This program was part of a daylong symposium hosted by the White House Historical association. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] ms. Griffin i would like to introduce the panel that is entitled the legacy of Beatrix Farrand. The members, who are very close, will each give a short presentation on her work. The first will be paula deitz, who is editor of the hudson review. The second is judith tankard, author of Beatrix Farrand, private gardens, public landscape. The third is therese omalley, at the National Gallery of art. [applause] ms. Deitz it is wonderful to be here. I was up early this morning, and therefore i had a lot of time to walk around. I am from new york, so being in washington is a tremendous pleasure. I woke up when the fountains were going and the trees were just getting that wonderful spring green. I really thought this is americas versailles. You know . This is our place. And it occurred to me that louis the 14th probably thought it was a really good big deal. What we are talking about is really a very big deal. Designing gardens for the president ial house. Here i was coming to speak, but it really came into amazing context for me. I was just kind of Walking Around and seeing it. When i was first called to moderate this panel, i said since i am a garden journalist, i said i have never talked about any garden that i have not seen. And i had no concept of what the east wing look like. Years ago i wrote about rose garden and he called me one day and said can you come right down and see it. It was guarded very carefully and i never got to see anything else. I said i would be happy to do this, but in some ways i had to have a tour. I dont know if anyone in this room has done it, but the south lawn gardens are open twice a year. On april 13 i came down and it was a magnificent occasion. A brochure, everything. I really recommend to everybody in the fall to go in october and see them. But what was great is about the crowds and the children, and the marine band. The red jackets up on the portico. I dont know how many of you know those great symphonies where he has all the americana in it. It was really an american day. Our versailles is really america and it made me very happy to be part of this and to think i would be somehow contribute in to the idea of the president ial gardens. So, i got to see it. And the story about Teddy Roosevelts when he came to the white house, the white house had all the offices in it at that time. The president lived there, it was a small family. He had six children and everyone had to have his or her own bedroom. So, they had to build the executive Office Building so that they could all have their own bedrooms. And that was when Charles Mckinnon came in to build the west wing with the oval office. And of course you know in the colonnade connecting the white house, the president still has to go outside every day to go to his office. There is no way through the house to do it. And at that time he also built the east wing, which as you can see here in this wonderful postcard from 1930, the east wing is a right angle because it became an official portico entrance to the white house. The east garden that we are going to be talking about is embraced, as it were, by the east wing. And if you go in october you can see that. Thomas jefferson actually wanted the idea of having wings. And evidently when they were building these, they did find foundations that had been started. He would have seen them more as utility wings, like for the washing or the horses or something of this kind. But he was really in this in love with this idea of eventually making the white house like a 16thcentury italian villa, with its extended wings on either side. And when it was finally built, Theodore Roosevelt said to him that it was like having the great saucers for the teacup of the white house. A wonderful, wonderful image that he made of it. So i got to walk around all of this. Then i found this marvelous plan. We are going to hear in detail about the garden, but i would like you to look. This plan is from 1943. You see the pool appear. I wonder what Beatrix Farrand saw when she came to do this garden. This is her garden and this is the portico, the southern portico of the white house. And you can see in this one photograph her tremendous genius. She positioned her pool, which is a reflecting pool, so that it took the full profile of the south portico. To me, that just says everything about her. To make it so that you could bring, as it were, the architecture of the white house right into her garden. So, with no further ado we will have judith bring us the whole story of the creation of this garden for the wilsons. [applause] ms. Tankard can everybody hear me . Great. I dont know about the whole story, but i only have 12 minutes to tell the story. [laughter] so, my subject is beatrix jone training an early project before she landed this commission for the white house in 1913. This lovely portrait of her was taken around 1900. It really captures her confidence as a young woman in her career as a landscape gardener, which is what she called herself. In the early 1890s when she decided to become a landscape partner, she was blazing a new trail. Although she was not the first woman to take up the profession, she was actually the first to make it an unqualified success thanks to her initial boost of clients from her social sphere were impressed by the drive and ambition of this woman. In the late 19th century, just a