Jean Gordon papers

Jean Gordon, author and rose historian, founded the Rose Museum in St. Augustine, Florida, in 1956 and operated it from her home until 1966. The rose is believed to be the oldest of flowers, hence she chose St. Augustine, the nation's oldest city, for the site of her museum. Born in Kingston, New York on August 27, 1903, she spent her youth in New York City, and was attracted to the stage, attending Henderson's School of Oratory and Damrosch School of Music. Discouraged by her parents from pursuing a stage career, she studied journalism at Columbia University and later earned her living writing for the Children's Page of the Christian Science Monitor, a variety of other magazines, radio, and advertising. She married John Adams Wickham in 1923 and had four children (Joan, Nancy, John Adams, and Joyce.) After a second marriage and widowhood, and the influence of Ernest Holmes' Science of Mind, she began to write about roses and to collect a vast array of memorabilia with rose motifs. Museums throughout the country displayed her collection, culminating with the establishment of the House of Roses, in 1955.

Gordon wrote numerous books, including Pageant of the Rose (1953, rev. 1961), Immortal Roses (1959), The Art of Cooking with Roses (1968), Rose recipes: customs, facts, fancies, Coffee recipes: customs, fancies, and Orange recipes: customs, facts, fancies.