulated by scientists but that enthusiastic amateurs had contributed enormously to the growth of knowledge.”

By 1933 this small study group of seven women was ready to or­ ganize an herb society which would include others from throughout the horticultural world who shared their scholarly in­ terest in these vital plants. As Daniel Foley wrote in his introduction to Herbs for Use and for Delight (p. vii), “They were motivated by the belief that much of the great volume of the world knowledge about useful plants had been forgotten by the public and herbs had sunk to the level of a hobby among a few growers of old time gardens. Consequently, one of the most intensely prac­ tical and rewarding branches of horticulture was being neglected and its great potentialities for pleasure and profit being missed.”

Each of the founders contributed her special talent to the success of the venture. They were: Adeline Philbrick Cole (Mrs. Edward B.), Anne Shirk Burrage (Mrs. Albert C.), Harriet Adams Brown (Mrs. Laurence A.), Corinna Searle Mitchell (Mrs. Edward L.), Florence Bratenahl (Mrs. George C.), Ellen Greenslet (Mrs. Ferris), Frances L. Norton (Mrs. Charles).

The first organizational meeting was held in Wenham, Massachu­ setts by Mrs. Cole. Her careful documentation of both success and failure and her common sense suggestions which were published in The Herbarist and distributed to government agricultural agents, scientists, and small growers lent authority to the research and pub2

lications of The Herb Society of America. Her vast and varied cor­ respondence reveals how readily she offered her knowledge and the results of her research. No inquiry was considered unimpor­ tant. She was a teacher with “the teacher’s impulse to share and stimulate.” She served The Society as first Chairman of the New England Group as well as Chairman of the Commercial Research Committee and the Publications Committee and as a director for many years. In 1935 she started a herbarium which grew from a collection of 100 sheets to over 2000 sheets by the time it was presented to Harvard University in 1966.

Mrs. Burrage was elected first Chairman of The Society at the Sep­ tember 1933 meeting. She named the society The Herb Society of America—a visionary name for a new group. She also contrib­ uted her organizational talents by writing the first by-laws. It was she who enabled The Herb Society of America to acquire office space from the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and the use of their library and herbarium. These were valuable tools for the members of various research committees as they answered the many inquiries about herbs, their history, culture and uses from all over the world. Mrs. Burrage was present at the 50th Annual Meeting of The Herb Society of America, the last of the original founders.

Mrs. Brown served as secretary of The Society until 1944. Her careful records are a treasure trove about the early days of The HSA. It was Mrs. Brown who first contacted Dr. Anderson about the group which wanted to do something more worthwhile, “studying herbs.”

Mrs. Mitchell was the first treasurer of The Society and served as a director until 1948. The youngest member of the group, she was a close friend of Mrs. Cole and carried out with careful attention

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to all details, large and small, many of her ideas. It was she who perfected the many aspects of The Society’s first Gold Medal exhibit, “An Old World Bee Garden,” at the Annual Spring Flower Show in Bos­ ton in 1936.

Mrs. Greenslet was a careful classical scholar. Her “List for an Old English Wort Garden” published in the first issue of The Herbarist in 1935 contains 215 names of healing plants. She called this kind of research “indoor botanizing.” She also served appropriately enough as Chairman of the Research Committee. Both she and Mrs. Norton were skilled in extracting dye-stuff from herbal plants grown in their extensive gardens.

Mrs. Norton was particularly interested in using herbs for dying fibers. Her article in the second Herbarist reveals a scholar who de­ lighted in experimenting with “the development of color from common and unpretentious things.” In 1936 she headed a com­ mittee to develop a lecture accompanied by colored slides which could be rented to garden clubs and other groups interested in herbs. The project was continued by others after her tragic death in an automobile accident in 1937.

Mrs. Bratenahl, who lived and gardened in Washington DC, was the only one of the founders who lived outside New England. She was knowledgeable in classical literature and history. It was she who designed the seal of The Society, adapting an illustration from Gerard’s Herbal of "Serpillium Creticum (Wild Time of Candy).”

Thyme has long been considered a symbol of courage and seems an appropriate herbal choice for the fledgling society. She used a phrase “For Use and For Delight” from another famous herbalist, Parkinson. This design was copyrighted and presented to The So­ ciety in 1936. She also designed and planted the Hortulus which is still there today at the National Cathedral in Washington. An4

other “first” was her Weathered Oak Herb Farm in Bethesda, Maryland.

In October 1956 a Founders’ Herb Garden was dedicated at the Wenham, Massachusetts Historical Society. Three of the founders, Mrs. Cole, Mrs. Burrage and Mrs. Mitchell, were present. Mrs. Burrage, as Chairman pro tern of The Herb Society of America, was called upon for a few words. She said “It may be of interest to recall the simple story of the seal, designed by Mrs. Bratenahl.

The Founders all had a preference for rosemary, and since rose­ mary stood for remembrance, Mrs. Bratenahl made a stylized and charming balanced design using seven branches, representing the three Founders who lived near the ocean and four who lived in­ land.” In a later interview in 1977 Mrs. Burrage reiterated her story adding the fact that the shortest of the group of four branches rep­ resented Mrs. Mitchell “because she was the youngest.” Thus are legends born.

After an organizational meeting on August 23, 1933 at which Mrs. Burrage was elected president, Mrs. Brown secretary and Mrs. Mitchell treasurer, invitations were sent to other interested garden­ ers (mainly on the East coast) to join The Herb Society of America.

“My dear____________ A small group of women, who are interested in Herbs, their use and culture, and who have derived great profit and pleasure from an exchange of experiences during the summer, have decided to form an organi­ zation to be known as The Herb Society of America.

The objects of the Society are to further the knowl­ edge of the members to enrich their minds, and to contribute to the records of Horticulture, the results of their systematic research.

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Knowing of your interest in and knowledge of Herbs it is the great pleasure of this group to invite you to become one of the first members of the Society. The initiation fee is to be five dollars ($5.00) and the annual dues two dollars ($2.00).

With the hope that you will honor us by accepting.

Very truly yours, Harriet Addams Brown Secretary

By September by-laws, written by Mrs. Burrage, were adopted, and in the following month Dr. Anderson held the first classes on drying, mounting and storing botanical specimens.

This newly-formed Society wasted no time in carrying out its pur­ pose. Mrs. Burrage and Mrs. Norton were appointed to investigate the feasibility of a public herb garden in Boston. Space at the Lex­ ington Botanic Garden for propagating plants for a future civic garden was offered by Mr. Stephen Hamblin, later an honorary member, who was a professor of horticulture at the Harvard School of Landscape Design. The plan and materials for an herb garden were presented to the Chairman of the Boston Parks Department

by Mrs. Burrage. A location was quickly found in Franklin Park, where by late the following year forty herbs were growing in the 120-foot circular garden.

Another garden started about the same time was the Hortulus at the National Cathedral in Washington, DC. A part of the Bishop’s Garden planned by Mrs. Bratenahl to, in her words, “gather unto us from the past what they loved, what they cared for and tended— finding as many another found how beautiful an herb garden can be. How altogether lovable!...rest and tranquillity, a quiet enclosure full of sunlight and delicious scents, and plants whose peace 6

is never disturbed.” This garden with its plantings of rosemary, lav­ ender, marjoram and thyme continues to be a peaceful oasis near the now-completed National Cathedral.

In November of 1934 the busy Mrs. Burrage was asked by the members to edit a bulletin which later became The Herbarist. This publication was to play an important role in fulfilling the purpose of The Society. There was also a decision to proceed with the in­ corporation of The Society.

At the first Annual Meeting, March 26, 1935, Mrs. Cole who was presiding described the founding of The Herb Society of America as “a stimulating and enjoyable meeting of seven women of diverse ages and diverse interests, bound together by a common love of herbs and the earth. The first group was chosen in 1933 and slowly enlarged to include only those seriously interested in the horticul­ tural, botanical or utilitarian classes of herb growing.” At this meeting Dr. Anderson was elected president, Mrs. Brown secre­ tary and Mrs. Mitchell treasurer. All three signed the papers of incorporation on May 15, 1935 along with Adeline Philbrick Cole, Theresa Cunningham, Frances L. Norton, Ellen S.H. Greenslet, Anne Burrage, Alice T. Whitney, and Mary L. Houghton.

The year 1935 was a busy year for the group. A membership ques­ tionnaire was adopted; space at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in Boston for the storage of records and files was obtained; and the New England group representing both itself and The Herb Society of America agreed to place an exhibit in the Boston Spring Flower Show.

This exhibit, “A 17th Century Still Room,” involved the group in extensive correspondence while researching this 17th century structure. Miss Elizabeth Wade White, who was frequently in 7

England, uncovered many primary sources for those designing the display. As Mrs. Cole wrote in the first Hcrbarist, “To the 20th century such a room is a sort of mystery as it has no counterpart in our life; the still-room was a sort of composite, partly a laboratory, a medicine closet, and somewhat a storeroom and pantry.” A bro­ chure was printed by The Society for distribution at the show. This prodigious effort by the Still-room Committee, (Mrs. Geoffrey Whitney, Mrs. Brown, Mrs. Norton, Mrs. Mitchell, Mrs. Cole and Mrs. Burrage) was awarded a Gold Medal and the judges’ com­ ment, “perfect in every detail.” This first herbal exhibit in the country attracted wide attention in the press and was the forerun­ ner of many prize-winning herbal exhibits by members and groups of The Herb Society of America in all parts of the country.

By July 1935 Society membership outside New England had grown so that regional chairmen were necessary. Mrs. John D. Kiernan became head of the New York Group and Mrs. Bratenahl of the southern Group. A Pennsylvania Group centered on Phila­ delphia was created in the following year.

Although there was discussion of a leaflet for beginners featuring twelve herbs and although the still-room brochure had been printed and distributed, the most important publication event for the new Society was The Herbarist, Number One. This compilation and distillation of the herbal research and interests of the members was edited by the indefatigable Mrs. Burrage.

In this first issue of The Herbarist Harriet Brown wrote a carefully researched article on “Right Dittany” (Dittany of Crete—Origanum dictamnus), a classic plant with “an unbroken pedigree for over three thousand years.” Her last sentence was a challenge to the scholarly mettle of HSA members. “The restoration of this historic plant to common knowledge and its propagation on these alien

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shores would be an interesting and worthwhile project for those members of the Herb Society who delight in looking backward.”

Mrs. Ellery Sedgwick took up the challenge and procured a plant that summer while on an Adriatic cruise. After many adventures, linguistic and botanical, the plant and its seed were brought to Mrs. Cole for propagation. By June 1936 the New England Plant Sale was able to offer Dittany of Crete at SI.00 per plant. The group contributed the proceeds to the national organization.

An article in the New York Times ofjune 1, 1941 reported, “this long lost treasure was introduced into this country by the Herb So­ ciety of America in 1936 and plants can now be secured from herb farms.” Dittany of Crete was described in the 1944 catalog of Mrs. Bratenahl’s Weathered Oak Herb Farm as “a most unusual pot­ ted plant. Years ago familiar in English cottage windows. Now very rare. Original plant introduced into this country by the Herb So­ ciety of America. Of singular interest as a legendary and historic plant: the sacred healing herb of Crete__” Right Dittany continued to interest members of The Herb Soci­ ety. An article in The Herbarist (1945) by Hortensia Janet Wright describes several contemporary plants called Dittany of Crete. A report (1961) by the New York Unit of a tour of the Gordon and Cointreau plants notes, “We were shown the many herbs and spices that go into making of liqueurs and were surprised to know that Dittany of Crete is one of them.”

Many years later a dozen plants were sent to Crete at the request of Alta Dodds Neibuhr, author of The Herbs of Greece (1970). Never very prolific in its native habitat, Dittany of Crete, propagated in New England, was planted to increase the Cretan plant popula­ tion.

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The first issue of the Bulletin (forerunner of today’s Newsletter) was issued in 1936. The Society now had not only a New England Group which continued to retain the national officers but also a Central Group (New York), a Pennsylvania Group (Philadelphia) and a Western Group (California). Following up their success of the previous year at the Boston Flower Show, The Society exhib­ ited an “Old World Bee Garden.” Once again the careful research and meticulous execution of details resulted in a Gold Medal and many accolades for The Society.

By the May 26, 1936 Annual Meeting Dr. Anderson had left for St. Louis and Teresa Cunningham (Mrs. John) was elected President. She was to serve the growing Society in this position for the next ten years (1936-1946). At this meeting a contribution of $500 was sent to support the publication of the Badianus Manuscript. The earliest medical herbal from the New World, this beautifully illustrated manuscript compiled by two Aztecs in 1552, was translated from Latin by Dr. Emily Emmart, an early member of The Society, and published in facsimile in 1940. A herbal herbarium of 100 specimens had been started by Mrs. Cole in the previous year. A new member, Mrs. Frances Ropes Williams, was to carry on this work with great skill and persistence as curator of the collection until 1961. Storage and preservation at Horticultural Hall became a problem as the Herbarium grew to over two thousand specimens, including many duplicates prepared for circulation to members. Finally in 1966, 1850 of the herbarium sheets, each stamped “Presented to The Arnold Arboretum by The Herb Society of America,” were accessioned and integrated into the Arnold Arboretum’s permanent collection.

The entire membership was represented at the third Annual Meet­ ing, January 28, 1937, cither by proxy or presence. Another valuable new member, Martha Stearns, had compiled a herbal bib10

liography of over 500 items which was ready to be published. Mrs. Stearns was to serve The Society for many years as editor of The Herbarist (1942-1957) and after that as Bulletin editor (1958-1969).

A second garden, this time at the Gray Arboretum of Harvard Uni­ versity, was planted by the New England Group. At the presentation of a wrought iron armillary sphere for this garden, Mrs Burrage said, “I hope some day we have an herb garden at the National Arboretum.” Mrs. Burrage was present at the dedication of the National Herb Garden at the National Arboretum in 1980.

The new Central Unit, founded in 1937, comprising members liv­ ing in the central part of the eastern seaboard, wasted no time in starting a demonstration garden at the Ambler School of Horticul­ ture and a medicinal herb garden at the College of Physicians in Philadelphia. They also published the third issue of the Bulletin.

An important research project was started known as the “Three Year Project for the Study of Culinary and Aromatic Herbs grown under different soil and climate conditions, to determine the va­ riety and conditions yielding the maximum quality and quantity.”

At this time herbs were looked upon as a viable alternative cash crop for unproductive land. In 1937 the state of New Hampshire started a program involving herbs for farmers in that state in co­ operation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). Lack of information of the most basic growing condi­ tions required for success and equal ignorance of the subsequent steps—harvesting, drying and merchandizing—plagued these early efforts. There was a bill introduced into the first session of the 1941 Congress (HR 4591) “to provide for the discovery, introduction, breeding and testing of agricultural crops for utilization in indus­ try and manufacturing.” Miss Van Brunt urged Society members to write their congressmen in favor of passage of this bill which 11

she felt would “not only aid National Defense but create new sources of income during a probable after war depression.” Like the New Hampshire plan this bill was to be implemented through the US Department of Agriculture and its Extension Agents; how­ ever the pressure of war legislation shunted it aside and it was not heard of again.

As Mrs. Cole wrote, “That there may be a uniform basis of com­ parison, plots of 100 square feet or multiples thereof should be chosen....” She felt that experimenting on small plots was the only intelligent method of approach for the inexperienced. She de­ scribed the Three Year Project as “one born of necessity in the travail of confusion.” Despite her careful structuring of this research project, it proved impossible to tabulate as many findings as she originally anticipated because too many different herbs, annual and perennial, were used. However the information was retained and lessons were learned in the first year. “By concerted effort, in growing these small plots and recording data, we are finding out where, and how, we may grow what Americans wish to buy; and so in a measure, are beginning to gain information...as to how herbs can be made remunerative.” Emphasizing the timeliness of the project, she added, “That information must be stripped down to twentieth century needs, which differ so materially from eigh­ teenth and nineteenth century uses.”

This first Three Year Project (1937-1940) concentrated on increas­ ing the production of sage, savory, marjoram and thyme by supplying good seed and keeping cost and production records of forty-five acres divided into smaller plots worked under supervi­ sion. The results were issued as a series of Bulletins by The Herb Society of America.

The projects of the new Society were the subjects of the nine com12

mittee reports given at the Annual Meeting held in Boston, Feb­ ruary 28, 1938. Bibliography, Herbarium, Lecture, Plant Material, Research, Herb Test Project, Girl Scouts and Foreign Correspon­ dent Committees were all represented. Some of these committees no longer exist. Their places have been taken by others formed to suit the circumstances and personnel and projects of The Society.

In 1938 the Massachusetts Horticultural Society published a col­ lection of articles on herbs previously written by Helen Noyes Webster, an early member, for its magazine. Herbs—How to Grow and How to Use Them was one of the very early herb books writ­ ten in this country. It was dedicated to The Herb Society of America. “Since the first printing of a bulletin on herbs by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and nearly coincident with it, a small group of New England women with reverence for herbal wisdom of the past and belief in the present revival of herb gar­ dens founded the Herb Society of America. To this Society, in recognition of its high standards, its ideals, its sincerity of purpose, and its untiring effort to establish authoritative data concerning herbs, this book is dedicated.”

To better acquaint other members of The Society with develop­ ments in the “new” field of Chemurgy, Mrs. Cole proposed a second Three Year Plan at the April 16, 1940, Annual Meeting.

These early experiments in chemurgic gardening involved grow­ ing ramie, belladonna, koksag (a dandelion from Russia whose roots yielded rubber), castor bean and digitalis. The results dem­ onstrated that these herbs, with the exception of digitalis, were not suitable for commercial production in New England. Digitalis was successfully grown for seed, which was then distributed to areas with a better climate. In another garden, at the Waltham Field Sta­ tion, two areas were set up by the New England Group “to arouse interest among commercial growers in the possibility of herb cul13

ture as a business or a sideline.” Drying experiments were also conducted. These researches into commercial herb growing confirmed The Society in its purpose. It would henceforth concentrate on informing the small grower producing quality herbs for a small, discriminating public and “making the proper use of herbs and fla­ vor plants a source of satisfaction to discriminating people, and a part of our national food habits.”

It also took to heart a letter from Dr. Anderson advising The So­ ciety to avoid production of plants for medicinal purposes in which he said, “When remedy producing becomes a question of manu­ facturing, rather than growing, it takes the whole affair out of our horticultural hands. I think therefore that we should keep away from this field as much as possible. It is fascinating, and one is drawn to it, and the literature and history are interesting, but prac­ tically it seems to me that it is largely a field for other hands than ours.” Wartime shortages, real or imagined, of medicinal herbs in­ volved The HSA projects with belladona and digitalis. The Society emphasized information not prescription, at times a confusing stance to the public from a group which called itself The Herb So­ ciety of America. Historically it was the herbarist who knew, grew and gathered the plants and the herbalist who prescribed after di­ agnosis by a physician. The careless interchangeable use of these words in modern times exacerbated the problem for Society mem­ bers.

A simple policy statement “No advice can be given on the medical use of herbs” sufficed for many years, but in 1984 with more widespread public interest in and confusion about the uses of herbs and The HSA further clarification was necessary. Several years later (1991) an additional clarification was added because of rapid changes in the fields of Botany and Horticulture:

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“The Herb Society of America, Inc. is not medically ori­ ented. Its governing rules state that ‘...no advice shall be given on the medicinal use of herbs.’ Further, in the United States, it would be a violation of the Medical Prac­ tice Acts to prescribe herbs (or any other medication).

Legally only licensed medical physicians may prescribe.

“Pharmacists and Botanists are still searching for and re­ searching plants and identifying the chemically active ingredients found in the plants. The Herb Society of America, Inc. believes that such investigations should be left up to those trained experts.”

Medicinal herbs continue to fascinate, and The Society endeav­ ors to quell some of the popularity of new and old untested remedies by providing a cautious, learning approach to these “wonder plants.” Slide lecture programs on medicinal herbs have been circulated for almost forty years. Many distinguished bota­ nists have spoken to members on medicinal herbs, newly discovered or of ancient origins, with modern applications. Sev­ eral units maintain public gardens of medicinal herbs, and there is a specialty garden of medicinal herbs as well as a Dioscorides gar­ den at the National Herb Garden.

It was decided that the Bulletin proposed and produced by Mrs. Brown should be published by the chapters in rotation. The Cen­ tral Group described its founding and its gardens and included letters and comments from members in their 1937 issue. It was now called a news-letter and seems to have alternated with a report of the Annual Meeting until 1941 when the first of many Herbaristsized publications appeared. More of the Newsletter and Bulletin and their evolution when we discuss the publications of The Society.