step backwards a bit, Career Opportunities for upperclass women were hampered by the stereotypes of women as guardians of the home and dabblers and professions normally reserved for men. While she had contacts that she could turn to, including then the director of the arboretum in boston, who recognize their interest in plants who dated in which dated back to in 1893 she studied with him for a very intensive year of learning about horticulture and soon she became an expert in botany and horticulture. But sergeant recommended that in order to complete her education, she needed to visit gardens in the u. S. And abroad to learn about design. Well, one of the trips she took part of her learning experience was visiting brookline to learn about drafting and learn about presentation drawings and how to do bookkeeping and all of that. But in 1893 she visited the worlds columbian exhibition in chicago, which you can see in this beautiful photograph. She actually traveled with the sergeants family and with her mother. Her notebooks indicated one notebook we found from earlier days which recorded some of her incredible thoughts. Her notebook indicated, Lessons Learned about what should and should not be done. Well, the beauxarts approach to design was essential to her education. For her mother, i hope someday somebody writes a book about her mother. When i was doing research on Beatrix Farrand i kept thinking her mother was so much more interesting, although we do not have that much information. Her mother was an essential influence on her daughters education. In the 1890s, mary presided or minnie, as she was called, presided over a salon in new york city, which you saw a clip of in the movie. This is where Beatrix Jones grew up, surrounded by the likes of henry james, Teddy Roosevelt, augustus saint garden, and also writers and thinkers that mary assembled at her house once a week. So, mary in the end was a significant role model for her daughter. I think this is what is so fascinating about her. She wrote articles on careers that were suitable for women. She wrote discriminant magazine. She founded the school of nursing and she worked as an editorial advisor. While following sergeants advice to travel overseas to learn about design, farrand, we will call her Beatrix Farrand, and her mother spent five months visiting gardens throughout italy, france, germany, and england. Young beatrix came armed with a new book Italian Garden which was published in 1894, and here they visited dozens of gardens throughout italy, from the coast to the italian lakes. She also visited a villa, among other places. Her notes on her visit were spot on to the point. She said about the villa, which back then is not look as great as it does today, the grounds, with their small perspectives, poor statues, small waterworks, and general cheapness, look very pretentious. [laughter] ms. Tankard she deemed another garden which shall remain nameless, not worth its stone. Right from the start she was an astute observer and critic. While other mentors in her circle included a garden editor, author of many books, and of course an authority on plants in england. Here i am showing two pictures of him. One on your left around the time of beatrixs visit, and on the right, one of the last pictures of robinson in 1933 when Beatrix Farrand paid her very last visits to robinson. She is the woman obviously in the hat in the middle. Well, she also one of robinsons most influential books among all the books he wrote was the wild garden. It was published in 1870. That important book extolled the beauty of native plants as opposed to all the exotics that were being imported from all over the world. Years later, she designed her most famous naturalistic garden, Dumbarton Oaks right here in washington dc. Beatrix also visited gertrudes gardens in 1895 on her trip. To put it in context, this was a year before the famous house was built, and it was prior to her having ridden any other books. Her first came out in 1899. Since her articles and photographs such as the one on the right were wellknown and horticultural circles, in horticultural circles, i am assuming sergeant may have provided the introductions to both William Robinson and gertrude. Whether she actually met gertrude was highly contested. Beatrix was greatly influenced by gertrudes artistic approach to planting, whether ornamental shrubs, as we saw in the last photograph, or group beautiful sweeps of perennials. This was restored about 10 years ago. She retained a lifelong devotion to gertrude, as we all know, including rescuing her archives in 1948. Beatrixs aunt edith was another significant mentor who undoubtedly advised in 1895. Her own book, Italian Gardens, appeared 10 years later. But as a Young Landscape gardener, beatrix advised in 1901, fairly early on in her career, but not of course the famous gardens. As a Young Landscape gardener, she proposed her proposal for large formal Kitchen Garden in 1901, modeled vaguely on this. It did not go forward but reflects beatrixs very serious study. She wrote several detailed gardens about it. In addition to all other things, she also was a garden historian. Watercolor renderings at the university of california collection include this romantic garden for percy that she did. On the left it shows the rose harbor, and on the right shows englishinspired arts into a garden in greenwich, connecticut. You saw a brief clip in the film, one of her largest and significant early commissions was one for her