8 • Outlook 2020
The Elizabethan Gardens: 70 years of beautiful inspiration
The adventurous spirit of the Elizabethans stretched wide across the mighty Atlantic and inspired expeditions to a small island called Roanoke nestled among the barrier islands. The details and mystery of this history was memorialized in an outdoor production called The Lost Colony in 1937. After seeing a 1950 performance of the drama, several women, all members of the North Carolina Garden Club, were inspired to petition their organization to answer the question “What if the colony had stayed and thrived here?” The women thought for certain the colonists would have built estates and fashioned gardens much like the ones they left behind in Queen Elizabeth’s England. It was an adventurous project to undertake, but 17,000 women in the club were ready for the challenge. History details the tremendous odds facing the brave explorers and colonists who ventured across the Atlantic. Likewise, history tells us of the obstacles faced by the Garden Club of North Carolina as they began to create their historic garden. For it’s not just ideas that create a garden. It also takes capital, just like any business. But the world was different in the 1950s. Women did not run Fortune 500 companies. And until the 1970s, they couldn’t
sign up to have credit cards. Applying for loans was often not possible either, yet the Garden Club was undeterred. They acquired the site for the gardens, collected private funds, hired an architect and moved forward with ambition and determination. Paul Green, Pulitzer prizewinning playwright of The Lost Colony and dear friend of The Elizabethan Gardens, remarked in a letter to Mildred Howard, then board chair: “The whole of North Carolina is proud of The Elizabethan Gardens and prouder still of the lovely and imaginative women who gave it birth. All of us have a bounden duty in the future to measure up to you and it.” Over six decades later, the garden they created has blossomed into a living memorial that continues to inspire and delight those who seek to “explore” the shores and beaches of the Outer Banks. And The Gardens has indeed lived up to its remarkable beginnings. “Ours is a history of inspired beauty, led entirely by the women of the Garden Club of North Carolina,” remarked Linda Davenport, current president of The Elizabethan Gardens board. She added, “On the brink of our 70th anniversary, we reflect how growth, change
COURTESY THE ELIZABETHAN GARDENS
Top photo: State and local Garden Club members proudly posing at the official opening of The Elizabethan Gardens August 18, 1955. The idea to build the gardens was first discussed 70 years ago in 1950. Incredible that in just five years it came to fruition. COURTESY THE ELIZABETHAN GARDENS
Bottom photo: Out of the wilderness, the women of the Garden Club of North Carolina created a living memorial. In this archival photo taken a few months before their official 1955 opening, they review construction plans alongside the Sunken Garden.