The Society was saddened by the death of a second of its founders, 15

Florence Bratenahl, on May 14,1940.

At the very first Annual Meeting held outside of New England in Philadelphia on May 6, 1941, The Herb Society of America wel­ comed the St. Louis Unit. Founded by Dr. Edgar Anderson, the group planned to study herbs in the very different climate of the midwest. The HSA was offered a room at the Horticultural Hall in Boston where there would be room not only for records but also a secretary who would take care of the day-to-day operations of the growing Society. The daughter of Mrs. Charles Norton, a Founder, was hired.

Mrs. Cunningham opened the Annual Meeting in May 1941 with a forecast of the opportunities for The Herb Society of America.

“The growth of our Society has been steady and progressive. From many sources comes the evidence that we are in a position to be of definite national assistance. To accomplish this, our endeavours should be directed toward research and intensive tests in all phases of herb growing and marketing. Thus we will attempt to fulfill our chosen function, at this time of national emergency. The Herb So­ ciety as such, does not engage in commerce, but must continue to put its tested knowledge at the disposition of those who seek it.”

The foundation for this reasonable response to the general hyste­ ria in the press had been laid by the carefully planned research of Mrs. Cole and her committees for the First and Second Three Year Projects. Her correspondence emphasized a calm, studious ap­ proach to what frequently proved to be imaginary crises as European sources of culinary and medicinal herbs disappeared dur­ ing World War II. At this same meeting an outline for future policy was presented 16

by Mary Lines Wellman (Mrs. Sargent). “To promote the knowl­ edge of herbs the Society may gather information on growers, drying, commercial cultivation and markets in order to dissemi­ nate the information through pamphlets and articles. In addition the Society may create demonstration and experimental gardens and generally promote the growing of herbs by providing reliable information.” The second part of her report on the use of herbs emphasized the gathering of information from many sources con­ cerning supply, distribution and demand and publication of the results of this research. The Society was aware of the pitfalls await­ ing the “qualified amateur” in the commercial marketplace. Their efforts were directed more to the Cottage Garden Industry de­ scribed by Rosetta E. Clarkson in Herbs: Their Culture and Uses, Chapter 16, which was later reprinted, with the publisher’s per­ mission, and distributed by The Herb Society.

The upheaval of war at the end of 1941 put increasing stress on the officers and activities of The Society. Both Mrs. Jay Clark Jr., Editor, and Mrs. Cole, Publications Chairman, questioned the ad­ visability of continuing The Herbarist in their reports at the Annual Meeting of June 1942 in Boston. After considerable discussion it was decided to continue. Because of gasoline shortages and other wartime restrictions, telegraphed reports of unit activities of the new California Unit and the even newer Western Reserve Unit (Cleveland, Ohio) were read. Despite the war, both of these units and the earlier units carried on the traditions of research, gardens and outreach which had been so much a part of The Herb Soci­ ety of America since its founding. The California Unit reported that the herb garden they had planted at the San Fernando Girl Scouts Club House had truly become a “defense Garden” because the building was being used as a regimental headquarters. In 1944 the Philadelphia Unit reported, “By the Grace of God, and the skill of Tony, the Italian janitor, the ‘Medicinal Garden’ is not doing 17

too badly. I managed to commandeer the car of a doctor neigh­ bor on a rare trip to town, and sent in bergamot mint, sage, thyme, lavender, etc., from my overflow, and tucked in a few Italian to­ mato plants, so Tony is mine forever and the annual death toll of shade, soot, and city conditions generally has been remedied.”

The St. Louis Unit operated an herb shop and contributed the pro­ ceeds to Bundles for Britain as well as acting as a clearing house for information on herbs. The Western Reserve Unit was hold­ ing meetings and establishing an herb garden in Cleveland, Ohio, which would grow and develop into the fine garden at the Cleve­ land Botanical Garden admired to this day. Miss Elizabeth Van Brunt of the New York Unit reported that they had held a twoday conference on herbs attended by 400 people! Their members had been emphasizing the importance of adding herbs to the Vic­ tory Garden. A handbook for growers, compiled by Miss Helen Whitman of the unit, listed forty-seven herbs formerly imported into the United States. Try Growing Herbs was a part of the on­ going educational and research efforts of members which was so much a part of Mrs. Cole’s vision of the part The Herb Society of America could play in the war effort. The Philadelphia Unit chose to exhibit an Herb Garden of twenty-seven varieties which could be grown in their area. Included in their exhibit was an in­ expensive, easy to build drying shed.

Meeting in New York in May 1943 the members heard an address on “The Role of the Herb Grower in the War Effort.” Mrs. Cunningham, President, noted that “Experimentation, more ex­ perience and the keeping of careful data” were areas in which the qualified amateur’s results might be of importance. Mrs. Webster, chairman of the Botanical Research Committee, suggested that each unit serve as a “bureau of information about the potherbs and wild aromatics of its region.”

18

By serving as a clearing house for herbal information through the national office and local units, The Society endeavored to fulfill its purpose and serve the war effort. It was remarked in a 1943 re­ port, “Throwing cold water on a flame of patriotic fervor is not fun, but our committee has done it with vigor, actuated by an equal patriotic fervor, and thereby have, we feel, saved labor, seed and discouragement.”

As the war neared its end herb shipments from abroad once again began to displace domestic production. Farmers ploughed under their herbs and planted their fields in less labor-intensive and more easily marketed crops. At the 1944 Annual Meeting Mrs. Cunningham, once again presiding, stated that “The future usefulness of the Society seems to be along the lines of research, our original thought, and furtherance of the Cottage Garden Industry.” Janet S. Wright (Mrs. Charles H.) compiled an index to The Hcrbarists of 1935-1944 which was sent to all members and subscribers.

The next year, following the Annual Meeting, May 11, 1945, the Executive Committee reviewed the work of The Society and the accomplishments of its Units—which now numbered six—since its incorporation in 1933. They were many: Stimulated the Growing and Use of Herbs by: Research and study Demonstration Lectures Publications Publication of the Annual Herbarist Collected and mounted valuable Herbarium Made an exhaustive Bibliography Encouraged and supported the publication of the Aztec Herbal 19

Recovered and propagated the Cretan Dittany Chapter on Herbs in the National Botanical Index Clearing house for War Time scarcities, by furnishing reliable information Restrained patriotic fervor of individuals from embarking on futile projects Stimulated Cottage Herb Industry Carried on a series of experiments in growing Medicinal Herbs Made experiments in growing Ramie, Koksagyz and Castor Bean Despite these not inconsiderable accomplishments, the decision was made to disband The Society on January 1, 1946 and allow the units to carry on herbal activity on their own in their own regions. This stunning decision brought to the attention of the membership that it had been the same small group in New England who had produced The Herbarist and other publications, provided funds for the national office, and—most of all—had volunteered untold hours of their time and special talents to maintaining The Society including the difficult war years.

At a special meeting in December, letters and telegrams from the units expressing a strong desire to continue as a national society prompted the Executive Board to lay down two stipulations which would provide sufficient funds for future national operations and wipe out the annual deficit. After further structural and financial adjustments President Helen Noyes Webster was able to report in 1947 that “the crisis proved a most beneficial ‘shake up* which aroused us from complacent security and brought the separate re­ gional units together in better understanding and sympathy.”

20

Chapter Two The Changing Face of The Society MEMBERSHIP: In addition to those more visible members of The Society who serve on national committees or as national of­ ficers there are other hard-working, erudite members who “labor unseen.” By 1948 it was necessary to create a Membership Com­ mittee to formulate an application and a procedure for those wishing to join The Society as members-at-large. The Units were responsible for their own membership rules. Two years later the Executive Secretary who had been at the Horticultural Hall office six hours each week since 1941, recommended a full time worker to take care of the rapid growth both in units and members-at-large which produced “stresses and strains” in the “mechanical work­ ings” of The HSA. To determine what they expected from their affiliation with The Society and what they had contributed to herbal knowledge, a questionnaire was sent to the 485 members listed in September of 1951. Although only 123 were returned, the results were tabulated and Helen Batchelder (Mrs. Philip), the chairman, reported that, despite the disappointing returns, the questionnaires “served as straws to show which way the wind blows, [and] what manner of people our members be.”

NEW UNITS: “To formulate a set of requirements to present to groups wishing to become units of The Herb Society of America” was the purpose of the New Units Committee formed in 1953.

Gathering its members from the New England Unit, the New York Unit and area Members-at-Large, the Connecticut Unit in 21

1955 was the first to be formed under this new committee. Many of the subsequent units were formed by groups of members liv­ ing in a particular geographical area. A reasonable traveling time to unit activities and sufficient members to carry out these activi­ ties were essential for success. Each unit planned its own programs, set its own dues and generally developed its own unique charac­ ter—all within the framework of the purpose and motto of The Herb Society of America. Many visits and extensive correspon­ dence by the chairmen of this committee have resulted in a total of 35 units in 1994.

In the years between 1951 and 1980 the membership grew to 1004 members in units and 575 members-at-large. A proposal to limit the individual memberships to one-third of the total was turned over to a special Membership Advisory Committee in 1981. It, too, sent out a questionnaire to determine the wishes of the members.

It was found that most favored the existing structure of members in units and members-at-large, that growth through an increase in the number of units rather than individual memberships was pre­ ferred and lastly, that regional development would be supported.

Between 1980 and 1989 fifteen new units were brought into The Herb Society of America. These were added to the existing six­ teen units welcomed prior to 1980. Three units, St. Louis (1941—1954), Oregon (1942-1947) and Virginia (1959-1966) had disbanded but many of their members chose to remain in The Society as Members-at-Large, continuing to serve the purpose of The Society by lecturing, gardening, and writing.

In an effort to continue to encourage the formation of new units from geographical clusters of members-at-large, a twelve-month moratorium was placed on individual members and transfers to that status. To resolve this dilemma another special committee on membership was formed in 1990 from an earlier subcommittee.

22

The result of their deliberations was a standardized membership policy, incorporated into the Governing Rules, which ensures that The Herb Society of America will grow as a “society of qualified members.” Since 1990 six additional units have been added and one, the Herb Guild (1989-1992), disbanded. By 1993 the small group of “seven women of diverse ages and interests, bound to­ gether by a common love of herbs and the earth” had grown to a society of over 2000 men and women still bound together by the same ties.

MEMBERS-AT-LARGE: Although the count and admission of individual members was the chief duty of the Membership Com­ mittee, another board position added in 1952, Members-at-Large Chairman, endeavored to provide a more personal relationship with The Society through Round Robin letters and newsletters.

Dorothy Bovee Jones (Mrs. Jonathan), first to hold this position, sent the following letter to Members-at-Large in April 1952. It was printed in its entirety in the Annual Report of 1952 “because her stimulating message may be of inspirational value to us all.” It bears repeating.

DEAR MEMBER-AT-LARGE; This morning was filled with pleasant chores; lifting the big rosemary plants from their frost-free pits, planting in the open ground the sweet maijorams that had wintered in a cold frame, sowing in rich compost the leek seed just received from England.

There were short spears of chives to cut for luncheon cot­ tage cheese and fresh green sorrel for dinner soup.

As I worked, I thought about this letter, the first one to be sent only to the Members-at-Large. It would go to 26 states, the District of Columbia and 3 foreign countries.

To some of the recipients April first would mean not a temperamental day in early spring, but the beginning of 23

autumn. It seemed to me that both the HSA and the Members-at-Large could benefit from better acquaintance.

The very fact that you are Members-at-Large presupposes a deep interest in herbs, for working alone at any pursuit, be it a hobby or life work, requires a special dedication.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to attend some of the wonderful Annual Meetings know how much inspiration we bring home; talking to other members, vis­ iting their gardens, finding out about Unit activities, and studying the fascinating exhibits that illustrate the indi­ vidual efforts of some of the members. There is more to it than this, too, because it is at the meetings that we be­ gin to understand the warm helpful, friendly spirit of the HSA—a spirit that makes it unique among similar orga­ nizations.

Scattered over the world as we are, it is of course impos­ sible for the Members-at-Large to function as a Unit functions, and yet I believe we can achieve a kind of or­ ganization that will bring pleasure and help to us all. The reports of our individual experiences with herbs might add to the store of information in the files of the HSA. Is your interest in herbs culinary, medicinal or literary?

Would you like to share seeds and recipes, and suggestions as to the value of herbs and their uses, which differ in all parts of the world? Would you be willing, at times, to help in some research for another member? Do you think that we Members-at-Large might even develop a project?

Would you enjoy a round robin letter, circulating among the 86 members? What news would you like to find in it?

If you would give some thought to these questions, it will help me indeed.

24

In 1963 an attempt to make the position of Members-at-Large Chairman more responsive to its constituency resulted in the for­ mation of 7 geographical regions each with its own Vice-Chairman who was responsible for keeping in touch with HSA members in that region. Geography proved a formidable barrier to communi­ cation within regions and between regions and the national chairman. Some regions had many members in a small area and others few members in a vast area. The regional Vice-Chairmen worked through the national MAL Chairman but had no voice or vote until 1984 when each regional vice-chairman attended one Board Meeting in rotation to give a report on local accomplishments.

In 1992 as a part of the general membership review the regions were redrawn to twelve and the chairmen of these more manage­ able areas became voting members of the board and welcome to attend any board meeting. This action provided more equitable representation for Members-at-Large within The Society and put The Society in closer touch with members or local groups inter­ ested in becoming units.

In her Presidential Report in 1967 Dorothy Bovee Jones, the first Chairman of the Members-at-Large and the first Member-at-Large to become President of The Herb Society of America, said, “If I could stress one goal toward which we could work in the years ahead, it would be for closer ties between the Units and the Members-at-Large, and between those groups and the National organization. It is in the National affiliation that our strength lies, and our future.”

Although there are two basic categories of membership, Members in Units and Members-at Large, who pay basic national dues, there are some in these categories who contribute additional amounts to

25

The Society in the form of Life, Joint, Sustaining or Benefactor memberships. These additional categories were created in 1953 in an attempt to avoid a dues increase and at the same time provide funds for a full-time Executive Secretary and office operations. At one time there was a “Junior Members” category for members under 35 but it was short lived.

However much The Society was concerned with “keeping in touch,” it was not until 1946 that a membership list was distrib­ uted to every member. Fear of commercial exploitation of such a list delayed publication. These early directories included gardens to visit (usually unit gardens) which encouraged the use of the membership list to contact other members of The Society when traveling.

ROTATION: It was Noreen Capen (Mrs. Oliver) during her term of office as President of The Society, 1948-1950, who worked out the first rotation system for the office of President and the Annual Meetings. The first rotation for President involving six units reached from 1948 to 1962 as well as designating hosts for Annual Meetings until 1961. In later years the responsibility for publication of The Herbarist was also included in the rotation.

During the initial period of the rotation two units withdrew and two new units joined. As The Society grew an almost continuous revision of the rotation was necessary. In 1976 the Members-atLarge were placed on the rotation schedule to assume Society duties. The rotation system for President was phased out from 1986 to 1990 when only the second vice-president had to come from the President’s unit. Previously all officers came from the same Unit, which placed a serious drain on the unit both financially and in terms of personnel to carry on local obligations.

BY-LAWS: Not only does an organization define its mission by 26

its committee structure but also by its periodic revisions of its by­ laws. It is difficult, if not impossible, for any society to write its by-laws once. The Herb Society of America is no exception. At its very first meeting after the by-laws were printed it was neces­ sary to suspend the membership procedure in order to admit the number of qualified applicants who wanted to join the new Soci­ ety right away. The first major revision of the first by-laws occurred in 1935. During one of the almost perennial discussions of by-laws concerning duties of officers, in 1951 Mrs. Williams proposed an amendment: “The President shall not hold office for more than two years continuously.” The HSA has continued this policy. The Executive Board under the direction of President Elizabeth Bryce (Mrs. Douglas P.), seized the opportunity of the 50th Anniversary and the 50th Annual Meeting to study the growth and organizational challenges of this maturing society. The hard work and attention to detail of the members of the South­ ern Ontario Unit serving on the executive of The HSA (1982—1984) led to a thorough revision of the by-laws and the revision of the handbook for committee chairmen and member representatives. Although there have been revisions of both docu­ ments since their 1984 publication, the foundation for orderly future growth of The Herb Society of America had been laid.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS: The composition of the Board of Directors was a significant, on-going, area of change. Originally composed of the officers of The Society and the committee chair­ men (1933) it soon grew to include representatives of units and a group of Directors who were in fact chairmen of groups or units approved by the Executive Board who automatically became Di­ rectors. In 1957 the number of Directors was increased to eighteen, six of whom were to be voted on each year to serve a term of three years. The Chairmen of units and Standing Committees contin­ ued to serve as Directors. This system for Directors continued until 27

the revision of 1984 when in an attempt to keep the Board from becoming unwieldy separately elected Directors were abolished and Unit Chairmen and Chairmen of Standing Committees were designated “Directors.” Until 1978 the President-at-Large was considered an elected officer and so listed.

It was not until 1978 that the quarterly Executive Board meetings were cut to three each year. These meeting, which originally ad­ journed for lunch after completing the necessary Society business in the morning, now took several days and involved increasing numbers of participants as the number of units and committees grew.

NOMINATING: An important corollary to successful commit­ tee activity is the method of nomination. For many years the chairman of the Nominating Committee was appointed by the Executive Board, and the committee, composed of a representa­ tive of each unit and one member-at-large, was also appointed. By 1976 the President “suggested” the chairman to be appointed by the Executive Board. It was not until the 1984 by-laws revision that a significant change took place. From this time on the Chair­ man of the Nominating Committee was the immediate Past President of The Society and the committee membership included two Directors, two Standing Committee Chairmen, the Chairman of the Members-at-Large and one Society member elected at the Annual Meeting of the Board of Directors. Since 1991 both the officers and standing committee chairmen have been nominated from the entire membership of The Society.

STAFF & OFFICE: As The Society grew it was no longer pos­ sible for the Executive Secretary to serve the membership and the public by working one or two days each week. As the officers and committee chairmen were likely to be some distance from 28

Boston (particularly under the rotation system) the employment of a trained full-time secretary became urgent by 1950, but it was not until five years later that Mrs. Emerson Miller was hired as a full-time Executive Secretary. An Advisory Committee of mem­ bers of the nearby New England Unit assisted the secretary by addressing envelopes, arranging exhibits, and generally filling in when needed as the regular mailings of minutes, reports, newslet­ ters, The Herbarist, and additional committee correspondence were sent to an increasing number of members. This Advisory Commit­ tee was renamed the Staff & Office Committee in 1954 which better reflected its duties. Thirty years later the committee was re­ placed by the non-board position of Office Liaison.

With the move to permanent headquarters in Ohio the chairman of necessity had to live within accessible distance of the new lo­ cation. A new Headquarters Committee to oversee the physical facility and coordinate volunteers to assist in office functions was created. Because preparation of both the building and the grounds for their new role as a national office involved many hours of work, another committee, the Curatorial Committee, was formed to maintain and enhance the value and use of the Headquarters.

PLANNING COMMITTEES: The year 1983 was another wa­ tershed year for The Society. The removal of headquarters from Horticultural Hall to an office space in Concord and the comple­ tion of The National Herb Garden triggered a careful reassessment of the basic structure of The Herb Society of America as it had evolved since its founding fifty years before. Several special and standing committees were subsequently formed to examine, dis­ cuss and recommend to the membership or their representatives on the Board the means by which The Society could continue to thrive.

29

The first of these committees, President’s Advisory Commit­ tee, was established in 1983. Composed of the three immediate Past Presidents, the President, the 2nd and 3rd Vice Presidents, with the 1st Vice President presiding, this committee was to meet at the request of the President or of the Executive Board. The committee membership was later (1987) changed to include the Executive Board and only two Past Presidents. The function of the committee as printed in the Annual Report (1983) was to consider the following: rotation; long range planning for 1) HSA projects and 2) the organizational structure of HSA and 3) special HSA concerns which have been under discussion over a period of years.

The committee was to provide guidance for the Executive Board during the biennial transition of Executive Committees; to explore and research areas not covered by standing committees of the Board; and to make suggestions or recommendations as requested by standing committees, such as New Units and Nominating. It further provided a sounding board for discussion of issues vital to the future growth of The Society by people who knew The So­ ciety well from their Presidential visits and experiences.