cousin, clement, in jenkintown, pennsylvania in 1901. Here she advised on a selection of an architect for a new house. We have a strongwilled woman who wants to control everything. She has laid out the grounds and she designed its a large formal garden, pretty much in the european tradition with long axial views, double flower gardens. Renderings such as these i just showed to you where used display in the annual exhibitions of the Pennsylvania Academy of fine arts and also the Architectural League of new york. So, here we understand that she was reaching out beyond the world of gardening and looking to architects in order to promote her career. She also wrote articles about her impressionistic approach to garden design for scriveners magazine and other magazines at the time. This is her entry for what she called the ideal suburban house and garden in 1906, which i think was a contest. Shows her versatility as a designer looking for work. A rather maintenanceintensive garden, to say the least, but this is where she was around 1906. Then of course in 1912 she designed a garden enclosed by hedges and walls for her cousins once again in hyde park, new york, otherwise known as belfield. She would use this formula of enclosure and restrained planting next year at the white house. But from the mid1910s until the late 1930s she was at the top of her profession. In addition to contacts in new york, newport, and philadelphia, who gave her a boost, she also had many connections in washington dc, beginning of course with Teddy Roosevelt. In 1902, Bishop Satterlee asked her advice on the grounds at the washington Natural National cathedral. While moses pine who was chairman of the Trustees Committee for Princeton University asked her advice about the princeton campus in 1912, which miraculously led to her incredible career as a university consultant, not only at princeton but also at yale, occidental college, caltech, and many other universities across the u. S. At yale, she was a consultant at princeton until 1943, so that was a very long time for her to do it. But during this time she battled with the architect as to the division of labor. He assumed that she was a horticulturist. She, however, new that she was a Landscape Architect and wanted to have a say about steps and paths. The garden staff there referred to her as the bush woman. Because she was always there directing all the gardeners as to exactly how to install everything. Today this courtyard at princeton, as i said earlier, is now recently renamed the Beatrix Farrand courtyard. It was also around this time that she met Woodrow Wilson, who was then president of princeton from 1902 until 1910. And already by 1913 she was a frequent visitor to the white house. And it was through the wilsons that she met the scholar, maxa baron, who she max farrand who she married in december 1913 and they of course lived happily ever after. Shown here in two wonderful pictures. On the right in their retirement home at reef point. And of course you notice, just like charles office, their house was filled with books. In 1913, first ellen wilson asked beatrix to design a new private garden for president wilson to complement the west garden, which ellen had already recently updated. Beatrixs first scheme under the name Beatrix Jones for the southeast garden was sketched in august, 1913. As i said, it was signed Beatrix Jones. He watercolor renderings included a rectangular enclosure with a 10x22 foot lily pool, which you saw a picture of. This was very similar to a design she had proposed earlier for the Wilson Family at Prospect House in princeton. Unfortunately, as we know, the commission was put on hold as ellen wilson became ill and died in august, 1914. After Woodrow Wilsons marriage to edith boeing, the idea of the garden that farrand had originally designed a slightly different scheme was proposed. This one, as you can tell, was signed Beatrix Farrand and prepared in january of 1916. I thought you might like to have an opportunity of looking at both of them. The changes are very subtle. We topped one comes from the university of california archives and the bottom one comes from the Woodrow Wilson house, with coffee stains or something on it. We dont know. A detailed planting plan from the university of california archives which is dated january 14, 1916, actually shows her restraint and planting for what would be an institutionaltype project. Box hedges, english iv that was edging the pool, door clocks which edged the borders. A carpet of forgetmenots and tulips. Box hedges, english iv that was edging the pool, door clocks which edged the borders. A carpet of forgetmenots and tulips. And in beds two and three she had pride of harlem. Simple, but honestly not a remarkable design. Definitely institutional design. Not a romantic, residential planting such as those as previous. On the right we have Francis Benjamin johnsons photo showing the garden as it was installed. And then as you have seen before in paulas talk, a picture of the completed gardens. And then the final picture, woodrow and edith in the east garden, taken by Francis Benjamin johnson in 1916. And the rest is history. [applause] ok. Ms. Omalley hello, everyone. It is a pleasure to be here. Lets see. I hope you can hear me ok. I was asked to talk about the context of Beatrix Farrands design for the white house gardens. So, i will show you what the National Mall was like in the years before, during, and after she made her design in order to give you a sense