The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens, which is managed by Smithsonian Gardens, recently received the American Public Gardens Association Award for Program Excellence. This annual award recognizes exemplary public garden programming that has been a pioneer in a discipline related to public horticultural institutions.
The AAG is a repository devoted to preserving America’s garden heritage. Since its founding in 1987, AAG expanded its holdings to include more than 100,000 images and supplemental files documenting 7,000 gardens from the late 19th century to today.
AAG collections highlight the work of professional and amateur garden designers, garden photographers and horticultural businesses. “The wide diversity of gardens documented in the Archives makes it an exceptional source of information for researchers,” said Barbara Faust, director of Smithsonian Gardens. “Gardens documented in the AAG contribute to a significant sampling of garden history for people today and in the future.” More than 30,000 AAG images have been digitized and are available to the public through the Smithsonian’s online catalog at www.siris.si.edu. The images provide an invaluable resource for landscape designers, historians, preservationists, scholars, students and garden enthusiasts engaged in the study and appreciation of gardens and garden design. By capturing the changing uses, trends, fads and popular traditions embodied in gardens, AAG holdings foster a better understanding of gardening’s far-reaching contributions to America’s social and cultural history.
The Smithsonian’s AAG is a part of Smithsonian Gardens, which was established in 1972 to manage the grounds of the Smithsonian museums and to create interior and exterior horticultural exhibitions. In addition, its research and educational programs promote the ongoing development of collections of living plants, garden documentation and horticultural artifacts. For more information visit: www.gardens.si.edu.
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