A new special committee, Organizational Planning, was cre­ ated in the following year (1984) to discuss various issues relating to the growth and development of The Society. Its most urgent early deliberations concerned the rotation plan (started in 1948) for the selection and allocation of officers. In addition to this topic, sectional organization, a permanent headquarters, personnel policy for the Executive Director and the need for an “identified resource on Symposia, annual meetings and Board meetings” were dis­ cussed. While alternatives to the rotation plan were being studied by the committee, the role of “identifiable resource” person on meetings was added to the duties of Recording Secretary and first steps toward a permanent headquarters for The Society were taken.

30

In October of 1986 the President’s Advisory Committee recom­ mended the establishment of a new standing committee for Endowment and Development. It was agreed that knowledge­ able financial planning was necessary if any large scale fund raising was to be undertaken. Permanent headquarters for The Society had once again become a priority in planning for the future since the office in Concord was proving unsatisfactory (leaky roof) and suit­ able, nearby, alternative office space expensive.

The Endowment and Development Committee created in 1986 was not the first attempt of The Society to provide reliable sup­ port for day-to-day operations as the membership increased. A Contributors Fund (1953-1955) had been started to support a full­ time office with an Executive Secretary. In the late sixties the Ostheimer Bequest (which was originally to be a fund for a named award) had been the starting point for a successful $50,000 Endow­ ment Fund Drive (1970-1974) despite the fact that this drive was interrupted when The Society threw its full fund-raising efforts into the proposed National Herb Garden.

With the acquisition of Vineyard House (the name of the new headquarters building located on land which had formerly been a vineyard) it was necessary for the Endowment and Development Committee to raise not only the $50,000 originally estimated for alterations and moving costs but also an additional $25,000 when firm estimates on costs were presented by the architect. Because the renovations to the new permanent headquarters building were capital expenditures for The Society’s own use and not a part of its non-profit activities, the money for these alterations had to come from the membership. By August 1987 the committee had collected half of the initial $50,000 needed for headquarters as the first phase of its Endowment Plan. The long term goal of the En­ dowment Drive had been set at $2,000,000 in the first Five Year 31

Plan drawn up by the Strategic Planning Committee in 1988.

By the time the Endowment Fund campaign was implemented the goal was $500,000 to be achieved by 1995.

At the March 1987 Board meeting the Organizational Planning committee was renamed the Planning Committee and became a standing committee with a somewhat different mission: to revise and update the Board handbook, to formulate and update annu­ ally a five-year plan to be presented for Board approval at the Fall meeting and to consider long range plan topics suggested by So­ ciety members. The committee identified five areas of Society activity in need of a goal to achieve their greatest potential. They were Administration, Membership, Research, Publications and lastly Dissemination/Education, which involved public relations and marketing. The first Five Year Strategic Plan (1988-1993) was presented to the membership at the 1988 Annual Meeting. By the time the plan was presented the new permanent headquarters was a reality and the goals of “Administration” reflected this change particularly in the area of “Finances.”

32

Chapter Three Keeping in Touch Keeping in touch with members and members in touch with each other has been the most persistent challenge facing the growing Society. In her 1955 president’s report Mrs. Wellman said, “As you know we have Units and we have individuals. There is far too little communication between them all, and far too little knowledge of the necessary National policies to carry on a smooth and efficient system of operation and information.”

PRESIDENTIAL VISITS: One of the first presidents to visit all of the units (7) was Frances Ellis Price (Mrs. Robert K.) in 1954.

The practice was continued informally by succeeding presidents until in 1960 it was written into procedure: “Every unit should be visited at least once during each president’s term of office for the purpose of better comprehension of national policies and tra­ ditions, and a clearer realization of help available from the national office.” This very terse statement hardly describes the effect of a presidential visit on a unit, many of whose members may never have attended an Annual Meeting or talked to HSA members out­ side their unit. As a unit chairman said in her Annual Report, “I skipped one of the best things almost ’til last: the visit of HSA President Joanna Reed in September....She came as an unknown, somewhat awesome figure and left the next day cherished by ev­ eryone who talked with her.”

These visitations include garden visits, luncheons, and frequently hands-on participation in a project of the unit. As Amy Core (Mrs. Daniel H. Jr.) said in her first presidential report (1970), “There

33

is a tendency to think of an organization only in terms of what you have experienced personally. I felt that most Units were much like my own in Western Pennsylvania. This is decidedly not the case!

Our units and our members-at-large represent a great diversity of interests and knowledge and in those differences lies the strength of our Society.”

As The Society grew to its present numbers and the presidency was no longer determined by rotation, the visits were, of necessity, spread out through the president’s two preceding years on the ex­ ecutive. Madalene Hill (Mrs. James) was the first to be authorized to visit members while serving as Vice President (1984-1986).

Through these vice presidential visits the new President took of­ fice with an awareness of the concerns of at least part of the membership and a clearer idea of how The Society could address these concerns during her term. It is still quite an achievement to visit more than two thousand members in thirty-six units and twelve regions in four years, but it is a very important part of mak­ ing members feel a part of The Herb Society of America. Many presidents treasure these visits as the highlight of their term in of­ fice.

Since 1970 a Past Presidents’ Pin has been given to each outgo­ ing President. It is a symbol of affection and appreciation for these individuals who have served The Society with such devotion. New members recognizing this pin know that these are very dedicated members who have served for a very intense two or four years.

NEWSLETTERS & ROUND ROBINS: There have been sev­ eral attempts by The Society to draw its increasingly widespread membership together and to keep it informed of the activities of the organization. A five-page mimeographed “News Letter” was sent to all members in the summer of 1935. This had been pre34

ceded by a single, one-sided sheet composed by Mrs. Brown. The “News Letter” contained horticultural notes and correspondence not only from Massachusetts but also England and France. At the third Annual Meeting in 1937 it was voted that the October issue of this newsletter would be the alternate responsibility of the new units. (The New England group would continue responsibility for publishing the Annual Report.) Philadelphia produced it in Fall 1937 and it was back in New England by Fall 1939. Rotation of the responsibility provided welcome variety and showed members how much they had in common.

Another attempt at a newsletter was begun in 1955 with Helen Batchelder (Mrs. Phillip) as editor. In 1958 the indefatigable Mrs. Stearns took over as editor and remained in that position until 1969. These gatherings from a very active correspondence were published in the form of galley sheets, with very small type, which could be folded and mailed under one stamp. At about the same time (1964) an editor, Caroline Cadwalader (Mrs. Henry), was chosen for a publication to be called The Bulletin to be issued three times each year, containing information which seemed not to fit either the Newsletter or The Herbarist. This project was abandoned in 1968 to be revived later as a newsletter for the Members-atLarge which, in its turn, was folded into the HSA Newsletter in 1991, one publication being considered sufficient to “Serve, In­ spire, Inform [and] Unite” all members.

As the Units themselves grew, they published newsletters listing not only their programs for meetings but also recipes, gardening hints and many other herbal developments. In 1943 Helen Noyes Webster recommended that all unit publications be distributed throughout the entire membership of The Herb Society of America. Although the membership at this time was small, the cost was viewed as too great for individual units to participate to this

35

extent. Presently units send a copy of their newsletters to all units and members of the Executive Board and to Archives. These of­ ten very personal newsletters reveal how differently individual groups carry out the purposes of The Society. For organizers of new herb groups they provide a vital source of ideas and informa­ tion for programs.

The Round Robin letters—eight to ten members with similar herbal interests or growing climate, corresponding over a year— were proposed by the first Membcrs-at-Large Chairman in 1952.

This very successful project drew many enthusiastic participants.

Ten years later the Chairman, Helen Darrah (Mrs. William C.), said, “ Those of us who do not belong to units may not have many opportunities to meet kindred spirits but with a little effort we may be able to share our interests more effectively through greater par­ ticipation.”

ANNUAL MEETINGS: Perhaps the most valuable way of “keeping in touch” with other members is the Annual Meeting.

The necessary business, reports, and elections soon give way to the plants which bring the members together as a society. The first Annual Meeting was held on March 26, 1935. In addition to elect­ ing Dr. Anderson president and Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Mitchell, secretary and treasurer respectively, Mrs. Cole told briefly of founding The Society and Dr. Anderson contributed a recipe for Rumanian Seiika (rose petal conserve), Mrs. Norton showed her herb slides and Mr. Hamblin spoke on thymes (“the most useful of any group of herbs for their hardiness”). Until 1948 Annual Meetings were small, chiefly business, and involved only the Board of Directors. They met in the morning and adjourned to luncheon after hearing the annual reports of officers, committees and units and electing new Members-at-Large.

36

An unexpected attendee at the 1936 Annual Meeting tells of her experience, “I found Horticultural Hall, took the elevator to the top floor, emerging into a maze of book stacks...found a small group around a table between some stacks, and apologizing, said I was looking for The Herb Society; all turned to look at me blankly as though I had come from Mars...then recovering politely they found a chair for me...and welcomed me to my first meet­ ing of The Herb Society. ” The unexpected participant, Elizabeth Remsen Van Brunt, founded the New York Unit and served both The Society and her unit for many years and in many ways. In 1976 she was made an Honorary Member of The Herb Society of America in honor of her forty years of active membership.

Prior to the watershed year of 1946 only two Annual Meetings were held outside of Boston: the first in Philadelphia in May of 1941 and the other in New York in 1943. These meetings were one-day affairs, mainly business. In June 1947 the Western Reserve Unit hosted members at historic Dunham Tavern in Cleveland, Ohio. The following year the New York Unit hosted a three day meeting which included not only the customary reports but also exhibits and “A Day in the Country” visiting members’ herb gar­ dens. The next year (1949) many energetic easterners and midwesterners journeyed to California to become acquainted with the people, plants, and gardens there. Because the Western Group included California members from both the northern and south­ ern parts of the state, the first three days were spent in San Francisco and the last two in Santa Barbara, a train ride uniting the herb-filled days. As one participant said, “We had known that the days of the annual meeting would be interesting; we hadn’t real­ ized they would be so filled with cordiality and mutual interest that we would begin at once to look forward to other annual gather­ ings where we would meet our new friends again and also all those members of the Herb Society of America who were unable to

37

come to California.” By the time The Society went to California again (1955) there were two units in the state and the Southern California Unit hosted the meeting in Los Angeles with an optional extension to see the gardens of Santa Barbara.

Herbal favors, badges and centerpieces prepared by the host unit make these meetings a rich source of ideas for crafters and program planners. One of the more unusual (and awkward) favors was the ten-pound sack of cornmeal presented to guests by the St. Louis Unit in 1950. Dr. Anderson, who had been a founder of this unit as well as of The HSA, had grown the corn from seed he had origi­ nally secured from the Papago Indians of New Mexico. Each host mit everywhere in the country emphasized its own uniqueness.

At the 25th Anniversary meeting in 1959 “Everything had an herbal touch and a silver gleam.” Each member took home a tile decorated with silver and green herbs, a fishnet carryall bag, Cape Cod recipes and a bayberry candle. Baskets, candles, embroider­ ies, cookbooks, sachets, wreaths, and above all plants or seeds ensure that each meeting stands out from the other and that gar­ dens are green with memories. Since many members may never attend an Annual Meeting other than the one they host, this event is a valuable way of “keeping in touch.”

The extra added attractions of garden visits, flavor-filled meals, decorations and plants do not detract from the Annual Business Meeting. Until 1989 reports from units as well as officers and standing committee chairmen were read at the Annual Meeting.

With the increase in the number of both units and committees, unit reports were printed in the Report of the Annual Meeting rather than read aloud to the meeting.

However another occasion for discussion and sharing of unit and 38

regional problems and solutions was provided by an informal fo­ rum as well as a more structured meeting for Unit Chairmen and Members-at-Large Vice Chairmen. This awkward title was re­ placed by Directors’ Meeting in 1994 although both meetings still serve their valuable purpose and take their place on the agenda for all Board meetings throughout the year.

In her summary of the meeting in 1983 Betty Neavill (Mrs. Burdett) said, “...the Annual Business Meeting...is always a sig­ nificant occasion, for it provides the only time during the year that we can congregate, not as unit members or members at large, but as members of The Herb Society of America. At this meeting we renew our sense of unity, expand our perspective, and confirm our faith in the goals of the Society.”

Attendance at these meetings increased from eighty in 1951 (the first year participants were listed in the report) to over 500 at the 50th Anniversary meeting in 1983. On average the meetings at­ tracted about 200 members and guests depending on the location.

Although the majority of meetings were hosted by units in vari­ ous rotations, the Members-at-Large were hosts in 1956 in Gatlinburg, Kentucky and again in 1975 in Milwaukee, Wiscon­ sin.

The arrangements for these meetings consumed the time of all members of the host unit in varying degrees for the preceding sev­ eral years. Reservations, registration, centerpieces, favors, transportation, gardens and all the myriad details involving so many guests which make a successful meeting made some of the newer units reluctant to participate in the rotation. After the 1987 An­ nual Meeting a subcommittee was set up to investigate alternatives which would provide a more educational emphasis for these yearly gatherings. In 1989 a Meetings Committee was formed which

39

included Board members and ad hoc members from those units already scheduled for national meetings.

i

After investigating several campus facilities the committee planned its first meeting at Michigan State University June 26-30,1991. A successful symposium format was developed which included as speakers several recipients of The Society’s Research and Educa­ tion Grant. Many hands made light work as members of three units and Members-at-Large in Michigan served on the ad hoc commit­ tee for the meeting. The 1992 meeting had already been in the planning for several years by the Central Ohio Unit in Columbus, Ohio. The meeting coincided with Herb Week at Amerijlora, an international horticultural celebration being held in Columbus.

The following year the Meetings Committee continued the sym­ posium format although not on a university campus. There is a list of the Annual Meetings and their dates, hosts, and location in the Appendix.

Perhaps the best way to sum up the importance of the Annual Meeting is to quote a few participants. “There has not been a dull moment; one need only to share the name of an herb with some­ one you don’t know here, and the conversation leaps off to a running start.” “So we parted with bonds of friendship strength­ ened, to go back to our neglected gardens, with renewed inspiration for bigger and better things through HSA.” “For you find that these are people who care about other people just as much as they care about plants!”

AWARDS: In an early Treasurer’s Report (1937), Mrs. Mitchell, after giving the figures, added, “This brief outline of the financial year has been made without the ability to portray the greatest as­ set of all—those members who have given so unsparingly of their time and loyalty to The Herb Society of America.” The Society 40

was not unmindful of the tangible and intangible contributions of its members, but it was not until 1952 that an Awards Commit­ tee was formed to recognize “that person who has given service in either a specialized field or in a number of capacities to The Herb Society of America. He or she should be nationally known to our members for his or her contributions to the aims of the Society and for the furtherance of its Objectives.” Frances Ropes Williams received the first Award of Merit, an illuminated scroll.

Mrs. Williams served The Society as Corresponding Secretary for many years and skillfully and patiently built the Herbarium from 100 sheets to over 2000 sheets in her years as Curator.

The Award of Merit scroll was presented next (1953) to two other familiar members, Adeline P. Cole and Martha Genung Stearns.

Dr. Edgar Anderson, teacher and first President of The HSA, and Miss Elizabeth Remsen VanBrunt of the New York Unit received the scroll in 1954. In 1955 the last scroll was awarded posthu­ mously to Dr.Elmer Drew Merrill, who had served The Society for fifteen years as President-at-Large. The Award of Merit was revived once in 1983 at the 50th Anniversary meeting and awarded to Mr. Carlos Burr Dawes for his achievements in horticulture.

In 1956 Helen de Conway Little (Mrs. Winslow) became chair­ man of the Awards Committee. She proposed that The Society have a three-inch bronze medal struck for an award, A Medal of Honor. This was an expensive proposal for a society of limited means; however a very generous donor provided the funds. In 1957 a duplicate of this first medal was placed on permanent dis­ play in Horticultural Hall, Boston. The recipient of the first bronze medal was Miss Edna K. Neugebauer of California for her exten­ sive research in the field of lavender. In 1966 the Medal of Honor was renamed the Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor in grateful recognition of Mrs. Little’s many years of service as Chair41

man of the Awards Committee. Olive Willett Smith was the first recipient of this renamed award.

A one-time-only Garden Medal was given to The Society in 1957

by Mrs. Stearns to be awarded at the discretion of the Awards Committee to “somebody worthy.” In 1971 it was awarded to Miss Mittie Arnold who had served both The Society and the hor­ ticultural world of herbs through her work at The Greene Herb Gardens in Rhode Island since the 1930s.

The Certificate of Achievement was first awarded to Dr. Emily Emmart Trueblood in 1974 for her scholarly translation of the Badianus Manuscript of 1552 from Latin into English. Published in 1940, this is the project to which The Herb Society of America donated five hundred dollars in 1936. These certificates were de­ signed by the husband of a New England Unit member, Marias Platais, and placed in green folders with The Society seal on the cover for presentation. The first and only time an award has been given to a group rather than an individual was at the 50th Anni­ versary Meeting in 1983 when the New England Unit was awarded a Certificate of Achievement “In acknowledgment of your strong leadership, your love of intellectual pursuits, your insistence on excellence, your example to us all ofjust what membership in The Herb Society of America really means—the unlimited use of your endless talents—the delight we have found in knowing you....”

The Certificate of Appreciation, for those living or dead whom The Society wishes to recognize for exceptional contributions, was first awarded to Booker and Mary Worthen and to Ruth and Roland Remmel in 1982. As Elizabeth McKenna (Mrs. Bernard), Awards Committee Chairman, said on that occasion, “How can our Society find the words to express the gratitude we feel in our hearts for the endless hours of work contributed by those who 42

managed our finances as we brought the dream of our National Herb Garden to its beautiful reality.” The vital role played by these four members in the National Herb Garden campaign is detailed in a later chapter on the garden.

In 1985 the Board of Directors approved the establishment of a new horticultural award, the Nancy Putnam Howard Award for Excellence in Horticulture. This award was named for a member of the Philadelphia Unit, a gardener, scholar, teacher and lover of herbs who dedicated herself to their correct identification, to cor­ rect nomenclature as well as to their history, culture and uses. The first person to receive this award was Holly Harmar Shimizu (Mrs. Osamu), first Curator of the National Herb Garden.

There are lists of subsequent recipients of all these awards in the Appendix. Their achievements and contributions to The Herb So­ ciety of America and the many facets of the world of herbs can be found in their citations in the Annual Reports of The Society.

Awards were presented at the Annual Business Meeting as an Awards Committee Report until 1973. A summary of the recipient’s qualifications for the award were first read out at the 1963 meeting. After 1973 the Awards Luncheon—sometimes a Dinner—became a part of the excitement of the Annual Meeting.

As Gertrude B. Foster (Mrs. Phillip) said in 1980 when present­ ing the Medal of Honor to Audrey O’Connor, “Twenty years ago, when the Society was smaller, the Medal of Honor was presented with a hug and a kiss and mention of the name of the recipient.

The Awards Committee has formalized its work because of the larger number of members of Units and Members-at-Large. The stating of the accomplishments of our choice now enables those who cannot be present to share in our pride in the distinguished member of The Herb Society of America.”

43

RECOGNITION: The first Honorary Member of The HSA was Eleanor Sinclair Rohde (1933). Her activities on behalf of herb culture and uses in England after the first World War and her en­ couragement of the newly formed Herb Society of America made her a very appropriate candidate for this position. She was joined in the next year by an American herb gardener of similar stature, Louise Beebe Wilder. Dr. Stephen Hamblin, a professor of horti­ culture at the Harvard School of Landscape Design, was the third member of the original Honorary triumvirate. There have never been more than six Honorary Members at one time. In recent years recognition has been conferred by naming the candidate “Hon­ orary President.” At a Board Meeting in 1946 the previously used title President-at-Large was changed to “Honourary [sic] Presi­ dent.” This change was not made in the listings until 1982 when Mr. J. Liddon Pennock became the first Honorary President.

It is customary for the incoming President of The Society to choose a person of renown in horticulture from her geographical area as Honorary President. Many distinguished scholars have held this position. They are listed in the Appendix. The first Presidentat-Large (1936-1940) was Dr. Edgar Anderson, who moved to the Missouri Botanical Garden after serving as first President of The Society. He was succeeded by Dr. Elmer Merrill, another distinguished horticulturist from Harvard who served from 19401955. Both these men took an active part in The Society and were listed as members of the Executive Board.