of the capital city but also the state of american landscape in the period. This was a Pivotal Moment not only here, but nationally. And leading designers focused on washington which was emerging as a World Capital around the turn of the 20th century. I will set the scene of what the capital city looked like. And let me assure you it is nothing like what it is today. It was clear and gaudi and ordered. Many dont realize how it came to look like this way. Grand avenue, quote, to lead to the monuments of washington and connect the congress garden with the president s garden. By the end of the 19th century, the city actually had been cleaned up quite a bit since the days of when their was murder bay between pennsylvania avenue and the mall, long past when major slave markets were removed, now the site of the air and space museum. On the right is now constitution avenue, and it had been a filthy, open sewer until 1871. These are two views from about 1900, giving you a sense of the scattered buildings and dense tree coverings on the mall. D. C. Around 1900 was and what was called a gilded age of graft and glitter, but this is when the board of public works was successful in paving roads and installing utilities and planting trees. All critical elements towards the modernization of the city. When Frederick Olmsted senior was here working on his plans for capitol hill in the early 1870s, he praised the mall as a sylvan landscape. By then the mall was fragmented, made up evas many as 12 separate gardens and parks, each under the direction of independent congressional committees with different staffs and policies. And you will see across the middle, six street and the railroad had raid laid down extracts. This is where the National Gallery is today. In terms of public or monumental architecture on the mall, you can see protruding out from the trees the smithsonian castle, built in 1847 to 1855, it was a red, sandstone building. The castle led the way for buildings that would define in style and material Building Activities for the next and i show you here at bureau of printing and engraving which was a red brick asymmetrical building built in 1880. This is a National Museum now called arts and industry from 1881, it was a red brick fireproof structure. Was slightly to the south, further contributing to an irregular arrangements of buildings and gardens on the mall. This is the department which was built in a french empiresstyle. Also red brick, with historically appropriate formal gardens. It was not demolished until 1930. The Red Brick Army medical museum remained until 1986, when it was then razed for another museum. This late 19th Century Building activity was in stark contrast to the symmetry, color, and materials of the new classical buildings. The white house, the capital, and the post office you see here. The increasingly red brick sandstone and terracotta character of washingtons civic architecture in the late 19th century was eclectic in style and form. But interrupted very significantly by the completion of the white marble washington monument, opened in 1888. As far as its critical reception, it seems no one liked it. Art critics called it a chimney. Not a monument, but 555 feet of white, unmitigated glare, they said. The boldness of it became clear and appreciated only very gradually. I mention this because the debate gave rise to a fascinating chapter in the history of the nations aesthetic imagination. The problem of defining a national style. What critics wanted was something authentically american, yet universally meaningful, to suit the newly imperial ambitions of the capital city. The mall was becoming more than ever the ceremonial core of the city. Pamela pointed out that aesthetically and politically, its transformation in the early 20th century signaled the triumph of neoclassicism over a romantic historicism. The 1890s saw a campaign by local and National Groups to revitalize the plan of 1791, which you see here. Classical geometry offered a model of coherence and order to counteract the fragmentation of postcivil war public space, and to address the problems of sanitation, circulation, safety and welfare of the city, whereby 1900, the population increased fivefold since 1860. The filling in along the river and closing of the canal brought an opportunity to redesign and, enlarge the central area to strengthen efficiency in administration and reinforce Public Perception of government as authoritative, secure, and permanent. Meanwhile, a revolution in architectural theory and practice was underway, first emerging not in d. C. , but chicago, at the exposition known as the great white city in 1893. This momentous event celebrated the citys Beautiful Movement in which the neoclassical city embodied with architecture, landscape design, sculpture. And city planning. Its aesthetic principles were formal and visual and provided a and emphasized a continuity of vistas and space and harmony in material. Authors included daniel, mckimiel burnham, charles , and others. He replaced his father and joined the leaders in American Design to return to washington to implement their ideals in a grand scale and on a permanent basis. The great redesign, known as mcmillans plan, was presented in washington in 1900. I am showing you a design the new plan would move away from. You can see the 19th century world of intimate gardens and serpentine walks on the mall depicted in this one. You get a sense of that from this plan. The new vision, this is the 1902 