Akron Beacon Journal

Akron Garden Club has community roots

A century ago, a seed was planted. As a gray haze drifted over the industrial city, an idea began to germinate: Akron could be prettier.

Gertrude Seiberling, the wife of Goodyear and Seiberling Rubber Co. cofounder F.A. Seiberling, invited a few friends over to her Stan Hywet home on Nov. 3, 1924, to discuss her plan to form a group devoted to horticultu­re.

As a consequenc­e, the Akron Garden Club took root 100 years ago.

The organizati­on’s mission: “To stimulate the knowledge and love of gardening, to share the advantages of associatio­n and to restore, improve and protect the environmen­t.”

The club had 45 charter members, most of them women, although a handful of husbands also joined.

The list of surnames reads like a who’s who of Akron industry and society. The original members:

Mrs. E.R. Adam, Mrs. J.H. Andrews, Mrs. O.C. Barber, Mrs. and Mrs. George Bishop, Miss Clara Brouse, Mr. and Mrs. George Bishop, Mrs. T.A. Chittenden, Mrs. F.C. Collins, Mrs. Harvey S. Firestone, Judge and Mrs. E.D. Fitch, Miss Emily Harpham, Mrs. Elihu Harpham, Mrs. Hermine Hausen,

Mrs. E.O. Handy, Dr. and Mrs. W.A. Hoyt, Miss Mary Johnson, Dr. and Mrs. C.M. Knight, Mrs. Lee Kanaga, Mrs. J.A. Kendal, Mrs. Maurice Knight, Mrs. Paul W. Litchfield, Mrs. R.S. Leonard, Mrs. H.B. Manton, Mrs. Irving Manton, Mrs. Frank H. Mason, Mrs. W.W. Milar, Mrs. C.W. McLaughlin,

Mrs. N.S. Noble, Mrs. C.B. Raymond, Mrs. J.G. Robertson, Mrs. F.A. Seiberling, Mrs. C.W. Seiberling, Dr. and Mrs. J.H. Selby, Miss Annie Salmon, Mr. and Mrs. E.C. Shaw, Mrs. Ferdinand Schumacher,

Mrs. G.M. Stadelman, Mrs. H.B. Stewart, Mrs. L.D. Slusser and Mrs. L.A. Vaughn.

Mrs. Seiberling served as president for five years and remained honorary president for the rest of her life.

In the early days, the club presented shows, exhibits and classes.

The Beacon Journal first mentioned the group in March 1925 in an item about a flower basket designed by Maude Harpham, known in society as Mrs. Elihu Harpham.

The arrangemen­t “aroused much comment for its beauty of color and arrangemen­t,” the article noted. “It is made up of orange calendulas, pussy willows, lavender and white stock and schizanthu­s and tied with a silver gray tulle ribbon.”

And, yes, that’s the first time the newspaper ever mentioned schizan

thus, a South American plant in the nightshade family.

The Akron Garden Club became a charter member of the Garden Club of Ohio in 1927. Co-founder Dorothea A. Gill was the wife of Kermode Gill, a Cleveland developer who built Terminal Tower and Allen Theatre.

Mrs. Seiberling and Mrs. Gill were kindred spirits in gardening, and even shared landscaper Ellen Biddle Shipman at their estates.

“There are those who think the beautifica­tion of a community by way of private gardens and public grounds is an unproducti­ve idealism,” Mrs. Gill once noted. “They should rid themselves of this primitive obsession. Ugliness is the most inefficien­t thing in the world, for it always goes hand in hand with disorder, poor sanitation, depression and social incompeten­cy. Order, light, beauty and cheerfulne­ss are efficiency factors.”

The Akron club’s civic projects included donating seeds to students, sponsoring garden classes, planting trees along Ohio highways and organizing other clubs. Within a decade, the city had 40 garden clubs.

Gardening became such a popular topic that in 1934 the Beacon Journal named Kate Clapp as its garden editor. For more than 40 years, she reported on local activities.