For the most part honorary officers are drawn from outside the membership. There have been a few notable exceptions. The first was Frances Ropes Williams, who was named Honorary Corre­ sponding Secretary in 1956. After Mrs. Williams’ death in 1969, Helen Tilton Batchelder held this position until 1985. Only two honorary committee chairmanships have been created; that of 44

Editor Emeritus for Martha Stearns and Honorary Chairman of the National Herb Garden for Edna Cashmore (Mrs. Percy). The first member to be named Honorary President was Noreen Sheridan Capen in 1970. The second was her friend and admirer Priscilla Sawyer Lord (Mrs. Phillip) in 1991. Both contributed generously of their talents and resources to assure a solid future for The Herb Society of America.

45

Chapter Four The Committees as a Reflection of Change Until 1970 a member could chair the same committee for many years. At that time all chairmen were limited to two terms (4 years) as head of the same committee. Although intended to offer the opportunity of serving The Society to more members, this rule also presented the problem of lack of continuity. Many projects, started with enthusiasm under one chairman with the results submitted to a successor who may or may not have been a part of the planning, have not reached their goal. In addition, there has been the— sometimes false—assumption that individual units would have the same committee structure as national. Given the distance from headquarters and the general power of each unit to set its own internal structure to carry out ITS programs, this added to the frus­ tration of the planners. Perhaps the committees most affected by the turnover were first Bibliography and second Botanical and Horticultural Research. At times both committees had one chair­ man because their information and purposes overlapped.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: The original extensive bibliography was compiled by Mrs. Stearns in a series of looseleaf notebooks which she hoped could be copied into a card catalog and cross referenced.

She contributed them to The Society in 1937 when space became available at Horticultural Hall. She also compiled a “Herb Com­ monplace Book,” a looseleaf notebook of “ephemeral works of fiction which will probably not survive to become classics, and yet such give many interesting references to herbs.” This bibliography was kept in the library of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society 46

and used for many years by research committees and the Corre­ sponding Secretary to answer various questions. As Mrs. Cole said in her report as chairman of the Bibliography Committee in 1948, “In its inception, the bibliography endeavored to include in its card files all helpful material for the home grower, and the history and various uses of herbs in their long march through the centuries, their poetry and literature as well as their cultivation. With the passing years, the field of herb interest has widened, particularly since World War II, when unobtainable herbs were replaced by substitutes, introducing a new and expanding group. The neces­ sities of war also brought to the front, a new technique. A new word has been born, involving many herbs. That word chemurgy was born little more than a decade ago and merits a most com­ plete listing as it affects herbs.” Mrs. Cole defined chemurgy as, “...a combination of the efforts of agriculture, industry and sci­ ence. This cooperation is turning the wastes of plant life into industrial products, or by breaking down the structure of one plant, is producing another product for industrial use.” Her remarks were an effort to broaden the parameters for the bibliography. As well as those publications concerning the history, cultivation and uses of herbs which had previously been listed, Mrs. Cole favored the inclusion of “modern industrial research which profoundly affects herbs in cooking, medicine and perfume.”

In 1946, when a serious inquiry was made into the possibility of a Simmons College Library School student (“who may have some horticultural enthusiasm with library technique”) updating The HSA Bibliography as a part of her thesis, it was decided that a dollar an hour for her services was too much. The Board did not feel justified in taking the national funds because “participation in the use of the file is limited to the New England unit more or less.”

Nevertheless it was still felt that the file should be updated and revised. The hard-working Executive Secretary, Miss Norton, 47

thought she might be able to do it in the winter of 1946, but other more urgent projects intervened. The value of these files at Hor­ ticultural Hall, albeit outdated, can be seen in the report (1957) of the first Corresponding Secretary from outside New England.

Her duties were described as “light,” but Mrs. Williams, who had been persuaded to stay on as Honorary Corresponding Secretary, answered 440 letters!

By 1947, owing to the war, nothing had been added to this file, but in 1948 Mrs. Wright of the California unit added titles pub­ lished from 1935-1944. Three Reading Lists, “Native Plants of California and the Southwest,” “Tropical Horticulture and Gar­ dening,” and “Early American Botany and Horticulture” compiled by scholarly members of the Bibliography Committee were avail­ able as mimeographed sheets upon request until 1957. Another bibliography, on slips, of books on herbs in the Smith College li­ brary was given by Dorcas Brigham. Although there were suggestions that the bibliography on cards be printed and made available to the units outside of New England, this proved upon investigation to be a very expensive idea and it was dropped.

Phyllis K. Ockert (Mrs. Paul J.), who served as chairman of this committee from 1951-1963, felt that “A bibliography was not an end in itself. Lists of books, like other works of reference have no value unless they are made available to the people who can enjoy their benefit.” In order to compile a list which would contain books useful in all parts of the country with its wide range of grow­ ing conditions, Mrs. Ockert organized a Bibliography Chairman in each unit. The first Reading List was sent to members in 1957 and the next in 1969, although it had been voted in 1965 that a new Bibliography list should be issued every five years. The flood of herbal literature, both popular and scholarly, led to using the Newsletter to present a sampling of new books.

48

The emphasis of the Bibliography was changed in 1984 to a cur­ rent listing of HSA members’ publications. These later records are in an author/title file in the library. Two years later the position of Bibliography Chairman was abolished and the duties were turned over to the Corresponding Secretary. A listing of current herbal literature is available to members in the Spring and Fall Booklists compiled by the Ways and Means Committee and there are reviews in The Herbarist each year. The story of the Bibliog­ raphy Committee reveals not only the awkwardness of the rotation of chairmen after 1970 but also the efforts of The Herb Society of America to adjust to developments—over time—of alternative resources for herbal information available to both its members and the general public.

BOTANICAL & HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH: The Botany and Horticulture Committee, no matter what its name—Botanical Research Committee, Horticultural and Botani­ cal Research Committee or Horticultural Research Committee—has emphasized reporting and recording careful ob­ servations of carefully grown plants. This tone was set by its first chairman, Mrs. Cole, who served from 1935-1945. The reports of Helen Noyes Webster 1945-1947 and Miss Elizabeth Van Brunt 1947-1953 contain lists of herbal plants far more sophisticated than “parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.” Miss Van Brunt said, “The more one travels, or talks with those from far places, the more one discovers how herb plants are involved in the lives of men, and a herb garden may be unlimited in the suitable material it encloses, although bounded by its walls.”

Both these approaches—careful observation of carefully grown plants and becoming acquainted with the herbal plants of other countries and climates—have determined the activities of this com­ mittee. Dorcas Brigham (1952-1962) combined both. Chairman 49

of the Botany Department at Smith and an accomplished nursery­ man at her Village Hill Nursery, she traveled extensively in this country and abroad with a keen awareness of local plant life which she shared with The Herb Society. Under her chairmanship So­ ciety members studied mints, lavenders, artemisias, alliums and origanums. Her garden of scented geraniums, carefully labeled, was an inspiration to “go and do likewise.”

One of the early zonal studies of The Society was initiated by Elsetta Gilchrist Barnes (Mrs. John Potts) in 1963. The Executive Board had agreed to an American Horticultural Society request for “projects on merit evaluation and hardiness extremes in the fields.”

A year of extreme temperatures throughout the country and the whole-hearted participation by members resulted in a wealth of material which was placed on cards. The 1965 committee report mentions an “enlarged project of the Herb Hardiness Charts” to be based on Helen Noyes Webster’s listings under “Herb Garden­ ing” in Standardized Plant Names (1947). There is no further mention of either of these projects or their results, With the ad­ vent of the 1990 revision of the USD A Hardiness Zones map, another zonal study has been undertaken, the intent being to pub­ lish the information in the form of booklets for each zone.

It was proposed in 1966 that each unit have its own Botany and Horticulture Chairman through whom the National chairman could communicate and who would be responsible for organizing the horticultural activities of the unit. In 1970 the chairman, Jean Ruh, advocated a five year study of plant compatibility, a popu­ lar interest at this time, utilizing this existing network. Again lack of continuity in personnel and the duration of the project led to its demise.

The innumerable demands of the National Herb Garden project 50

absorbed the horticultural interests of members for the next few years. The chairman, Nancy Putnam Howard (Mrs. Walter K.), an enthusiastic and dedicated horticulturist, launched a project which once again involved many members of The Society in careful ob­ servation of carefully grown plants. Agastache foeniculum (Anise Hyssop) seed was distributed to all members who wished to par­ ticipate. It was Nancy Howard who conceived “Project Go 1980” which involved a year long intensive study of a single genus by individuals and units resulting in outstanding displays of artemisia, lavender, monarda, rosemary and many others, which included well grown plants, informative handouts, and an unsurpassed op­ portunity for horticultural education of both the viewers and those who created the displays for the Annual Meeting.

In 1987 Joy Logee Martin (Mrs. Ernest E.) who had long been an active collector and grower of unusual herbs became Botany and Horticulture Chairman. As well as a written report she brought PLANTS. She identified and described them, then passed around these new and generally unfamiliar plants for members to observe closely and pinch and sniff. A very special tradition was started, and the Botany and Horticulture Meeting is today one of the high points of the Annual Meeting. An outgrowth of this activity was a project to introduce some of the more unusual herbs into the horticultural trade. Plants were grown, observed, propagated and distributed by members. This program is in its infancy, but it is, in fact, a logical descendant of Mrs. Cole’s early botanical and horticultural activities.

Many other distinguished horticulturists have served this commit­ tee as chairmen but their work has been impeded since 1970 by lack of continuity and a frequently discouraging lack of commu­ nication within the membership as a whole which would generate enthusiasm for proposed projects. To lessen this problem a co51

chairman who would succeed as chairman of the Botany and Hor­ ticulture Committee was appointed in 1992, ensuring that projects begun would not simply disappear.

One of the member benefits of most horticultural or plant societies is a seed distribution. An informal seed exchange was set up by the Members-at-Large in 1979, but it was not until 1988 that the present-day computerized seed exchange was set up. The proceeds from this project help to support the fellow for the National Herb Garden.

SLIDE/LECTURES: Upon her election at the Annual Meeting in 1937, Frances Cunningham (Mrs. John) mentioned the value of educational lectures on herbs accompanied by slides to be rented to garden clubs and other interested groups. At this time Frances L. Norton, who was interested in photography, was appointed hairman of a committee to collect the slides and formulate the accompanying lecture. The next year an advertisement appeared in The Herbarist offering the slide lecture for $15.00. Unfortunately, Mrs. Norton was killed in an automobile accident and the project languished until 1951.

In that year a Lecture Committee was appointed, offering care­ fully researched lectures for units, garden clubs and study groups interested in herbs. This committee of nine also had nine “collabo­ rators” who offered appropriate slides and were on call in a contact or advisory capacity. Preparation of the lectures involved mem­ bers from coast-to-coast. The topics show their individual interests: Historical, Legendary, Literary and Ethnobotanical, Botanical and Horticultural. Under the heading, Uses of Herbs, the lectures in­ cluded, Ecclesiastical, Culinary, Pot Pourri, and Medicinal.

Another heading, Landscaping with Herbs, included not only Gar­ den Design but also Herbs in Modern Landscaping with a section 52

on “Herbs persona non grata in the cultivated garden.”

Some of these early slide/lectures, particularly those for begin­ ners, were amusingly admonitory. “Unless the gardener grows herbs for some definite reason, they will probably not prove fix­ tures, for they do take up space.” “Do not put a single herb in the garden unless you know why you are growing it and just what you expect it to bring you of pleasure and profit.” “It is only by ad­ hering to this resolution that herbs will prove a lasting interest and not a vanishing will-o-the-wisp.”

Study groups with their monthly papers presented by members flourished in the fifties and sixties. Many public libraries had “club paper” files of suitable topics and references. The Herb Society of America served both its members and the public by adding slides to its lectures in 1955. The first two completed slide lectures were “Herbs in the Southwest” and “Herb Garden Design.” Four later ones covered “Medicinal Herbs,” “Potpourris,” “Raising Herbs for Flower Arrangements” and “Colonial Gardens.” Two other lec­ tures to be used with fresh herbal material were also part of a series of eight to be completed by 1956. All were to be available through the Boston office for a fee of $10.00 plus shipping.

Maintenance of a circulating collection such as this posed continu­ ous problems because the chairman of the committee was frequently at a distance from the office and unaware of the wear and tear on the slides and their accompanying lectures. Ten years later (1966) there were still eight programs offered, but by 1977 their condition had deteriorated so that the chairman declared that only two were in really usable condition. A moratorium was placed on the service until 1979 while the slides were cleaned, remounted, replaced and placed in new carousel trays and the lectures retyped.

53

The administration of the slide lectures was turned over to the Li­ brary in 1980 at the suggestion of the Chairman who cited the fact that both the slides and the lectures were stored in the Library and that requests for and the mailing of the slides had always been handled by the office. The popular “Herbs for Use and Delight” was reworked and a new program “Powers and Cures; the His­ tory of Medicinal Plants” has replaced “Historical Medicinal Herbs.” Although the slides were stored in the library, the special care and procedures they require led to the revival of the position of Slide/Lecture Chairman in 1990. Increasing knowledge neces­ sitates almost continuous supervision and revision of materials in these programs. The developments in the technology of cameras, film, and the audio visual field have created challenges to which The Society will have to respond if this program is to continue to serve.

LIBRARY: Space, location and availability have determined the development of The Herb Society of America Library. For most of the early years of The Society, when its office was located at Horticultural Hall, the resources of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society Library were available to answer questions. The first of­ fice, itself, was only a portion of a room divided by bookshelves and also occupied by the Mycological Society. Shortly thereafter a larger space was made available to The Herb Society. Two col­ lections of books, one in honor of Mrs. Norton, a Founder, and another memorial collection in honor of Mrs. Bratenahl, given by Miss Elizabeth Wade White in 1942, were both distinguished by memorial book plates and incorporated into the Massachussets Horticultural Society Library collection. The Herb Society regret­ ted that this library was not readily available to all its members because they were so widespread.

54

Another generous donation by Miss White provided the begin­ nings of a reference library for the office in 1944. Mrs. Webster noted in 1948 that “An earmarked fund in our treasury had its beginning from a gift which Mrs. William Dixon of Baltimore started for the service of a trained librarian to bring our card file up to date.” This collection grew slowly until 1966 when the New York Unit presented The Society with five hundred dollars to es­ tablish The Serena Gow Waterman Library. Seventeen books were purchased, the first being the Badianus Manuscript translation done

by Dr. Emily Emmart Trueblood. Funds for a special bookcase for this collection were given the following year by a member of the New York Unit.

Three years later, Noreen Capen gave another bookcase when the office moved to larger quarters in Horticultural Hall. This case, too, soon filled with donations from generous members. In order to make the collection more usable for research and circulation, it was cataloged in 1971, and in 1972 a list was sent to all mem­ bers. A supplementary list of an additional fifty-two books was mailed in 1976, and in the following year the Library Chairman announced a new list which would include all books acquired through January 1977.

A donation to the library in 1972 by Mrs. Walter E. Thwing of several herbals from her husband’s rare book collection and the later acquisition of additional volumes requiring conservation led to the storage of these volumes, after repair, at the Harcourt Bind­ ery from 1979-1989. A careful survey of The HSA collection in 1979 listed six folios and quartos from 1601-1756 and an additional twelve from the nineteenth century. The next year Ruth Remmel (Mrs. Roland) gave The Society a rare Salmon herbal and funds for its preservation.

55

When The Society offices were moved, for the first time outside of Boston, to more spacious quarters in Concord, Massachusetts, the library was to have a room of its own. A Founder’s Library Fund permitted the purchase of library furniture. The Library Committee of hard workers from the New England Unit under the direction of Hope Cushing (Mrs. George L.) as Chairman, unpacked the books and quickly settled them into their new home.

The rare books remained at the Harcourt Bindery.

At this time serious consideration was given to switching from an alphabetical arrangement to a subject arrangement like the Library of Congress system. Computer problems and a biennial change of chairmen led to stagnation until the office moved again in 1989 to its present headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio.

Here the library once again had a room of its own. A large me­ morial donation made in honor of her brother Benjamin by Miss Hubbell enabled The Society to provide a handsome, fine library­ like setting for its collection. The building that was now The Society headquarters had been home to the Hubbells for many years. Mr. Hubbell was an architect who designed the Cleveland Market and there is a decoration from that market embedded in the fireplace on the porch.

After much discussion, it was decided to consider the library for research only and to discontinue circulating books to members.

New policies are being discussed in light of this new, permanent location to augment the collection and maintain its high quality in its special field. The rare book collection is happily housed nearby at the Holden Arboretum in their rare book room where it is accessible to researchers and safe from deterioration.

56

HISTORY & ARCHIVES: These are rather like the chicken and the egg—which came first? Although Mr. Schetky proposed at the Annual Meeting of 1966 that an historian be appointed because The Society was thirty years old, little was done until 1975. With the impending fiftieth anniversary of The Herb Society of America only eight years away, Priscilla Sawyer Lord was appointed to write a history of The Society. As is the case with most volunteer orga­ nizations, the letters, documents, publications, pictures, and so on were scattered in closets and drawers or in boxes under the beds of those many members who had served The Society for so many years. Fuzzy, as she was affectionately known, proceeded to gather these Society records and mementos of our past. “Gleanings have come from attics, brown paper bags, shopping bags, and, forgot­ ten souveniers.” The correspondence of Frances Williams, Adeline Cole, Elizabeth Wade White and those archives of the early years of the New England Unit when they provided all the administra­ tion of The Society, the unit histories, the clippings of individual accomplishments, all were seized upon and organized into “an un­ expurgated” History of The Herb Society of America from 1933 through May 1983, which was given to all members present at the 50th An­ niversary Meeting in Boston in 1984. At the same time some committee histories were compiled for their individual files, al­ though they did not appear in the History itself.

What was to be done with all this “documentary residue of activ­ ity—administrative remains” of The Society after the printing of the History? Following the 50th Anniversary Meeting, a new stand­ ing committee, Archives, was created. With the removal of The Society to Ohio in 1988 many boxes of material were shipped to headquarters to be stored. At the untimely death of Mrs. Lord the mantle of Archivist fell on Sharon Gregor who began to arrange and conserve the materials. In 1994 the position of Archivist was made an appointive position thus providing continuity and remov57

ing the problems of rotation from this ongoing effort. In 1994 the Priscilla Sawyer Lord Room was created at headquarters and an acquisitions policy was put in place which will insure that future donations of The Society’s past will be available for research.

SCHOLARSHIPS: Encouraged by Dr. John M. Fogg, Jr., President-at-Large 1962-1964, and President Eloise Atherton (Mrs. Thomas H.), The Herb Society of America began its scholarship fund. It was felt that, beyond its own membership, The HSA could realize its goals as a national educational society by serving the public in a more personal way through financial support of schol­ arly projects. The first Chairman of this fund was Marjorie Sample (Mrs. Clarence H.). Requests for voluntary contributions to the fund from members, units and friends coincided with the campaign for the $50,000 Endowment Fund and the encouragement of Life and Benefactor Memberships. The fund had collected only $2970 by 1968. Renamed the Founders Memorial Scholarship Fund in 1966 it continued to grow slowly. In 1971 the focus of the award was broadened to include any worthwhile study already in progress if it concerned herbs and was already supported financially in a large part by some other agency. The first grant of $200 was awarded to Arthur O. Tucker in 1970 for a study of Mentha.

It was not until 1980 that funds were sufficient to raise the amount of the grant to $1000. The Scholarship Committee—as it was now called—developed an application form and publicized the grant in various publications. The name changed again to Schol­ arship and Research Committee, and finally in 1988 indicating The Society’s goal of “encouraging research to provide education in all things herbal,” the name was changed to the present Research and Education Grant Committee, From its inception this grant has competed for funds with other 58

projects supported by members—the most outstanding being the National Herb Garden campaign. Regular contributions from the units, especially the New York Unit and the New England Unit and the Members-at-Large Great Lakes Herb Symposium, kept the idea alive. The list of recipients and their projects in the Appen­ dix show the interesting inclusiveness of “all things herbal.”

HERBARIUM: In one of The Society’s first newsletters (1935?) there is the admonition “Do Not Forget The Herbarium.” Mrs. Cole requested specimens from different parts of the country to be added to the over one hundred already mounted. “A clearer un­ derstanding of the qualities of our herbs, with the variety properly named, will help the grower and the purchaser....We particularly need at the outset to work on artemisias, mints and thymes.”

Mrs. Frances Williams is listed as Curator of the Herbarium in the report of the fourth Annual Meeting in 1938. She was to hold this position until 1962 when May Davlin (Mrs. Louis) took over. The Chairman of the Herbarium Committee, Helen Noyes Webster, stated that the goal of her committee was “to make a working her­ barium of culinary herbs, simples, and allied species, which shall include all herbs for flavor, salads and pot herbs....As far as we know, this Herbarium is the first specialized collection of plants ofjust this kind in the country.”