plan of washington proposed it reestablished the primacy of the eastwest axis and the northsouth axis, while reactivating a radio model that was proposed with avenues providing what was called a reciprocity of sight throughout the city. The plan demanded an extension westward of the mall to 3 miles in length beyond his original 1 mile. It also included a diversified parks system, a more naturalistic style in keeping with the legacy of his father, that reached across the broader metropolitan area. You get a better sense of that in this birdseye view from 1902. Washington, d. C. In the first decade of the 20th century in the wake of victory of the spanishamerican war and the administration of Teddy Roosevelt was making a push in public art and architecture that was audacious and unprecedented in america in terms of civic scale and control. It set a new vision for the capital, but also for the nations discipline of city planning at large. This belief in the symbiotic, symbolic relationship between buildings and grounds was a keystone of city beautiful planning theory, and of mcmillan plan articulated it. It was also found in landscape and garden design at a smaller scale. This brings us back to the topic of the day, practice and styles by farrand and her colleagues. Roosevelts 1903 socalled colonial garden on the left was an example of idealized romanticized designs based on dutch and british examples. It was compact, well ordered, creation of nostalgic movements that followed the centennial and the beginning of the preservation efforts of this country. We can contrast it with farrands design for the white house which was based on classical models, formal principles of symmetry, central axis, and harmonious color schemes that related very much to this spirit of what was happening outside the walls of the white house all across washington. Now, during the period that she was working in the early teens, there was a rather tentative implementation of the mcmillan plan in the capital city. I will show you just a few examples here of the mall that are indicative i think of the new breath of the mcmillan project. The first one is one in which charles, you just heard spoken about, was the architect. It was 1905 planned. The Mcmillan Reservoir filtration site, which was a new solution for an urgent need of clean drinking water, is on a 25 acre site on access with u. S. Capitol grounds, evoking again the scheme of a reciprocity of sight from the distant places back to the ceremonial core of the city. It also served as a public park. A second project, you can see its cascading waterfall inspired by Italian Gardens, was Meridian Hills park on 16th st, due north of the mall. You see an aerial view on the right which gives you the sense of the enormous scale of this project. It was proposed by george burnett, who was a Landscape Architect for the west garden at the white house at the same time that Beatrix Farrand was there. Ultimately he was executed. Union station by Daniel Burnham on the right opened in 1907 in a building designed after the ancient baths of rome. It marked a removal of the red brick station on the left and tracks from across the mall. It was located away from the ceremonial avenue, but linked by an avenue out to the broader city. 19081910,10 along constitution avenue, his elegant panamerican station had a major impact. Scholars argued his design lead the way out of the conundrum of traditionalism versus modernism with a distinctive modernized classicism. On the other hand, debates about the development of the mall persisted. I am showing you a slide that shows you the department of agriculture, then you can see the serpentine walkway of the gardens is still in place there. This fraught period led to the president intervening and led to the establishment of a permanent arts and architecture counsel. In 1910, the commission of fine arts, a body of oversight over public works, and has been at work ever since in the very important creation of an authority within the whole development of comprehensive city planning. Members were, again, the framers of the city Beautiful Movement and the mcmillan plan, and they were simultaneously involved in the biggest Civic Projects in america. I am showing you just two examples. Burnham, while washington was slowly along, he did a master plan for chicago. I will show you the beautiful drawing on the left. In baltimore i am showing the mount vernon place, a design by thomas hastings, also a member of the Fine Arts Commission, whose firm in the 1910s played an important and extensive role for the city of baltimore. His own Country House at the same time was receiving landscape advice by Beatrix Farrand. So, she was crisscrossing with the movers and shakers of the entire country as they carried out the imperatives set out by the park commission. Now, during the period that the garden was underway, several important things were happening in washington as well. The Lincoln Memorial by henry bacon was begun in 1912, although it was a decade before it was dedicated. And then the freer gallery of art, by charles platt, was approved in 1913, and 1916 the Fine Arts Commission approved it but platt was not sitting on the commission at the same time. It was approved, but a very close coterie of professionals. Now, i want to bring up platt again because he was also the architect of Woodrow Wilsons summer white house in new hampshire. He was also another one of these people involved in a number of other important planning