One ambitious project for the Akron Garden Club involved the transforma­tion of Glendale Park, a city-owned triangle near Glendale Cemetery, into “a model recreation spot.” Members donated money to beautify the blandlooki­ng park.

“The work we will do there includes planting of trees and shrubbery, the building of a retaining wall, the installati­on of wading pools, tennis courts, etc., the building of a hedge around the play area and the erection of steps and platforms at the dead end streets which run into the park so that there will be easy access,” explained club member Mary Kinsey, the wife of O’Neil’s executive L.L. Kinsey.

In 1936 and 1937, WPA workers built 242 sandstone steps descending 200 feet from South Walnut Street to Glendale Avenue. The park operated for only a dozen years before city officials phased it out for a playground that never materializ­ed. The Glendale Steps, however, became a treasured landmark on the National Register of Historic Places.

The club’s public works were everywhere. Volunteers planted trees along Tallmadge Parkway, now Memorial Parkway, to prevent erosion on the hill. They developed roadside parks where weary motorists could rest along Ohio highways. They planted flowers at Perkins Stone Mansion, Akron Art Institute and Old Stone School.

In 1945, Mrs. Seiberling announced at a Polsky’s luncheon that the prestigiou­s

PROVIDED BY THE SEIBERLING FAMILY

Garden Club of America, a leader in horticultu­re, conservati­on, creative arts, historic preservati­on and environmen­tal protection, had unanimousl­y invited the Akron organizati­on to join its ranks. Less than a year later, the club’s founder passed away at age 79.

In 1957, the Seiberling family formed a foundation to open Stan Hywet as a museum. The Akron Garden Club pledged to maintain the gardens at the estate.

In the 1960s, the club raised $13,000 to convert an Airstream trailer into the Environmen­tal Education Mobile Lab, a classroom equipped with microscope­s, pollution tests, books, germinatio­n chambers, plants and even snakes and turtles. For years, the vehicle transporte­d teachers to elementary schools to give pupils lessons about nature.

Since its inception 100 years ago, the club has undertaken other community projects, including renovating and maintainin­g the English Garden at Stan Hywet, donating more than $700,000 to local organizati­ons, providing $50,000 for educationa­l signage at Secrest Arboretum in Wooster, funding the landscapin­g at the Mustill Store in Akron and rescuing more than 160,000 wildflower­s and native plants from constructi­on sites for replanting elsewhere.

And, as always, there have been shows, exhibits and classes.

The city’s oldest garden club is an invitation-only organizati­on. According to the bylaws, applicants must exhibit a history of dedicated community volunteeri­sm and interests that align with the club’s mission, particular­ly interests in horticultu­re, conservati­on, nature photograph­y, floral design, garden history and landscape design.

Active membership is capped at 80. There are also affiliate, provisiona­l, nonresiden­t, honorary and emeritus members.

Before its centennial anniversar­y, the club launched a campaign to raise its endowment to $1 million, an effort supported by 100% of active members, said member Mary Beth Breckenrid­ge, a former Beacon Journal reporter.

Thanks to the endowment, Akron Garden Club donated nearly $100,000 for a pollinator garden in the Valley View area of Cascade Valley Metro Park on Cuyahoga Street. Club members raised nearly 2,000 native plants from seed and volunteers planted them over a three-day span.

Akron soon will be able to see the club’s centennial gift to the community.

A 100th anniversar­y celebratio­n Sept. 14 at Himelright Lodge is an invitation-only event for members, but the public is invited to a program from 1 to 3 p.m. Sept. 15 at 1134 Cuyahoga St.

Officials will discuss the creation of the Valley View area and explore the history of collaborat­ion between Akron Garden Club and Summit Metro Parks. The club will give away potted native plants and a special bookmark designed by club member Tina Musci. Quantities are limited to the first 100 people.

Afterward, Mike Johnson, the parks’ chief of conservati­on, will lead tours of the new garden.

The seed was planted 100 years ago. The roots run deep in the community.