The collection continued to grow, and there was a catalog of book references to the mounted herbs. Mrs. Williams spent Friday morn­ ings at The HSA office answering questions as Corresponding Secretary and Curator of the Herbarium for many years. She proudly reported that the new Standardized Plant Names of the American Nurserymen’s Association had about 570 herb species, of which The HSA herbarium had three-fourths. In addition to pressing and mounting Herbarium specimens, she also dried flow59

ers in three dimensions using alum. She also wrote a pamphlet “The Uses and Methods of Making an Herbarium’* which was published by The Society and reprinted many times.

The practice of lending duplicate sheets for display or study was developed. The duplicate collection was grouped, by 1963, into “Herbs in the Primer for Herb Growing” and those herbs with gray foliage, with red foliage, with variegated foliage, to go be­ tween stepping stones, for ground covers, for candy, for dyes, for snuff and smoking, for teas and other beverages, and for shade.

In 1947 there were 2400 mounted specimens in the metal filing cabinets at Horticultural Hall including over 1500 species and va­ rieties. A large collection of five hundred herbarium sheets from another collection had been added in 1944. Although Mrs. Will­ iams continued to create displays, general use of the collection diminished until in 1956 she said, “Just how much the Herbarium is enlarged in the future should depend upon the use that will be made of it.” The Herbarium was progressively “quiescent” until 1962 when May Davlin was appointed Curator and moved the specimens from the old metal filing cases in the “attic” in Horti­ cultural Hall to the office. Borrowing was encouraged, but since demand was scarce, the collection was offered to Harvard Univer­ sity for their herbarium in Jamaica Plains to aid in their work with plants under cultivation. Each sheet was stamped, “Presented to the Arnold Arboretum by The Herb Society of America, April 4,1966.”

COMMERCIAL RESEARCH: The New England group had had several demonstration plots at the Waltham Experimental Sta­ tion (1939-1941). These showed proper varieties to plant, the soil, fertilizer, cultivation, control of pests, harvesting and drying of herbs suitable for the New England climate. The group provided 60

the funds for additional labor, bi-monthly supervision by a growers committee and experienced advice if needed; in addition they wou Id provide seed and stock. Feeling that the project did not serve the purpose for which it was intended, the New England group withdrew its support in November 1941. Learning from this earlier experience, the Commercial Research Committee (1941-1946) was set up to become “a clearing house of informa­ tion for grower and buyer; hundreds of would-be-growers wanted information as to soil, fertilizer, cultivations, yield, opportunity to sell and finally seed.” Growing for seed and distributing high qual­ ity seed and plants to groups in all parts of the country for research on carefully controlled test plots was the main activity of this com­ mittee. This policy was possible because The HSA had no financial interest in the cultivation of herbs and thus was able to obtain unbiased information from importers, growers, buyers and the pharmaceutical industry. Previous to the war emergency so few statistics had been compiled on the availability of digitalis that pri­ vate individuals began “growing their own to supply their individual needs.” The lack of facts provided fertile ground for scare headlines of shortages.

Mrs. Cole, who had been chairman of this committee since its in­ ception, reported in 1945 that no active program had been undertaken other than that of the New England Group with the soil and fertilizer tests at the Hardy gardens, which were later writ­ ten up in The Herbarist (1943). Ever the thinker and teacher she used her report ofjune 1946 to augment her final conclusions on the work of the committee and the recommendations she had made in an article in the 1946 Herbarist. After admonishing home gardeners to be aware of the value of building up their soil, and having learned from the experiences and methods of commercial growers, she said, “We should become intelligently aware of the international situation in agriculture, of which our special crop, 61

“Herbs,” is a small part. We should become conversant with the importations from other lands, and how far the spices, rubber, quinine, and oils can be grown without danger of being wiped out by unknown treaties.” Mentioning the growing partnership be­ tween industry and agriculture in this hemisphere she listed plants she believed The Society should be aware of: abaca (a Philippine plant used to make rope) quinine, citronella and derris (source of rotenone) as well as the new chemurgic plants, ramie, soy beans and sea moss.

Her conclusion shows her concern that The Society continue to be “worthwhile” to its members and to the public. “Perhaps we are emphasizing too much this type of study, as a part of every pro­ gram, in all our units, but without a broad outlook, any specialized group such as ours, runs the danger of becoming just ‘folksy’ and that we should avoid.”

WAR EMERGENCY: The War Emergency Committee was formed in 1951 during the Korean War to determine ways in which The Herb Society of America could be of service to the nation. It was found that the information available to the general public through the US Department of Agriculture and other sources on commercial herb growing had increased far beyond the ability of the qualified amateur to contribute in any significant way.

After investigating many possibilities, The Society decided it would be most effective if its members responded to local needs rather than a national response. Perhaps the shortest-lived committee of The Society, the War Emergency Committee was dissolved the next year.

PUBLICITY: Beginning in 1942 as the Committee on Pub­ licity, headed by Frances Williams, its aim was “to disseminate our Findings and the results of our research where they will be of help 62

to all herb growers, especially those who have home gardens, and are engaged in Cottage industries.” She added “This committee has been set up to make available to the public information which has hitherto reached only our membership.” Because Mrs. Will­ iams was not only chairman of this committee but also Corresponding Secretary and Curator of the Herbarium, her com­ mittee reports for each office tend to be an amalgam of all three activities.

By the time Ruth Ostheimer assumed the chairmanship of the Publicity Committee in 1947 its purpose was no longer clear. Her report questioned the value of the continuation of this commit­ tee without positive, achievable goals. She proposed the two targets for publicity which most immediately come to mind: “to attract new members [and] to further the knowledge and use of herbs.”

In response to the first goal she posed the question, “Should an organization with a restricted membership, or the reputation thereof, engage in wide publicity which would simply whet the appetites of intelligent and interested people, the great majority of whom might find membership beyond their reach?”

After discussing the collection of information and the dissemina­ tion of information as facets of furthering the knowledge and use of herbs, Mrs. Ostheimer concluded that the subjects should be most carefully explored from all angles before another Publicity Committee was appointed. She proposed more achievable alter­ natives which would enable The Society to accomplish its purpose: lectures with slides for rental to garden clubs, lectures on herb cookery, sales of herbs and herb products, etc. She concluded “publicity is not apt to be of much value unless it is pointed to­ ward some predetermined objectives which should be selected with an eye on questions of membership and budget.” There were no reports of this committee after 1951.

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A Projects Committee was formed in 1951 to increase The Society’s prestige and alleviate financial difficulties by increasing interest in herbs and The Herb Society. The emphasis was on pub­ lic gardens and work in veterans’ hospitals. A questionnaire was sent to units and interested members and the results reported to the 1952 Annual Meeting. By 1953 it had become the Educa­ tional Publicity Committee, whose chief function seems to have been gathering information from units on their activities, including selling HSA publications. After several static years a Pub­ lic Relations Committee was formed in 1956 with Noreen Capen as chairman which was to function between the national Herb Society and the general public, “presenting to them the Society’s aims in an attractive and dignified manner.” Mrs. Capen was also chairman of the Publications Committee at this time.

Concurrently a Committee on the Uses of Herbs was formed in 1955 which was “to act as a kind of clearing house for the ac­ cumulation of knowledge which might otherwise be unused.” It too, solicited information, sending out five hundred letters to the membership in 1959. It was viewed by one committee chairman as “a committee which could weld all The Units together in a common interest, ‘Uses of Herbs as Practiced in Various Parts of the United States.’” This committee revised the rules forjudging herbs for the National Council of State Garden Club’s Handbook for Flower Show Judging in 1955, laying the groundwork for a fu­ ture publication of The Society. The distribution of a special exhibit, “Facets of Herbs,” which is described more fully in a later chapter, was the 1960 project of the Uses of Herbs Committee.

By the following year the emphasis had shifted more to the dis­ tribution and sale of the publications of The Society and a new Committee on Merchandizing was formed. It was suggested that each unit have a merchandizer to solicit orders from local mu64

seums, gift shops, and book shops. To encourage this effort kits of printed materials (including Herbarist binders) available from headquarters were sent to all units. Although there was no specific committee after 1962 to handle the sale of HSA publications, ten year later the Publications chairman requested the cooperation of all members to place The Primer for Herb Growing in herb-related local outlets.

It was not until 1990 that a standing committee for Public Re­ lations was created again. Once more lack of specific goals hampered the committee. The questions remained the same as those posed by Mrs. Ostheimer in 1947. This new committee’s first project was the collection of slides of herbal activity of members to “tell the story of The HSA.” A similar earlier effort under the Publications Committee to create an herbal video was put aside as a more appropriate activity for the Public Relations Commit­ tee. Further goals for this committee were set out in the June 1992 annual revision of the Five Year Plan. They include improving internal communications and establishing an identity for The So­ ciety and increasing public awareness of The Herb Society of America.

HEADQUARTERS SEARCH: The Headquarters Search sub­ committee was created by the Endowment and Development Committee to seek a permanent headquarters for The Herb So­ ciety of America. This short-lived (June 1986-March 1988), hard working group under the chairmanship of Patricia Zaido (Mrs. Paul M.) drew up a list of basic requirements for the headquarters building in time for discussion at the October 1986 Board Meet­ ing. The committee was then instructed to survey the membership on their preferred location for a permanent headquarters. When the majority of returns favored Ohio or New England, The HSA President, Vice President and the chairman of the Headquarters 65

Search Committee were authorized by the membership at the May 1987 Annual Meeting to search for suitable properties in those areas.

At a meeting of the Western Reserve Unit, there was a discussion of The Society’s search for a permanent headquarters. Elliot Paine, Director of the Holden Arboretum and a member of the unit, mentioned the availability of an 1841 house with about three and a half acres of land adjacent to the Arboretum property. After in­ specting the building, Vineyard House, with an architect who specialized in the restoration of historic properties, an offer was made by The Society and accepted by the owners.

In the months between the August move from Concord, Massa-

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chusetts to the October dedication ceremony of the new headquar­ ters in Ohio, “a frenzy of activity prevailed” as President Sue Trevarrow (Mrs. Laurence) and the Headquarters Committee es­ tablished a functioning office “amongst sawdust, plaster, and ongoing construction.” By October of 1988, the necessary repairs and renovations for an office had been made, the office and library had been moved from Massachusetts and a new Executive Secre­ tary had been hired. On a blustery, rainy day, on which the flapping of the tent under which the happy members gathered fre­ quently drowned out the speeches, The Herb Society of America started toward the new century with a headquarters building. The work of this committee is another example of how fortunate The HSA is to have members who are willing to contribute their tal­ ent, money, and above all, time to assure the future of The Society.

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The herb garden at Inniswood in Columbus, OH was founded on an extensive collection of Thymus species, but has grown to include many others—Central Ohio Unit A Fragrance Garden using stone terraces in Lima, PA pleases blind and sighted alike—Philadelphia Unit

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The Prallsville Mills Industrial Herb Garden grows plants used for fibers, dyes, medicine, oils, grains, etc. at an 18th century linseed oil mill—Delaware Valley (NJ) Unit Children with disabilities enjoy pungent cuttings and labels they can ‘read’ at the Brailled Scented Terrace, Los Angeles Arboretum— formerly Southern California Unit

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The National Herb Garden: the key that ‘opens the door to education, beauty and peace through herbs’ lies with its head furthest from the viewer Presidents Betty Rea (1976-78) and Eleanor Gambee (1978-80)—2nd and 3rd from left—at the dedication of the National Herb Garden

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The National Herb Garden: entering the head of the key one finds the alcove-shaped specialty gardens, here (coming towards the viewer) the Dioscorides, Dye and a bit of the Early American Holly Harmar Shimizu, first curator of the National Herb Garden and first winner of the Nancy Putnam Howard Award for Excellence in Horticulture

Anne Shirk Burrage

Harriet Addams Brown FOUNDERS: Florence Brown Bratenahl

Adeline Philbrick Cole

Ellen Stotehoff Greenslet

Frances Torrey Norton

FOUNDERS: Corrinna Searle Mitchell

Dr. Edgar Anderson

The Seal of The Herb Society of America The woodcut of Gerard’s “Wild Time of Candy” which inspired Mrs. Bratenahl’s design for the Seal

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Priscilla Sawyer Lord, HSA historian, second member to be named Honorary President 1990-92

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Sandy Hicks (3rd from left) and an HSA travel group visit a Swiss garden of medicinal herbs, July, 1990 MAL Great Lakes Herb Symposium, eagerly anticipated by members, attracts a capacity crowd each year, not least for the quality of its exhibits

Visiting the Wisconsin Unit, President Madalene Hill is shown one of the Mitchell Park Domes (Milwaukee) by Don Fisher (left) and Director Richard Risch The carefully crafted pot pourris of Rosella Mathieu have added their delightful scent to many herbal gatherings

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Chapter Five Publications PUBLICATIONS: The Publications Committee, one of the most important committees of The Herb Society of America, was formed immediately in 1935 to place the results of the research and scholarship of Society members before the public. Their first and most significant work was The Herbarist. Concurrently with this annual publication, many inexpensive leaflets and bulletins were also printed and distributed by units and by the national organi­ zation. All unit publications of The Society which bore the Seal of The HSA had to be approved by the national Publications Com­ mittee. It was suggested in 1941 by Mrs. Clark that all publications and reports of The HSA be the same size as The Herbarist in order to fit them into the same binder. While special Herbarist binders were discussed they were not available to members until 1959.

Nevertheless all publications of The Society were “Herbarist” size until the herb judging handbook appeared in 1985.

The flagship publication of The Herb Society of America is The Herbarist. Published continuously since 1935 when 500 copies were printed, this garden digest-sized magazine has provided an outlet for herbal research for members and non-members. At a board meeting in November 1934, both Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Burrage spoke in favor of a “bulletin” to be published by The Society and sent to all members. Mrs. Brown felt that The Herb Society “owed it” to far distant members unable to attend meet­ ings. Mrs. Burrage favored it if it “could be made worthwhile.”

In pursuit of this aim she composed a questionnaire of thirteen questions which was sent to The Herb Society members. Her last 81

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question, “Have you affiliation with someone who would be in­ terested in advertising in the future?” presaged the constant concern that this fine publication would not be a financial drain on The Society. An Advertising Manager was appointed in 1940.

The first issue of forty-eight pages had three of advertising. Increas­ ing postal rates, a larger membership and larger printing costs necessitated a gradual increase in price from the original dollar of the first issue.

Mrs. Burrage was editor of the first issue, although it was not un­ til 1942 that either editor or printer was listed. Until then it was viewed as an effort of the “Committee of the Whole”—the Pub­ lications Committee. Martha Stearns edited The Herbarist from 1940-1957 when, at her behest, the experiment of having the editorship held for two years by each unit in turn was begun. She believed that new editors with a new approach and perspective would make the publication more valuable. Mrs. Stearns said in her report at the 1948 meeting, “The Herbarist is frankly a piece of pleasant propaganda. It has a missionary value, and we want to introduce our subject to the people still sitting in darkness. It can help to broaden the gardener’s experience, to beautify gardens and give new material for the flower arrangers; it can improve Ameri­ can cooking, and fill our houses with fragrance.” Subsequent editors in various parts of the country have kept readers aware of herbal developments in their regions.

With the permission of The Society, Dr. Daniel Foley, an early member, selected an anthology of articles from The Herbarist of 1934—1971 which were published by Dover Press in 1974 under the title Herbs For Use and For Delight, the motto of The Herb Society of America.

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LEAFLETS: Mrs.Cole was first chairman of the Publications

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Committee which selected “material contributed by our members, which would be pertinent to present day needs, and within the limits of our printing budget.” In 1940 the committee divided the growing of herbs into three classifications, each requiring an en­ tirely different technique for success. These divisions resulted in the publication of “The Home Growing of Twelve Condiment Herbs” by Frances Noyes Webster, “The Cottage Garden Indus­ try” prepared from the experience of Mr. and Mrs. Sherman Hardy, and the “Sage Bulletin #3.” This “Sage Bulletin” series of six leaflets was the published result of a project carried out and fi­ nanced by the New England Unit. Mrs. Cole’s common sense evidently prevailed because, although many herbal compilations were offered to The HSA for publication, the committee was only “interested in real experience and real original research in grow­ ing new varieties and obtaining correct information without glamor or sentiment.” A small charge was made for these publi­ cations, but other information sheets, “Sources of Herb Seeds, Plants and Dried Products,” “Suggested Reading List of Herbs,” and similar compilations, were reprinted as needed and available free.

In 1947, speaking of the past accomplishments of The Society pub­ lished by the Publications Committee, Mrs. Cole posed many questions which might be answered by careful member research.

She also hoped that the lessons learned during the war years would not be forgotten, “that never again shall we lack reliable published information as to the production of herbs...and forget that we may again need to become self-sufficient. Until 1951 The Society pub­ lications listed for sale (except for The Herbarist and a ten-year index to The Herbarist 1935-1944 compiled by Janet Wright) were re­ prints from the forties.

From 1951 to 1971 Noreen Sheridan Capen of the New York 83

Unit was chairman of this committee, which reviewed all past publications and leaflets and proposed revisions of several embar­ rassingly out-of-date items and discontinuation of others. The Society continued to offer reprints on hand until the supply was exhausted. Among the new publications was another Herbarist In­ dex 1945-1949, a revised reading list from the Bibliography Committee and a booklet which was to be revised and reprinted many times after the first 3000 copies called “A Primer for Herb Growing” (1952) by Helen Morgenthau Fox (Mrs.Mortimer) and Miss Elizabeth VanBrunt. Mrs. Williams’ 1942 publication “The Use and Methods of Making an Herbarium” was revised in 1951, and regular updating of the “Herb Buyers Guide” and the “Read­ ing List” continued.

In a departure from the previous publication format of The Soci­ ety, a “Pictorial Culinary Herb Chart” designed by Nils and Dorothy Hogner for the New York International Flower Show in 1956 was offered by The HSA for one dollar. Mrs. Capen also designed note paper and Christmas cards which were sold for the benefit of The Society.

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In 1957 under the chairmanship of Dorothy Bovee Jones a ques­ tionnaire by the special New Publications Committee asked for membership evaluation of The Herbarist and seventeen other pub­ lications old and new. There were also suggestions for new pamphlets and lists on garden design, herbs in the salt-free diet and making potpourri and regional supplements to “A Primer for Herb Growing.” The order of the two-year rotation for publication of The Herbarist by Units and Members-at-Large was set up for 1957 through 1973. This special committee emphasized the necessity for raising funds by advertising or some other means to support fu­ ture publication.

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JUDGING EXHIBITS: Two other specialized areas of herbal in­ terest—judging in flower shows and herb garden design—have occupied the Publications Committee for many years. Exhibiting herbs in flower shows is a part of the traditions of The Society.

The award-winning exhibit, “A 17th Century Still Room,” at the 1935 Boston Spring Flower Show was one of the first in the coun­ try to feature herbs. Thirteen years later a new Hand Book published by the National Council of Federated Garden Clubs devoted notable space to herb judging. Commenting on the Hand Book, Mrs. Webster hoped that it would “bring about more thoughtfully prepared [herb] exhibits and greater care in varietal nomenclature.” A Uses of Herbs Committee was established in 1955. Its primary aim was the revision of rules forjudging herbs, but its focus and purpose changed and it became “a kind of clear­ ing house for the accumulation of knowledge which might otherwise be unused”—a purpose rather like Mrs. Stearns “Com­ monplace Book” in the early days of The Society. There is no further mention of this committee or its accomplishments after 1958 when all its gleanings were sent to the Boston office.

In 1958 the Connecticut Unit under Edna Cashmore produced an herb flower show at Caprilands, Coventry, Connecticut. This was one of the first all-herb flower shows in the country with com­ petitive classes and qualified judges making awards. Mrs. Harry Brokaw Smith and Mrs. Paul Sturtevant, whose rules forjudging herbs had been printed in the 1961 Herbarist, were joined by Mrs. Cashmore on a committee to study and develop these rules fur­ ther. The Society had offered “Rules forjudging Herbs” in 1957 as a separate pamphlet which was revised again in Spring 1962 and sold until 1979. A continuing interest in this area is shown by the 1985 publication of “Judging Herbs; a Handbook for Horticultural Judges.”