commissions at the time. He was involved with roland park, which is a Garden Suburb in baltimore laid out by olmstead junior. A kind of model for Garden Suburb design at the time. I am showing you two views of the gardens he designed in 1903 in baltimore. I mention this because just around the block from this is roland parks womens club. And i want to show you that Beatrix Farrand, again, was mixing with these very important figures in both small and largescale projects across the country. These are drawings done by Beatrix Farrand for a rather littleknown project, but it was for the womens club done in 1905 in roland park. It was similar to what she would do at the white house and what we saw in that ideal suburban garden that i just showed. It has a clarity of outline, a strong sense of enclosure, spots , andade, perennial beds geometric parties. This is important because it brought together figures who were at this moment, the turn of the 20th century defining the , new profession of Landscape Architecture and city planning. This is a view of the white house gardens that shows both the west garden and beatrixs east garden. This is the view from about 1927. So, the mall after farrand. It was not until the 1930s that anything impeding development of the axial mall was completely removed or destroyed, including the gardens of the National Botanic garden and the 19th century downings arboretum that still stood in the central part of the mall. Everything was wiped away. Also, what was little recognized, 1500 homes were taken away. Between the 1840s and 1930s the site occupied by the National Museum of the American Indian was a working class neighborhood. The mall was flattened this is a view from around 1918 to give you a sense of the long time it took to get things moving on the mall. These are some military buildings that were there. But it was in 1937 four rows of american elms on either side of the mall were planted. That, hetead oversaw was the only surviving member of the mcmillan commission. It should be said that the politics of washington, d. C. Had both a positive and a negative impact on the development of the mall. On the positive side, the federal government at times has embraced the mall as a symbol of the nation and its capital. On the other hand, because of the federal landscape, it depended on congresss support and therefore was neglected during any budgetary crisis. And as a symbol of the federal government, the mall became a battleground upon which issues such as states rights versus federal power, or north and south tensions were fought. These days, security versus access, aesthetics, and tourism versus ecology, are all the big issues. But as one great historian of washington said, the history of the mall is important not only for itself, but because that is a guide to understanding the country whose aspirations it symbolizes. Thank you. [applause] ms. Deitz why dont you sit here and i will face you. No, because i have to face you. Just having a little chat among ourselves. I dont know about you, i have learned so much already. The day has been wonderful. I just want to applaud these two, really. Thank you very much. [applause] ms. Deitz i just wanted to talk a little bit more about when you are comparing the gardens, that wonderful suburban garden which we all know. Can you hear . Is that all right . I will face this way. I mean, she was doing institutional things at princeton and so forth. But how much do you think her thinking about the white house garden being institutional as opposed to a suburban garden what did she have to think about what to plant or how do you think she visualized making, as it were, a domestic institutional garden . Ms. Tankard well, definitely there were two different arms to her career. But i think if you look at what she is doing in her institutional and campus planning versus some of her residential, you see the same ideas. You are seeing the same design concept. But what the difference is is really the plantings. She is looking to the people who are going to be maintaining a campus, or an institutional project, and that team is going to be very different from a team that would come in to take up a residential garden. I think they are kind of the same principles, but it gets down to the maintenance. Ms. Deitz and she was probably working with white house gardeners even at that point. Ms. Tankard i am sure she was. Ms. Deitz so they knew about it. Ms. Tankard yes. Ms. Deitz one of the remarkable things i saw in my garden tour is that extraordinary, sweeping view of the south lawn that meets the mall that goes all the way to the jefferson memorial. So, it all becomes, in a sense, one view. So i was just wondering, if you could talk a little bit about the marriage of the two together. Frederick olmsted junior was on both commissions. He was doing the white house as well as the mall. Ms. Omalley does that work . Ms. Deitz right into it, like an ice cream cone. Right in the middle. Ms. Omalley i showed one slide that had the grant memorial in the foreground and you could see all the way down the length to the monuments. Now, this is a very important vista that was part of demand in the 1902 plan to create these terminal points because he really wanted to establish the long view that way, eastwest. That was successful he felt by having the grant memorial and union square, then lincoln at the other extreme end built, which got built fairly early in the scheme of things. It would compel the completion of this