Wild Flower Preservation Society records
Scope and Contents
The Wild Flower Preservation Society collection includes the organizational papers of the group: administrative records, incoming and outgoing correspondence, reference files, an extensive subject file including scientific, conservation, and sanctuary materials. Also included are copies of the publications edited by the Society and an extensive collection of photographs, negatives, and glass plate negatives.
Dates
- 1917-1974
Biographical / Historical
The Wild Flower Preservation Society, the successor to the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America founded at the New York Botanical Garden in 1902, was established in 1925 in Washington, D. C. The director for some forty years was Percy L. Ricker, retired Associate Botanist of the Plant Industry Station Society.
A non-profit educational society, its primary objective was to establish wild flower preserves, cultivate rare native plants, and develop appreciation of nature and conservation through lectures, exhibits, and educational programs. The Society prepared leaflets for teachers and students and responded to voluminous requests for information on wild flower study, conservation and cultivation.
A valuable collection of over 8000 photographs (mostly with negatives) of wild flowers, trees, and shrubs from all over the country were accumulated by the Society. The Society was responsible for publishing circulars, bulletins, and Wild Flower, a quarterly edited by the Cincinnati chapter. The Society ceased to exist in 1965 and was formally dissolved in 1972 when the organizational records and photographs were obtained by the New York Botanical Garden.
Extent
15.25 Linear Feet (26 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Other Finding Aids
Separated Materials
Series 8, Boxes 11 and 12, Photographs and Negatives, have been relocated to the NYBG film vault.
Series 9, Boxes 13-25, Negatives, are fragile and pending conservation work including refoldering and seperation of glass plate negatives. It is recommended that access to them be restricted.
General
Wild flower is the appropriate expression of the more commonly used term 'wildflower.'
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Kathleene Konkle
- Date
- September 2005
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Sponsor
- Processed September 2005 by Kathleene Konkle under a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) PA-50678-04.
Repository Details
Part of the The Archives of the New York Botanical Garden Repository
New York Botanical Garden, Mertz Library
2900 Southern Boulevard
Bronx NY 10458 United States
ssinon@nybg.org