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HERB GARDEN DESIGN: The Herb Garden Design Book was published in 1984 by the prestigious University Press of New England. First mentioned as ‘A folder on Herb Garden Designs’ in Mrs. Capen’s report in 1962, this project occupied the Publi­ cations Committee in soliciting designs and finalizing choices until 1975 when the project was turned over to Faith H. Swanson (Mrs. Herbert) and Virginia B. Rady. The work of the previous years was described by Susan Frugy, Publications Chairman, as “a mish­ mash of barely related, formless attempts at jotting down what herb gardens are.” She continued to work with the authors on the de­ sign book, contributing her expertise as a book editor although she was no longer Publications Chairman. Before publishing the de­ signs the authors designed an herb garden, built it and carefully recorded every detail to reassure themselves that their approach to herb garden design would work! These two, qualified amateurs in the best traditions of The Society, created an authoritative book which stands as a first in its field.

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BEGINNERS5 GUIDES: A perennial pamphlet first published in 1952, A Primerfor Herb Growing, by Helen Fox and Miss Eliza­ beth Van Brunt, was revised periodically until it was replaced in 1983 after selling thousands of copies. It contained basic cultiva­ tion hints, an annotated list of eleven annuals and nineteen perennial herbs to plant in an eight by ten foot garden plot which would supply a family of four, suggestions for harvesting, drying and freezing herbs and a bibliography of almost twenty books in­ cluding HSA publications. A great deal of reliable information for a quarter.

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This slender pamphlet was succeeded by The Beginners Herb Garden written by a committee of the Western Reserve Unit.

After discussing soil, plant selection, propagation, harvesting and other aspects of cultivation, the authors describe nineteen herbs 86

(only two annuals). Categorical lists of annual and perennial herbs with height and garden uses are included in this useful booklet.

The inclusion of the US Department of Agriculture map of “Zones of Plant Hardiness” indicated a growing awareness of the vast varia­ tion in temperature in the areas in which Society herb gardeners were trying to cultivate the same plants with varying degrees of success.

TRAVELERS’ GUIDES: In her capacity as Corresponding Sec­ retary Mrs. Williams compiled a card file on herb gardens to visit at home and abroad. This listing contained mostly gardens main­ tained by members, including some private gardens. When the Membership Directory was first published (1946) and for several years thereafter, it contained suggested gardens to visit. A Garden Loca­ tor was a project of the Connecticut Unit in 1964. When Mrs. Cashmore of this unit became President of The HSA, the vice president was designated “Locator Chairman” and instructed to coordinate unit “Locators” with the aim of enlarging and keep­ ing the Garden Locator up to date. Although the original locator sold out, its loose-leaf format and unusual printing process discouraged The Society from continuing the project. Lists of gardens to visit continued to be gathered and offered to those who requested them, but it was not until 1984 that the Publications Committee under the direction of Dorothy G. Spencer (Mrs. Christopher)—with the whole-hearted cooperation of the members—began systematically assembling gardens all over the United States and Canada into the first edition of The Travelers Guide to Herb Gardens. This book containing maps locating the gardens as well as brief descrip­ tions, has been revised twice since its publication in 1985.

The Society as a whole has published only one small cookbook.

When Mrs. Cole was Publications Chairman she said, “The Pub­ lications Committee has ever been averse to another [herb

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cookbook] believing that too much emphasis on herbs as the in­ gredient par excellence, defeats the purpose of fine cooking by emphasizing flavor at the expense of blend.” Another which was proposed and compiled in 1975/76, The Herb Sampler Cookbook of The Herb Society of America, was ready for the printer and awaiting approval of publication expenses when it simply disappeared from the records.

Perhaps The Society as a whole was averse to herb cookbooks, but that did not deter individuals and units from engaging public in­ terest in herbs through using them in the kitchen. At least 21 herb cookbooks had been printed by the 50th Anniversary Meeting.

Several more have been printed since. One of the better known cookbook projects is that of the Western Reserve Unit. Their first compilation, put on sale for Christmas 1957, sold out all 2000 copies by the following March and was the beginning of a success­ ful venture. By the time of the publication of its fifth edition in 1991 under the title Cooking with Herb Scents, the unit had sold over 20,000 copies!

JOURNALS: Some members have published herb magazines which have provided outlets for the publication of herbal research in addition to The Herbarist. Rosetta Clarkson’s Herb Journal, a monthly hobby magazine first published from her home “Salt Acres” in October 1936, was distributed to “herb lovers every­ where.” Most of the contents were taken from her own library and experience, but she also noted current herbal activity such as the first catalog of Mrs. Bratenahl’s Weathered Oak Herb Farm (1937), Helen Noyes Webster’s book on herbs (1936) and an announce­ ment of a two-day Herb Festival to be held at Mrs. Foster Stearns’ garden in Hancock, New Hampshire. She also started an Herb Lover’s Book Club—offering three books each year—”To Preserve the Ancient Literature of Herbs for the Use of Future 88

Generations in America.” These were mostly reprints of rare books and pamphlets in her considerable personal library. Mrs. Clarkson offered bound volumes of the journal each year with an individual title. In 1971 permission was obtained from her publisher to re­ print a chapter (16) on marketing herbs from her book, Herbs, Their Culture and Uses, to use in responding to those asking The Society’s advice about starting an herb business.

Another early herb journal was Gertrude and Phillip Foster’s bi­ monthly American Herb Grower Magazine, first issued in April 1947, which fit Mrs. Clarkson’s description of their earlier booklet on herbs. “The contagious enthusiasm of this well-written, unpreten­ tious pamphlet [substitute “magazine”] will make your mouth water and your fingers itch to be sowing and planting and will stir your mind with ancient lore.” Many Society members were con­ tributors to this magazine. The Herb Grower Press, like Mrs. Clarkson, published some monographs, generally reprints of hardto-find English publications.

Increased public interest in herbs has encouraged the proliferation of herbal magazines in the past ten years. Many of their articles are authored by Society members. Before the current popularity of herbs, some units provided an outlet for member research by pub­ lishing their own journals in addition to their newsletters. The New York Unit, beginning in 1946, produced the “Green Bulle­ tin,” and the Western Reserve Unit’s quarterly “Journal” was published from 1974-1990.

SUPPORTED PUBLICATIONS: Although The Society has published only pamphlets and The Herbarist on an ongoing basis, it has on several occasions provided significant support for impor­ tant herbal publishing projects. The first of these was the Badianus Manuscript in 1934, another Feckenham’s This Booke of Sovereigne 89

Medicines and more recently the Fuchs Herbal Project. A copy of a rare book on lavender, Histoire Naturelle des Lavandes, was trans­ lated by Mrs. Sargent Wellman in 1950 and the Herbs of Greece by Alta Dodds Niebuhr was published by the New England Unit in 1970. The Members-at-Large published a book in 1980 on “The Cultivated Basils” by Helen H. Darrah. Proceeds from the sale of this scholarly work enabled the Members-at-Large to provide monetary support for those Members-at-Large serving on the Board of The Society. In addition the research on three other books was partially funded by the Research and Education Grant of The HSA: A Weaver's Garden by Rita Buchanan (1987), Using Herbs in the Landscape by Debra A. Kirkpatrick (1992), and Tussie Mussies by Geraldine A. Laufer (1993).

Henry Beston, an early member, might well be called the philoso­ pher of The Society. His small book Herbs and the Earth, published in 1973, contains little information on cultivation, harvesting and other practical aspects of herbs but he does state in a memorable way why we garden with these special plants: Not difficult to plan, not at all difficult to maintain, a gar­ den of herbs gives more months of garden pleasure and more kinds of pleasure than any other. Its interest is in­ dependent of flowers, its fragrances are given from the first leaf to the last, its uses make it a part of the amenities of the whole year, and its history and traditions touch all nations and all times.

A special limited edition of 500 copies of Herbs and the Earth was printed by David R. Godine, Publisher in 1990 for The Herb Society of America and sold through Ways & Means.

WAYS & MEANS: The perennial lack of adequate income led to the formation of the Ways & Means Committee in 1960. A 90

Committee on Merchandizing had already been created ear­ lier in this year, but its focus was the increased sale of HSA publications. It was Noreen Capen as chairman of the Publications Committee who had encouraged the design and printing of ma­ terials other than books and pamphlets with the publication of a Pictorial Culinary Herb Chart in four colors by Nils and Dorothy Hogner in 1956 and herb note papers illustrated by Kent Wetherill, as well as Christmas cards which she designed herself. Many sug­ gestions in response to the Ways & Means questionnaire encouraged the new committee to request an advance of $1200 to produce several groups of herbal post cards based on slides on hand or sent by members. This request for seed money was not univer­ sally popular, prompting the chairman to quip in her 1961 report, “Of course, we’d be delighted to make some money without spending any, but there is as yet no lucky number on herbs.” Evi­ dently her petition was sucessful because by the following year, to encourage sales, she was extolling the all-purpose use of these cards: “Teenagers taking exams...Sage for Wisdom; Hospital greetings...Horehound for health, Borage for courage; Warm Thoughts...The Lavender Garden; General good wishes...Basil.”

She also remarked that no new projects could be considered until the cards showed a profit.

Many more herb-related items were offered for sale from 19631969 when Priscilla Lord was chairman of this committee: hand screened handkerchiefs, aprons decorated with cats playing with catnip, window disks imbedded with dry herbs, posters, calendars, and the ever popular rosemary pads, which had been designed by the Executive Secretary, Mrs. Miller, in 1967.

In a significant departure from its past exhibits, The Society had a sales booth at the Boston Spring Flower Show in 1967. The first book not published by The HSA to be purchased for resale by the 91

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Ways & Means Committee was a book of Christmas legends for children by Ruth Sawyer called Joy to the World, which included a charming and appropriate Irish fairy tale “The Precious Herbs of Christmas.” The sale of 99 copies encouraged The Society to enlarge this aspect of Ways & Means until today members can choose from a substantial listing of herb-related books in the Spring and Fall compiled by the Committee. The imagination of subse­ quent chairmen of this committee knew no bounds. In addition to new note cards and decorative labels for herbal products, um­ brellas, jewelry (especially gold membership pins and pendants based on The HSA seal), scarves and roundels were offered for sale.

The Annual Meeting of 1988 was the first time members and units had been able to sell products on consignment at Ways & Means.

Previously all items had to be donated and the proceeds given to the national organization. The success of this venture has led to a large Herbal Marketplace at Annual Meetings offering members the opportunity to buy and sell a great variety of herb-related articles from all over the country.

TRAVEL: In the 1980’s many non-profit horticultural organiza­ tions offered the opportunity to their members and guests to travel to places of special interest. In addition to the trip costs a tax-de­ ductible donation was made to the sponsoring organization. The Herb Society of America special Travel Committee, under the energetic and talented direction of Alexandra Hicks (Mrs. John R.), offered its first tour to England in 1986. Two others followed in 1987 and 1988. Trips to Switzerland in 1989 and 1990 gave members an unforgettable view of herbal and horticultural activ­ ity there.

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For many years individuals and units of The Society have had close ties with members of the New Zealand Herb Society. In 1993, this 92

time under the enthusiastic direction ol boioihy liouH/ ftAr John), members met their “pen pals" and ailmd' d il»» Anunu Meeting of the New Zealand society followinj' a lour ol ih.n ' on; try. A slide/lecture on New Zealand herbs and a handsom' ban/e : of the seal of The Herb Society of America wen* pie.rnu d io I h‘ Society upon their return.

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Chapter Six Gardens—The Tussie Mussie Trail TEACHING: In October 1934, Mrs. Burrage “armed with a let­ ter and a bunch of herbs” called on the chairman of the park commission of Boston to offer plans and materials for a municipal herb garden. His swift acceptance and offer of 140 feet of green­ house space for propagation led to the garden: a 104-foot circular maze of hyssop, lavender cotton, winter savory, germander and thyme was staked out and raised beds were built that same year.

The middle space was centered with a sundial, carpeted with cha­ momile and provided with benches. This garden was completed in 1936.

Another garden which consumed the energies of early members in New England was at the Harvard Botanical Garden on land of­ fered by Dr. E.D. Merrill in 1937. Mrs. Burrage gave an armillary sphere and base to enhance this garden, which provided a green and fragrant space for the neighborhood until the land was needed for additional University housing in 1946.

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As The Society spread outside New England the various “groups,” later to be known as “Units,” set to work putting in herb gardens.

Many groups were already very active in local gardens of herbs before becoming Units of The Society. Sixty years later these gar­ dens can be found from Toronto to New Orleans and New England to southern California. Those members of The Society who do not belong to units also carry on the tradition of creating herb gardens for “pleasure and instruction” in their own areas, sometimes as an individual effort, often with the help of a local 95

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garden club or herb study group. Herb Society members every­ where continue to demonstrate that they have “the teacher’s impulse to share and stimulate” which was said of Mrs. Cole at the dedication of the Founders’ Herb Garden at the Wenham Histori­ cal Society, Wenham, Massachusetts, in 1956.

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From the 104-foot maze planted by the founders in 1934 for the “pleasure and instruction of the people of Boston” to the two-acre National Herb Garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC, presented to the nation as a Bicentennial gift by The Herb Society of America, gardens have played an important role in “publishing” the scholarship of members to the public. It was the hope of the Founders that members would open their herb gar­ dens to encourage others to learn about and enjoy these special plants. Not only were private gardens opened, but also many public gardens at historic sites, schools and institutions, and parks were lesigned, planted and, in many cases, maintained by members. In 1948 Helen Noyes Webster remarked in her annual report, “that day is long past when their [the gardens’] hard working commit­ tees thought that mere planting was the end of their labors, or that the prophylactic qualities of herbs discouraged weeds in their midst.” Although some of these early gardens no longer exist, there are others large and small, new and old, which have been faith­ fully tended by members of The Society or supported with funds they have contributed for this purpose, which can still be enjoyed today.

FOR THE BLIND: Fragrance, from sweet to “nose twister,” and texture, downy or crisp, as well as a “rugged quality which per­ mits them to be handled, tasted or trod upon” make herbs particularly appropriate for sensory gardens. Many were the inquir­ ies about establishing these special gardens which were addressed to The Herb Society of America. By 1955 the Executive Secre96

tary called for additions to the office file of thirty-seven gardens for the blind and planned to print mimeographed sheets supply ing information on this frequently requested topic. A few years later a response to a request for a list of gardens for the blind led to a two-page spread in the “Encyclopedia Year Book of 1958 which was noted in the Secretary’s report. The Corresponding Secretary also had “several sheets and clippings on blind gardens which she loaned “with such information as seems to be available.’

The Society’s popular “A Primer for Herb Growing,” first pub­ lished in 1952, was also distributed in a Braille edition at the Garden for the Blind at the Tyler Arboretum in Lima, Pennsyl­ vania by Mrs. Price, a member of the Philadelphia Unit. This garden, one of the first of its kind in this country, was started in 1949 by a Parks Superintendent who had read of a similar garden in a public park in Exeter, England. In 1955 the Royal Horticul­ tural Society permitted The Herb Society of America to condense and reprint an article from their Journal (Vol. 79, pp.312—15) giv­ ing details of a 1953 garden for the blind constructed in a Birmingham city park.

Edith Foster Farwell (Mrs. Albert) designed and planted a garden of raised beds with plantings of fragrant herbs in Chicago at the Lighthouse for the Blind, an industrial school. She too used the HSA “Herb Primer” in Braille for her project. Unfortunately en­ thusiasm and, subsequently, maintenance dwindled and the garden disappeared. An award-winning Garden for the Blind was designed and exhibited at the Boston Flower Show of 1953. The next year this garden was duplicated at the Sunshine Camp for the Blind in Egypt, Massachusetts, by the New England Unit. In other parts of the country, a garden for children attending the Arkansas School for the Blind has been developed in Little Rock; a Sensory Gar­ den is underway at the Independence Park Botanic Garden in 97

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the Braille Garden at the Los An­ geles Arboretum has been the site of a yearly tour and tea provided by the local unit.

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The special qualities of herbs make them particularly useful in hortitherapy. There is a picture in the 1954 Herbarist showing a small garden at the Northport Veterans’ Hospital which was do­ nated by the New York Unit in 1948. This garden, one of several designed and planted by Society members for veterans’ hospitals, to be cared for by patients, demonstrates once again how The So­ ciety adapts its knowledge and skills with herbs to the needs of the times.

HISTORICAL: Herb gardens, carefully researched and main­ tained, enhance historical sites everywhere. Large or small, these gardens with their aromatic plants draw even the most casual visitor into the past. The designs for the medieval gardens at The Clois­ ters in New York and the colonial gardens at Strawberry Banke in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, were the work of early Society members. A colonial kitchen garden of herbs and vegetables grows next to a 1750 house in New Jersey; a small herb garden with swept-dirt paths in Atlanta presents plants in everyday use from 1836-1860; a doctor’s garden of medicinal herbs used before 1867 is displayed in a restored village in Toronto: these and hundreds of others of many periods and in many places show the members’ commitment to learning about herbs and sharing that knowledge through public gardens.

CHEMURGIC: There are other special gardens which reveal to our plastic and synthetic age that herbal plants are valuable assets for mankind. A Chemurgic Garden of plants used in industry was established at the New York Botanical Gardens in 1979. These herbs used for oils, fibers, medicines, dyes, etc. have been of in98

terest to individuals in The Society for many years. As early as 1943 an article on ramie appeared in The Herbarist. Some members have distilled their own oils from plants for potpourri, others have in­ vestigated the natural dyes in the herb garden. All have shared their knowledge through exhibits, writing, donating plants and seeds and—most of all—through gardens.

FOR CHILDREN: Herbs and children have a special affinity. A delightful correspondence between Mrs. Williams and a Mrs. J.M.P., a fifth grade classroom teacher whose pupils were “tired of such things as watching a carrot or sweet potato in water” for their science project, is printed in The Herbarist of 1953. Like the founders of The HSA the children wanted “something more” and decided on herbs. Under Mrs. Williams’ guidance they grew, tasted, and crafted with their herbs. Another Herbarist (1936) shows a garden planted by the Girl Scouts of New England near a his­ toric farm house. The attractions of these “plants with a use” for this age group is evident in the 125 different herbs raised by the Scouts themselves or as a troop project for this garden.

The importance of gardens and gardening to The Society is shown by the change in the membership application after 1978 to include a “garden visit.” This device proved a charming introduction to new members and their interests. The garden tours at Annual Meetings have shown members how their favorite herbs grow in different climates and soils. Members have always been urged to take their Membership List with them when they traveled in or­ der to visit herb gardens elsewhere.

THE NATIONAL HERB GARDEN: The crown jewel of this diadem of gardens is the National Herb Garden at the National Ar­ boretum in Washington, DC. Conceived as a gift to the nation from The Herb Society of America to celebrate the Bicentennial, 99

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it was dedicated on June 12, 1980. Few projects demonstrate how fortunate The Society is to inspire individual members to dedicate their special talents, enthusiasm, and incredible amounts of time for many years to achieving its goals like the National Herb Gar­ den. In 1957 Mrs. Stearns remarked in her report as editor of The Herbarist, “They say that the Great Wall of China is the only manmade thing that can be seen from outerspace. It had to begin somewhere. My dream for the future is that some day we can have a national demonstration of some sort, in some central spot, and bring our many varied gifts of specialized knowledge and talent to bear. With everyone contributing, we may really surprise the world.”

Almost ten years later Edna Cashmore revived this idea in her 1966 President’s Report saying, “It has long been a dream of mine to establish a herb garden at the United Nations.” Mrs. Cashmore as Chairman of a special Garden Committee continued to sound out the possibilities of this dream becoming a reality. When in 1966 it was learned that a project was impending to develop thirtyfive acres at the National Arboretum as demonstration gardens, the Director, Dr. Skinner, told the HSA Garden Committee that they could proceed with plans and designs for about one acre on one of several potential sites. At their April 1967 meeting the Board accepted the project. Originally viewed as a project involving only the presentation of a garden plan with advice on the planting, by 1974 it was obvious that The Society would also have to provide funds for construction of the garden.

Genevieve Jyurovat (Mrs. Andrew A.), president of The Society from 1974-1976, had had experience with the legal arrangements necessary for a large public herb garden in her years as chairman of the Western Reserve Unit during the establishment of their garden at the Garden Center of Greater Cleveland (now the Cleve100

land Botanic Garden). Her citation for the Certificate of Achieve­ ment in 1987 mentions her almost-weekly trips to Washington to consult with lawyers and federal officials. These many trips resulted in an agreement between The Society and the Arboretum which in its turn resulted in a bill being sent to Congress which would permit the United States Department of Agriculture to accept gifts on behalf of the National Arboretum. This bill passed the Senate on July 25 and the House on November 4, 1975. The agreement was signed between the Agricultural Research Service and The Herb Society of America in February of 1976.

It was agreed that The Society would contribute funds for the con­ struction and development of the garden; consult with the Agricultural Research Service (a part of USDA) in the design, planting and construction of the garden; and select and pay a land­ scape architect to prepare detailed plans, specifications, cost estimates and a timetable for the completion of each stage of con­ struction. Although a Society member, Elsetta Barnes, the landscape architect who had designed the Western Reserve Gar­ den, had prepared a concept plan for the National Herb Garden, she was unable to continue the project. Instead, the garden as it developed was the work of Thomas Wirth of Sasaki Associates of Watertown, Massachusetts. The initial concept had embraced six acres, which was reduced to a little over two acres for reasons of location. A proposed fund drive for $200,000, to be matched by a similar amount contributed by the government, proved inad­ equate. Additional funds were necessitated by the ever-escalating costs of the various expenditures involved.

For its part, the Agricultural Research Service agreed to provide a site adjacent to the Administration Building of the National Ar­ boretum; to provide utilities for construction and maintenance;to supply background plants as available; to make arrangements for 101

the construction, construction supervision, etc. to bring the gar­ den to completion; and to provide labor and other services to maintain the garden.

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This year of 1976 was The Society’s year of commitment to the National Herb Garden project.The agreement with the Agricul­ tural Research Service was signed in February. Also in February it was agreed to consult Sasaki Associates; plans were reviewed in March, and by April a contract was signed authorizing a master plan for the garden including construction budgets, initial construc­ tion and overall development. This master plan and its attendant documents were vital to the success of those members who were to raise the significant funds required for this Society enterprise.

At a dedication ceremony in June 1976, attended by Mrs. Jyurovat, Mrs. Cashmore and others, a sign indicating the site of the future National Herb Garden, a Bicentennial gift from The Herb Soci­ ety of America to the nation, was erected. At this time a check for almost $18,000 was presented to Dr. John Creech, the Director of the Arboretum.

It was agreed that the fund raising should be organized by mem­ bers of The Society so that The Society would not have to pay a large percentage of the garden donations to professionals. Once again, members were found willing to devote their time and tal­ ents to this project. The initial funds were raised by a committee under Mrs. Charles Patch Jr., who like Mrs. Jyurovat had been active in the finances of the Western Reserve Unit garden. In 1976 Mr. and Mrs. Booker Worthen became Treasurers of the National Herb Garden Fund, and Mr. and Mrs. Roland Remmel undertook to raise $400,000 for the fund.

Their final report in 1982, when all pledges were paid in full, showed that they had collected $419,361.69! Of this sum 102

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$381,880.98 was given for the Garden and the remaining $37,481 was placed in a special fund for the continuing support of the Garden.

The United States Government contributed $200,000 in October 1978 in the form of matching funds through the Agriculture De­ partment. Herein lies another tale of tussic-mussies and persistence

by HSA President Betty Rea (Mrs.Edward), who lobbied in the halls of Congress not once, but twice, with her basket of tussiemussies! In March of 1978 she met with the Secretary of Agriculture and appeared before the Appropriations Subcommit­ tee of Agriculture, Rural and Related Agencies, chaired by Jamie L. Whitten, Congressman from Mississippi, to request an appro­ priation of $200,000 to match The Society’s contribution to the National Herb Garden. The task was made easier by the fact that members of The HSA had already raised almost that amount. The money was in the Agricultural Appropriations Bill, but budget cutbacks and Presidential demands for economy resulted in the matching funds being dropped from the bill. Betty Rea had a busy summer lobbying to have the funds restored. At last the appropria­ tions bill, including the funds for the garden, was signed by President Carter in October and a bulldozer with Betty Rea on board and a tussie mussie attached to the mirror for good luck started to build the garden which had been staked out in the spring.

Concurrently with the planning, fund raising and lobbying, plant lists were being prepared by members of The Herb Society. In March 1977 the National Herb Garden Committee met at the Arboretum to decide basic plantings and titles for the ten specialty gardens on the plan. With a few exceptions, the gardens as they exist today are the same: Dioscorides, Dye, Colonial, Native American (evolved from “Herbs Around the World” which was to include Russian and French herbs), Medicinal, Culinary, Indus103

trial, Fragrance, Oriental and Beverage. These plant lists give ex­ act landscape descriptions and uses of plants, using authoritative references. The information was scanned into a computer.

The Specialty gardens form the head of the key-shaped plan; a his­ toric rose garden the shank and the knot garden and reception area overlooking it the bit. The key opens the door to education, beauty and peace through herbs for all visitors.

The dedication of the National Herb Garden took place on June 12, 1980, from 7 to 9 pm. It was an unforgettable occasion on a fine summer evening. Music for the ceremony was provided by the US Marine Band; greetings and introductions were given by the Director of the Arboretum, Dr. John Creech; the National Herb Garden was presented to people of the United States by Mrs. Albert C. Burrage—one of the seven Founders of The Herb So­ ciety of America—and it was accepted for the American People

by Joan Mondale (Mrs. Walter), wife of the Vice President. Two of the project’s staunchest supporters, The Honorable Bob Bergland, Secretary of Agriculture, and the Honorable Jamie L. Whitten, Congressman, spoke at the conclusion of the ceremony.

Mrs. Burrage described the occasion as “The Mount Everest of my life.”

Summing up the National Herb Garden Project in The Herbarist of 1980, Carolyn Cadwalader, who succeeded Mrs. Cashmore as Chairman of the committee when the latter was made Honorary Chairman, wrote, “The National Herb Garden is the culmination of many years of cooperative effort from public and private sec­ tors of the United States. The Herb Society of America provided the original drive, selected one of the top landscape designers in the country, raised most of the money from small contributions of interested individuals in the society, and combined its collec104

tive knowledge in the growing and use of herbs, and in research and horticultural wisdom.” Although many names have been mentioned in this tale of the National Herb Garden it is important to remember what Eleanor Gambee (Mrs. A. Sumner) said in her 1979 President’s Report. “To laud the few who initiated this project or those who struggled with its progress over the interven­ ing years would be to discriminate against the hundreds of dedicated members who also have worked toward the achievement of establishing the finest herb garden in the world.”

As anyone who gardens knows, a garden is never finished. Plants grow and perish, and what is perfect on a paper plan may easily turn out to be a mistake in the soil as the plant adjusts to its envi­ ronment. The National Herb Garden proved to be no exception to these truths. An advantage of its location—just outside the Ad­ ministration Building of the National Arboretum—is also a disadvantage in that the garden and its plants lie in a low, bowl­ shaped area. The early reports of the Curator and the Garden Chairman contain many remarks on drainage and irrigation. The Society has provided funds for solving both problems. The beau­ tiful knot garden has consumed both time and money replacing plants and correcting drainage.

The original concept of the National Herb Garden was a plan and a plant list. It expanded, of necessity, to include construction which involved an intensive fund drive. Once given to the nation, the National Arboretum was responsible for employing a Curator to care for the garden. Since simple maintenance, excluding devel­ opment, of this garden required more than one person,The Herb Society of America has for many years supported, through con­ tributions to the Friends of the National Arboretum (FONA) and The HSA National Herb Garden Fund, a Garden Fellow to assist the Curator. The amount of these funds fluctuates although the 105

need remains constant. There has been a concerted effort in re­ cent years by The Society to “fully fund the Garden Fellow.”

The Society has been most fortunate in the Curators employed by the Arboretum for the herb garden. There have been only two: Holly Shimizu, 1980-1987, and Janet Walker since 1988. Both have developed and cared for the garden which has been described as “a two acre herb garden which entails as much constant care as any garden possibly could.” They have also given many classes and workshops, and answered the questions of visitors and correspon­ dents from all over the world, as well as making many visits to units and Member-at-Large groups to share the garden with those mem­ bers who have not had the opportunity to visit the National Herb Garden in person. Beginning in 1990 the Fall Meetings of the Board of Directors of The Herb Society of America have alternated between a location near the National Herb Garden and the Head­ quarters in Kirtland. In this way more members in all groups can become acquainted with this beautiful, maturing garden.

From 1985 to 1993 The Society encouraged donations for an Edu­ cational/Demonstration Greenhouse for the garden. The HSA sought a low maintenance state-of-the-art structure which would enhance the educational program of the Curator and provide more space for propagation. The idea was greeted enthusiastically by the Arboretum, but because of stringent budgets they were unable to promise any maintenance. A facility similar to the one proposed

by The Society was included in the Arboretum’s “Vision 2000” plan, and The Society was encouraged enough to appropriate money for a plan of the Education/Demonstration Greenhouse.

Contributions continued to trickle in for this project which was originally estimated to cost between $80,000 and $120,000. By 1993 priorities had changed; the Curator had the use of plastic greenhouses for propagation and had more need of another pair 106

of hands to help in the garden. Donors to the Greenhouse Fund were notified of the change and many chose to transfer their past donations to the “Garden Fund” or the General Endowment Fund.

For the first ten years of the garden, the Philadelphia Unit and the Potomac Unit provided the Chairmen of the National Herb Gar­ den Committee as well as a good many volunteers to assist the Curator. In 1992 this committee was enlarged to include those units and regions of The Society who were within a day’s jour­ ney of the garden. The committee has held several well-attended symposia and organized an Herbal Tree campaign which resulted in all the trees that were in the original design being planted in the National Herb Garden.

Perhaps the relationship of the Herb Society to the National Herb Garden was best expressed by Henrietta Truitt (Mrs.Charles) when she said in her 1983 report as Garden Chairman, “Our name, our national and international image are represented in our Garden.

We want to maintain it as we wish it to be maintained and take pride in what it represents to the public. For, what is a garden?

First, it is made of dreams and plans; second, it is the plants them­ selves, and last but not least, it is the one who loves and tends it.”

Overleaf, Plan of the National Herb Garden by Sasaki Associates 107

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Chapter Seven Reaching Beyond Gardens EXHIBITS: In addition to planning, planting and maintaining herb gardens in the soil throughout the country, both individuals and units have exhibited in major flower shows and have garnered an impressive array of awards. The first exhibit for The Society was at the Boston Spring Flower Show of 1935, “A 17th Century Still Room,” which drew the following accolade from Mr. Edwin S. Webster, President of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society: “Your exhibit at the spring show was so unusual and so meritori­ ous that I feel like sending you a special letter of appreciation. I have learned something about the many months of research and study on the part of you and your committee which preceded the actual work of preparing the exhibit.... Please accept my congratu­ lations on your receipt of a gold medal.”

These educational exhibits at flower shows are viewed by large numbers of people (sometimes over 50,000), many of whom are unacquainted with herbs—a lack which Society members have worked diligently to overcome. These exhibits, large—one New York Unit garden contained 600 plants representing 53 varieties, and small—a group of four miniature gardens designed and exhib­ ited by the St. Louis Unit—are usually accompanied by brochures for the public. Beginning in 1940 the Philadelphia Unit has par­ ticipated in the Philadelphia Flower Show and the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s Harvest Show, where they have won many prestigious awards for educational exhibits.

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Closely allied to these kinds of exhibits is the standard flower show.

The interest of members in this phase of herbal education led to the publication by The Society of standards for exhibiting herbs.

In some “Thoughts on Exhibitions” (The Herbarist 1951) the au­ thor remarks, “...Herbs need quite a different treatment; they fit naturally into more friendly surroundings in pewter and pottery.

It would be interesting to have a full-grown Exhibition of herb arrangements, and garden mixtures borrowing their aid, with a special eye to suitability of container...” She concludes, “mere wild flights of fancy and striving for eccentricity would not be com­ mended.” It was not until 1958 that the first Connecticut Unit All-Herb exhibit took place. Miss Carolyn Rose Foster of the Northern New Jersey Unit must surely be among the earliest ex­ hibitors of herbs. On the occasion of her hundredth birthday (1977) it was noted that she had entered herbs in the first New York Flower Show.

In 1958 a garden devoted exclusively to dye, textile and fiber plants was presented to the Old Slater Mill Museum in Pawtucket, Rhode Island by the New England Unit. This mill was the first successful water-powered textile mill in America adapted to pro­ duce cotton yarn. In 1969, from July 2 to September 28, it was the site of an exhibit sponsored by The Herb Society which in­ volved eleven units and many individuals who “shared their treasures.” In addition to the special displays, a series of seven lec­ tures was given. All exhibits and lectures were free to the public and this summer educational program was attended by 11,302 people, 697 of whom attended the lectures!

Exhibits have been a part of the Annual Meeting since 1948 when the first multi-day meeting was held in New York. Miss Elizabeth Hall, Librarian of the New York Botanic Garden, arranged an “Extensive Exhibit” of Herb Literature, with special emphasis on 110

the Herb History of the American Continent. It was, indeed, an Extensive Exhibit (deserving of capital letters), displaying 293 vol­ umes, old and new, including ethnobotany, economic plants and pharmacognosy as well as Old World herbals featuring New World Herbs. The display so impressed the Director of the New York Botanic Garden that he requested that it remain open for the gen­ eral public. Many teachers and their classes viewed this exhibit.

There is a complete list of these books appended to the Report of that Annual Meeting.

For several years exhibits were listed in detail in the Annual Re­ port, starting with the Annual Meeting of 1957. Many were the potpourris which perfumed the hotels in which the meetings were held. Often, successful items from herb fairs were displayed along with herbarium specimens, miniature gardens, garden plans and herb plants.

In 1961, an exhibit explaining the work of The Herb Society of America titled “Herbs Have Many Facets” was shown for the first time. It was meant to be a permanent exhibit to be loaned to in­ terested groups and distant units. A description follows.

HERBS HAVE MANY FACETS—is cleverly embodied in a large glass paperweight on whose cut facets are written “Seeds”, “Books”, “Culinary”, “Biblical”, “Medicinal”, “Ornamental”, “Fragrance”, and “Delight”.

The present Kit incorporates only the first two—“Seeds” and “Books”. A large, framed chart centers the display; at the top of it is our SEAL and Boston address and a listing in two columns of twenty-one seeds and a number of books. Along with the seeds’ names are given their uses; and the publishers’ names must accompany the books. On a tray in a bookrack (on either side of the chart) are little jars of the listed seeds and the books mentioned, many of 111

them authored by our own members. It is simple, infor­ mative, arresting and attractive.

Photographs, black-and-white and colored enlargements, com­ prised the exhibits at the 1972 meeting. The 125 pictures in four categories were judged and prizes awarded. After the meeting they were turned over to the Slide/Lecture chairman.

There have been many memorable exhibits at Annual Meetings based on a theme or study. In 1980 the exhibits were the result of an in-depth study undertaken at the urging of the Botany and Horticulture Chairman, of an individual herb and a sharing of the findings of the unit or region. In 1985 all displays concerned the ten Specialty Gardens at the National Herb Garden. All were of a size to fit into the display cases at the garden to be used by the Curator for continuing education and be viewed by the general public. Two wild or native plant studies have also resulted in wellresearched displays for the garden at the National Arboretum. A theme which roused many imaginative responses from members was ‘‘Childrens’ Gardens for Use and Delight” in 1991. The ex­ hibit room at this meeting was a childrens’ fairyland. Members carried a wealth of ideas back to childrens’ programs throughout the country.

In Botany Hall at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is an unique herbal diorama. Made of “bits of plastic, wax, wire and thread” carefully molded, shaped and colored and using live plants as models, the making of even the simplest herb may have taken a week. Supported by “good advice and warm interest” as well as financial support from the Western Pennsylvania Unit, this diorama invites many new viewers to ex­ plore the world of herbs.

112

SCHOLARLY STUDIES: Some members, while participating actively in Society or community activities, have also pursued indepth botanical studies of a particular genus. Edna Neugebauer, recipient of the first Medal of Honor, explored the Lavendula. She exchanged plants and seeds with botanical gardens and individu­ als throughout the world. Betty Rollins (Mrs. Fitzhugh), who also served The Society as president (1972-1974), has studied the Orig­ anum and published many articles about them in scientific journals.

Dr. Arthur Tucker, holder of the first scholarships of The HSA, has studied the Mentha. Founder Dr. Edgar Anderson once re­ marked of this genus, “No one knows the cultivated mints of the world perfectly, not even the experts, but with modern methods of study they are not (like the thymes) an impossible mess.” De­ spite this description, both Rexford Talbert and Harriet Flannery Phillips have concentrated on Thymus. They have shared both knowledge and plants with the Central Ohio Unit’s thyme study garden at Inniswood in Columbus, Ohio. Helen H. Darrah as­ sembled information on the taxonomy, horticulture, economic uses and folklore of the cultivated species and varieties of Ocimum.

HERB DAYS/SYMPOSIA: The Herb Day has been a successful form of outreach for many years. The Herb Society of America in cooperation with the New Hampshire Commissioner of Agri­ culture held one of the first Herb Days in August of 1939 in Hancock, New Hampshire. Martha Stearns opened her garden while Helen Webster served visitors tea blended of ten native herbs. In a nearby church farm-grown herbs from New Hampshire formed the central feature of exhibits. Mrs. Cole had an exhibit of savory jars of flavoring and basil vinegar and herb cordials for sale. She also dispensed her usual cautions about volume and de­ pendable quality as the cornerstones for successful commercial herb growing. As the Boston Globe remarked, “She’s been at it 50 years.”

The article was headlined “Secrets of Grandmother’s Garden May 113

Mean N.E. Farm Relief’—-just the sort of enthusiastic, optimistic statement Mrs. Cole tried to counter with her careful studies of the economics of herb growing.

More recently, Members-at-Large held a series of Ohio Herb Days starting in 1974. One-day events, they enabled members who lived three hours driving distance from the meeting site to enjoy herbal fellowship and exchange information. From these informal gath­ erings grew the Great Lakes Herb Symposium. The “impulse to teach” and share knowledge with others is a long-standing tradi­ tion of The Society. Working together, the members of The HSA have used the vehicle of the symposium for many years to reach out to the public and present both the uses and the delights of herbs. A format of several speakers (generally members of The Society) and demonstrations, dormitory accommodations and aca­ demic locale has proved to be very successful in attracting both HSA members and the general public. A variation of the sympo­ sium, a “Round Table” panel of experts to answer questions, was presented by the New England Unit in 1948. The audience was handed a list of twenty-eight suggested questions to “ask the ex­ perts.” These questions—and others—and their answers succeeded in presenting valuable information on herb growing and prepara­ tion to the audience. The New York Unit reached more than one hundred people with its impressive list of speakers—both mem­ bers and non-members—at its first symposium in 1957. By the 50th anniversary almost 40 of these highly informative presenta­ tions had been held in all parts of the country.

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A hybrid of the herb day and the symposium, the Social Sympo­ sium, has been developed by the Potomac, Tidewater, Virginia Commonwealth and North Carolina units and the members-atlarge in their areas. These are one-day events hosted by the units in turn which enable members to meet with others in The HSA 114

who grow similar plants in a similar climate.

In 1979 the Members-at-Large of Region IV (the state of Ohio) with the Western Reserve Unit of Cleveland, presented the First Great Lakes Herb Symposium at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.

The program of speakers—Leona Woodring Smith: “The Forgot­ ten Art of Flower Cookery,” William C. Paxton: “Planning and Maintaining a Public Herb Garden”—and an additional roster of five speakers presenting forty-five minute talks on thyme, “Some of my favorite herbs,” garden structures, “Down to Earth Herb Gardening” and scented geraniums—attracted 137 registrants. By 1985 it was necessary to limit these popular events to 200 partici­ pants. Although the majority of the Great Lakes Herb Symposia have been held at various locations in Ohio, in 1989 it was held in Hillsdale, Michigan with the Members-at-Large of that region and near-by units participating.

Another very successful symposium, modeled on the Great Lakes formula, is the Herbal Delights Symposium, which was started by regional Members-at-Large and the Philadelphia Unit. Beginning in 1982 with a one-day symposium on “Culinary Herbs” at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania, by the following year it was a multi-day event with many more garden visits as partici­ pants learned about “Herbal Horticulture.” When this group of members formed the Pennsylvania Heartland Unit in 1985 they continued to sponsor this symposium. It has been held every year except 1990 when the unit hosted the Annual Meeting of The HSA. The themes of all these gatherings indicate the wide range of herbal knowledge available at these events. A mini-symposium held at the 1986 Annual Meeting distilled the lessons learned from putting on successful herbal symposia in its handout. This sharing has made 115

success more likely for those new to this form of outreach. Using the general title “For Use and Delight,” The Herb Society of America through its Symposia Committee sponsored its first symposium in 1992 in southern Illinois. It is hoped that these pre­ sentations will attract those who would not otherwise have the opportunity to attend herbal events because they have no group of members nearby to sponsor and administer herbal symposia.

Although symposia supported by members are frequently fund rais­ ers to support Society activities such as scholarships or the National Herb Garden, their true value lies in the friendship, learning and sharing of herbal knowledge for both sponsors and participants.

CRAFTS: “All hobbies have very taking ways, as everyone who has ridden one knows, but I find herb gardening one of the most uncontrollable steeds I have ever mounted” (Newsletter 1937). The “delight”-filled byways of herb gardening—flavor, fragrance, natu­ ral dyes, herbs in design and crafts—have beckoned many members who have learned and shown others how very closely “use and delight” may be planted in an herb garden. Adventurous gardener/ chefs have created herb blends and curries, vinegars and oils, and grown and propagated uncommon plants as they have explored herbal cooking of other cultures. This knowledge has been shared with others through innumerable cookbooks, cooking schools and culinary offerings at herb events, as well as articles in The Herbarist.

Those whose talents lay in needlework took up the challenge of the herbal rug designs of Richard Coe, which were first exhibited at the Annual Meeting in 1972 and were sold by the New York Unit for many years. A needlepoint knot garden sachet was de­ signed by Jo Lohmolder in 1978 while she was Ways & Means Chairman for the Members-at-Large. The pattern was worked in herbally dyed yarns and filled with fragrant herbs and rose petals dried and contributed by members. The kits were sold through 116

McCalls Magazine. Sidney Duerr of the Western Pennsylvania Unit designed two popular herbal samplers which were sold by her unit.

(She also embroidered a bag to hold an antique, silver damascened gavel with an ivory handle which was presented to The HSA by Mrs. Greenslet in 1933. Alas only the bag and handle remain in The Society’s archives today! The gavel currently used by the president is made of Mount Vernon black walnut and was pre­ sented to The Society by President-at-Large Dr. Robert Fisher in 1977.)

An area of considerable interest to members from the beginning of The HSA is natural dyes from herbal plants. Mrs. Norton wrote in the 1936 Hcrbarist of her experiments in dying wool with plants growing about her house. A later member, Etheljane Schetky (Mrs.G. Laurence) continued the tradition with her scholarly and original work in this field. It was she who designed the dye gar­ den at Old Slater Mill in 1960 as well as exhibiting and contributing dye plants, seeds and samples to many interested groups in this country and abroad. Another member/expert, Mar­ garet Reed (Mrs. Curtis W.),was a dyer and weaver whose experiments with dying wool from twenty-three breeds of sheep challenged her to continue until she had researched the effect of natural dyes on one hundred breeds. There have been many oth­ ers on this herbal byway who have shared their findings through lecturing, working and exhibiting at annual meetings. (In 1994 there was an exhibit presented by the Wisconsin Unit of T-shirts dyed with native plants.) Research in this field may be presented differently but the interest remains lively.

In an early report the enthusiastic Frances Williams said, “One ex­ periment leads to another in this adventure in fragrance. Don’t be afraid to try.” She was speaking of her adaptation of applesauce spice balls from Alice Morse Earle’s book but the lure of fragrance 117

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has led many to learn, lecture and write on potpourri, fragrant oils, tussie mussies, and wreaths. A garden of scented geraniums at the Missouri Botanical Gardens (still there today) was an early project of the St. Louis Unit. One of their members created the potpourri which greeted visitors to the Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia. An unusual and very fragrant potpourri (arranged in layers in an enormous brandy snifter) was prepared by Rosella Mathieu (Mrs.A.M.), an early member-at-large, for the 1977 Annual Meet­ ing. It drew members and the public from the hall into the exhibit room—following their noses. At the annual meeting in 1980 a panel of professional perfumers and scientists led their audience step by step (or scent by scent) through the ‘‘Creating of a Fragrance.”

The dark, highly fragrant rose petal beads of the Potomac Unit have scented many meetings in recent years.

Fresh, dried, or pressed there is always something to be created or learned from the plants in an herb garden. The infinite possibili­ ties of herbs for use and for delight and the careful scholarship combined with enthusiasm which has been the hallmark of The Herb Society of America since its founding have held this diverse group together for more than sixty years.

118

Appendix Past Presidents Chairman * Chairman * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President * President President President President President President President President President President President

Mrs. Albert C. Burrage, Jr. Mrs. Edward B. Cole Dr. Edgar Anderson Mrs. John H. Cunningham Mrs. Hollis Webster Mrs. Oliver B. Capen Mrs. Hammond Crawford Mrs. Robert K. Price Mrs. Sargent H. Wellman Mrs. Leslie A.Stephens Mrs. Hobart W. Davis Mrs. Harry E. Ritchie Mrs. Thomas H. Atherton Mrs. Percy Cashmore Mrs. Jonathan Jones Miss Susan W. Handy Mrs. Daniel H. Core, Jr. Mrs. Fitzhugh S. Rollins Mrs. Andrew A. Jyurovat Mrs. Edward L. Rea Mrs. A. Sumner Gambee Mrs. George A. Reed, Jr. Mrs. Douglas P. Bryce Mrs. Pattison Sprague Mrs. James P. Hill Mrs. Laurence Trevarrow

* Deceased 119

1933-1934 1934-1935 1935-1936 1936-1946 1946-1948 1948-1950 1950-1952 1952-1954 1954-1956 1956-1958 1958-1960 1960-1962 1962-1964 1964-1966 1966-1968 1968-1970 1970-1972 1972-1974 1974-1976 1976-1978 1978-1980 1980-1982 1982-1984 1984-1986 1986-1988 1988-1990

President President

Mrs. Robert E. Stevens Mrs. James H. Barrow, Jr.

1990-1992 1992-1994

Presedents-at-Large & Honorary Presidents * President-at-Large * President-at-Large * President-at-Large * President-at-Large * President-at-Large * President-at-Large * President-at-Large President-at-Large * President-at-Large * Honorary President * President-at-Large President-at-Large President-at-Large * President-at-Large Honorary President ★ Honorary President Honorary President Honorary President Honorary President * Honorary President Honorary President

Dr. Edgar Anderson Dr. Elmer D. Merrill Dr. Philip A. Munz Mr. Arnold Davis Dr. John Fogg, Jr. Mrs. Mortimer J. Fox Mr. Jon E.Voight Dr. Richard A. Howard Dr. George H.M. Lawrence Mrs. Oliver B. Capen Mr. Lester Rowntree Mr. C.W. Eliot Paine Mr. Robert B. Fisher Mr. Thomas H. Everett Mr. J. Liddon Pennock Mr. Thomas Thompson Mr. Francis Ching Mrs. S. Maurice McAshan Mr. C.W. Eliot Paine Mrs. Philip H. Lord Mr. Fred Roberts

* Deceased 120

1936-1940 1940-1955 1956-1960 1960-1962 1962-1964 1964-1966 1966-1968 1968-1970 1970-1972 1970-1971 1972-1974 1974-1976 1976-1978 1978-1980 1980-1982 1982-1984 1984-1986 1986-1988 1988-1990 1990-1992 1992-1994

Awards Awards of Merit, Medals of Honor, Stearns Garden Medal 1952 First Award of Merit

Frances Ropes Williams

1953 Awards of Merit

Adeline P. Cole Martha Genung Stearns

1954 Awards of Merit

Dr. Edgar Anderson Elizabeth RemsenVan Brunt

1955 Award of Merit

Dr. Elmer D. Merrill

1956 Medal of Honor

Edna K. Neugebauer

1957 Medal of Honor

Madeleine Harding

1958 Medal of Honor

Dorothy Bovee Jones

1959 Medal of Honor

Dorcas Brigham

1960 Medal of Honor

Noreen Sheridan Capen

1961 Medal of Honor

Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt

1962 Medal of Honor

Edith Foster Farwell

1963 Medal of Honor

Hester Taylor Mettler Crawford

1964 Medal of Honor

Mary Lines Wellman

1965 Medal of Honor

Etheljane McD. Shetky

1966 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Olive Willett Smith

121

1967 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Frances Ellis Price

1968 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Edna Horton Cashmore

1969 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Sidney Rebert Duerr

1970 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Elizabeth Dibble Rollins

1971 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Mildred Pfau Ferguson

1971 Stearns Garden Medal

Mittie Arnold

1972 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Florence Follwell Davis

1973 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Elsetta Gilchrist Barnes

1974 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Helen M. Whitman

1975 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Gertrude Bates Foster

1976 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Susan Westcott Handy

1977 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Minnie Worthen Muenscher

1978 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Madalene Louise Hill

1979 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Elizabeth Crisp Rea

122

1980 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Audrey O’Connor

1981 Special Award of Honor

Anne Burrage

1981 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Caroline Cadwalader

1982 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Nellie Neff

1983 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Priscilla Sawyer Lord

1983 Award of Merit

Carlos Burr Dawes

1984 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Joanna McQuail Reed

1985 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Faith H. Swanson Virginia B. Rady

1986 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Sister Mary Margaret

1988 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Betty Hippie Stevens

1990 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Arthur O. Tucker

1991 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Elizabeth Barrick Neavill

1992 Helen de Conway Little Medal of Honor

Elizabeth Field Bryce

123

Nancy Putnam Howard Awards for Excellence in Horticulture 1986 Nancy Putnam Howard Holly Harmar Shimizu Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1987 Nancy Putnam Howard Elizabeth Dibble Rollins Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1988 Nancy Putnam Howard Janet Oberliesen Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1989 Nancy Putnam Howard Joy Logee Martin Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1991 Nancy Putnam Howard Cyrus T. Hyde Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1992 Nancy Putnam Howard Elise Felton Award for Excellence in Horticulture 1993 Nancy Putnam Howard Rexford Talbert Award for Excellence in Horticulture

Certificates of Achievement 1974 Certificate of Achievement

Emily Emmart Trueblood

1975 Certificate of Achievement

Ruth M. Ostheimer Margaret Young Reed Adelma Grenier Simmons John E.Voight

1977 Certificate of Achievement

Maria L. Wilkes Rudy J. Favretti

124

1978 Certificate of Achievement

Nancy Putnam Howard Helen H. Darrah

1979 Certificate of Achievement

Joanna McQuail Reed Jack Durell

1980 Certificate of Achievement

Virginia R. Chaney Eustella Langdon

1981 Certificate of Achievement

Dr. John L. Creech Ruth Wrensch

1982 Certificate of Achievement

Elizabeth Botzow

1983 Certificate of Acheivement

Mary Mason Campbell Isadore Leighton Smith Beverly Bumby Geist

1984 Certificate of Achievement

Elizabeth Morse

1985 Certificate of Achievement

Alexandra H. Hicks

1986 Certificate of Acheivement

Amy Bess Miller Henrietta Truitt

1987 Certificate of Achievement

Rose Canny JeanWhitton Haskin Genevieve Jyurovat

1988 Certificate of Achievement

Gloria Falkenberg Jo Lohmolder Grace J. Westlake

1989 Certificate of Achievement

Leila Anna Compton E. Blanche Harvey Dr. Fredrick G. Meyer

1990 Certificate of Achievement

Marion E. Bates Ruth Smith 125

1991 Certificate of Achievement

Grace Adams Harrison

1992 Certificate of Achievement

Sherran Blair Lottie Crawley (in memoriam) Dorothy G. Spencer

1993 Certificate of Achievement

Thelma Marie Field Alice B. Genyk Pat Kenny

Certificates of Appreciation 1982 Certificate of Appreciation

Booker (in memoriam) & Mary Worthen Roland & Ruth Remmel

1983 Certificate of Appreciation

New England Unit

1988 Certificate of Appreciation

Mary Elizabeth Remmel

1989 Certificate of Appreciation

Lorrie Clark Dr. Richard E. Schultes Mary Peters Taylor

1992 Certificate of Appreciation

Emily Kutscher Artemas Richardson

1993 Certificate of Appreciation

Jean Cozart Bern Neil Jane Elizabeth Thompson

126

The Units 1935 New England 1936 California (2 chapters, 1948-53) 1938 New York 1940 Philadelphia 1941-54 St. Louis 1942 Western Reserve 1942-47 Portland, Oregon Northern California 1953 Southern California 1953 1955 Connecticut Western Pennsylvania 1958 1959-66 Virginia 1964 Potomac (changed from Greater Washington DC, 1970) 1966 Arkansas 1966 Southern Ontario 1968 South Texas Southern Michigan 1969 Northern New Jersey 1970 1976 Wisconsin 1978 Northern Illinois 1980 Susquehanna 1980 Herb Society of Nashville

Central Ohio Chattahoochee Delaware Valley Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan North Carolina Kentuckiana Grosse Pointe Pennsylvania Heartland Northeast Seacoast Virginia Commonwealth Herb Guild (Lakewood OH) Hoover Historical Herb Guild North and Central Texas Tidewater Long Island New Orleans Baton Rouge Tampa Bay Pioneer (Round Top TX)

127

1981

1981 1982 1982 1982 1983 1984 1985 1987 1987 1989-92

1989 1989 1991 1991 1991 1991 1994 1994

Member-at-Large Regions

REGION

I

Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, Eastern Canada Connecticut, New England, Northeast Seacoast, Southern Ontario

REGION Units

II

New York, Pennsylvania Long Island, New York, Pennsylvania Heartland, Philadelphia, Susquehanna, Western Pennsylvania

REGION

III

Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, West Virginia Delaware Valley, Northern New Jersey, Potomac, Tidewater, Virginia Commonwealth

IV

Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Northern Antilles Chattahoochee, North Carolina, Tampa Bay

REGION Units

V

Ohio Central Ohio, Hoover Historical, Western Reserve

REGION Units

VI

Illinois, Indiana, Michigan Frankenmuth Mid-Michigan, Grosse Pointe, Northern Illinois, Southern Michigan

REGION Units

VII

Alabama, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee Kentuckiana, Nashville

Units

Units

REGION Units

128

REGION VIII Units REGION

IX

Arkansas, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas Arkansas, Baton Rouge, New Orleans, NorthCentral Texas, Pioneer, South Texas

X

Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Wyoming, Western Canada

XI

Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah

Units

REGION

Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin Wisconsin

Units REGION Units

REGION XII Units

California, Hawaii, Nevada, Mexico, Guam Northern California, Southern California

129

Annual Meetings Date

Place

Hosts

1935 March 26

Boston, Massachusetts

The Herb Society ofAmerica

1936 March 26

Boston, Massachusetts

The Herb Society ofAmerica

1937 January 28

Boston, Massachusetts

The New England Group

1938 February 28

Boston, Massachusetts

The New England Group

1939 April 3

Boston, Massachusetts

The New England Group

1940 April 16

Boston, Massachusetts

The New England Group

1941 May 6

Philadelphia, Pennnsylvania Philadelphia Unit

1942 June 1

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1943 May 4

Brooklyn, New York

New York Unit

1944 June 6

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1945 May 11

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1946 June 10

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1947 June 17

Cleveland, Ohio

Western Reserve Unit

1948 June 21-23

New York, New York

New York Unit

1949 June 20-26

California

California Unit

1950 May 23-25

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis Unit

1951 June 12-14

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Unit

1952 June 24-26

Cambridge, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1953 June 22-25

Cleveland, Ohio

Western Reserve Unit

1954 June 22-25

New York, New York

NewYork Unit

1955 May 19-21

Los Angeles, California

Southern California Unit

1956 April 23-25

Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Members-at-Large

1957 May 21-23

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Unit

1958 May 6-8

Berkeley, California

Northern California Unit

1959 June 16-19

Cape Cod, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1960 June 21-23

Cleveland, Ohio

Western Reserve Unit

1961 June 18-21

Long Island, New York

New York Unit

1962 May 13-16

Washington, DC

Members-at-Large

1963 June 18-20 1964 June 16-18

Pasadena, California

Southern California Unit

Stratford, Connecticut

Connecticut Unit

130

1965 June 8-9

Charlottesville, Virginia

Virginia Unit

1966 May 17-19

St. Davids, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Unit

1967 June 11-14

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania Unit

1968 May 7-9

Berkeley, California

Northern California Unit

1969 May 19-21

Washington, DC

Greater Washington DC Unit

1970 June 16—19

Cleveland, Ohio

Western Reserve Unit

1971 June 13-16

Tarrytown, New York

New York Unit

1972 June 4-7

Newton, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1973 June 12-15 1974 June 16-18 1975 June 22-25

Pasadena, California

Southern California Unit

Dearborn, Michigan

Southern Michigan Unit

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Members-at-Large

1976 June 6-8

King of Prussia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia Unit

1977 June 12-15

Hartford, Connecticut

Connecticut Unit

1978 June 18-21

Toronto, Canada

Southern Ontario Unit

1979 May 6-9

Little Rock, Arkansas

Arkansas Unit

1980 June 8-11

Spring Lake, New Jersey

Northern New Jersey Unit

1981 April 26-29

Houston, Texas

South Texas Unit

1982 June 27-30

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Western Pennsylvania Unit

1983 June 12-15

Boston, Massachusetts

New England Unit

1984 May 10-14

Oakland, California

Northern California Unit

1985 May 30-June 2 Arlington, Virginia 1986 June 22-25

Potomac Unit Western Reserve Unit

Cleveland, Ohio

1987 May 31-June 3 Nashville, Tennessee

Herb Society of Nashville Unit

1988 June 25-30

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Wisconsin Unit

1989 June 14—17

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia Unit

1990 June 27-30

Wyomissing, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania Heartland Unit

1991 June 26-30

Michigan State University East Lansing, Michigan

Meetings Committee with ad hoc committee of local members

1992 June 12-17

Columbus, Ohio

Central Ohio Unit

1993 June 22-27

Northbrook, Illinois

Meetings Committee with ad hoc committee of local members

1994 June 21-26

Pennsylvania State University Meetings Committee with ad State College, Pennsylvania hoc committee of local members

131

Scholarship/Research Grant Recipients 1970-1976

Arthur O. Tucker

Family Mentha

1977

Elizabeth R. Macgill

Filming ofVernacular Medical Manuscript in Folger Library

1977-1978

Ruth Wilson

Plant Lists for the National Herb Garden, National Arboretum

1979

Debra Wilson

Completion of Plant Lists for the National Herb Garden, National Arboretum

1980

Elizabeth R. Macgill

Transcription ofVernacular Medical Manuscript

Mary Palmer Dargan

Louisiana Kitchen Gardens 1750-1850

1981

Harriet B. Flannery

Study oftheTaxa of Thymus cultivated in the US

1982

James E. Simon

Susceptibility of Herbs to Air Pollution

Arthur O.Tucker

Transportation of collection of Mentha Herbaria from Michigan to Delaware

Elizabeth R. Macgill

Final typing of manuscript of This Booke ofSovereigne Medicines

Kathryn L. Gleason

Handbook on Gardens: Archeological Evidence

1984

Joan G. Caldwell

Plants in 14th and 15th Century Paintings of St. Sebastian

1985

Rita Buchanan

A Weaver's Garden

1986

Debra A. Kirkpatrick

Herbs in the Urban Landscape: a Design and Planting Guide

1983

132

1987

1988

1990

Maureen Bonness

Cell Culture Studies of Pokeweed Antiviral Compound

Susan T. Moody

On Site Research of Medieval Plants and Gardens in Hungary and Poland

Geraldine A. Laufer

Tussie-Mussies, Nosegays, and Sweete Poseys

Renee G. Murray

A Taxonomic Study of the Genus Odmum

George W Staples &c Michael S. Kristiansen

Tropical Herbs of Hawaii

Dr. Frederick G. Meyer Printing of three color plates for die Fuchs Herbal 1991

1992

1993

John M. McMahon

Imagistic Associations of Garlic in Greek and Latin Literature

Susan Wilson

Landscape Uses and Hardiness ofVarious Herbs in Tennessee

Dr. Denise King

The In-activation of Lipoxygenase and Peroxidase Activities by Extracts of Herbs

Dr. Nancy Nahra

Herbalist to the King:The Travels & Writings of Philibert Commerson

Susan C. Anderson

RascallyVerses and Roguish Tobacco:The Tobacco Polemic in Early Modern England

Debra Knapke

Winter Survival and Effects of Pruning on Lavendula Species and Cultivars

Lester A. Wilson

Identifying Genetic Markers andTheir Role in Selecting Chemotypes in Perennial Lamiaceae

133

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