long vista. He wanted to do the same northsouth from the white house down to another monument yet to be determined. That was not happening because the white house grounds were still filled with many, many 19th century trees, monuments, fountains and things like that. It was not until 1935 when he did the master plan for the white house itself that he was able to really and the point i was trying to make was a reflection of the white house grounds as part of this larger scheme. He had trees just torn out. And jonathan probably knows more about this too, but he really wanted to reestablish that northsouth vista which then was linked to lincoln. Again, it took a lot of effort because over the decades it has grown into a very lush and full garden. So the marriage that you talk about was one that took many, many decades. Ms. Deitz but by being part of everything ms. Omalley we owe an awful lot to rick. There was a twopart thing nationalne by the i dont know the proper name of the organization. Someone here knows. They did a very, very good twopart symposium. One here in washington and the other in berkeley. And a lot of important, new research was done. And that is available. But he was an extraordinary thinker. He worked very closely with his father at the columbia exposition as a very young person, then was able to move right into the role here in washington for the senate plan. Ms. Deitz was she working on other things at the same time . Give us a little bit of a time. Ms. Tankard the white house was 1913. Dumbarton and oaks was 1920 to 1940. Although she did not do much work in washington, d. C. She , probably did her finest garden in washington, d. C. , which of course was Dumbarton Oaks. Ms. Deitz were there other president s doing anything . Ms. Tankard that is a good question. No, not really. Except private design work she did for Teddy Roosevelt. Ms. Deitz what did she do for him . Ms. Tankard there was a longstanding family relationship between the roosevelts and jones. As i said in my lecture, Teddy Roosevelt would sometimes show up for these famous luncheons on east 11th st. I dont know what the origin was of their friendship, but they certainly were friends and that extended to beatrix who grew up in that environment. Littleknown fact, but i think it is in my book, i cannot remember. Beatrix designed the actual tombstones for Teddy Roosevelt and for his son, kermit, who died just before teddy did. They are in sagamore hill but they are not part of the historic site. I have not seen it. They are outside in a private cemetery. She designed a lot of tombstones for friends. And i think it is very telling that she designed tombstones for the roosevelt family. Ms. Deitz a side piece, you saw the house where she lived is right in the village. I have very good friends who live on the top floor, which was her studio, that i am happy to report that on the roof they say they have a spectacular garden, and they are very aware that they are living in Beatrix Farrands home. It is not lived in by a single family, each floor is a different flat, as it were. But i have seen a picture of the house. I go there all the time. There is a plaque on it for Beatrix Farrand. I was there for the the plaque presentation, i was there the day they did it. It is wonderful to have these friends who are very aware and keeping the tradition alive. Both of you, there is this theme of america looking to europe. Really interested by that. Tell us a little bit more about what these commissioners did when they went to europe. What they wanted to see. Ms. Omalley they went in june of 1901. The trip was completely planned by olmsted junior. They went to five countries. England, italy, france, germany, and austria. In five weeks. Which to me is amazing because they had to take a weeklong trip to get there practically. Anyway, they had three goals. One was historical. They wanted to see what others had seen. They felt very much if they went to a lot of these properties they would get a sense of what he was after. Then practically, they were very, very concerned with one characteristic of washington, the heat. French gardens didnt have to deal with that. Rome was going to be the source of their real models. Fountains and running water, water terraces, canals. This became the detailing they looked at most carefully. The third was aesthetics, overall. France dominated here the overall concept. A uniform, designed and subordinated hominy. The specific feature was they wanted a broad avenue lined by multiple ranks of trees. And burnham said he found the two best examples in england. One at bushy park, a big park attached to two gardens, and the other was at hatfield house. Ms. Deitz that brings us this whole idea of monoculture, which you mentioned. Can you talk about how that is related to the mall . Ms. Omalley they wanted from the very beginning to have on the mall american elms. And they have. This monoculture, i usually speak about lack of biodiversity here on the mall, but there is a recent report from cornell about the condition of the elms on the mall. The recommendation generally from what i understand is a n urban forest should have 10 of a species, no more than 20 of a genus, and 30 of a family in creating a healthy environment of trees. And the mall has 100 elm. And it has never been very successful because of the different rates of growth and when you replace the tree of course, it will be smaller than the other ones. The recommendation is to diversify with trees of similar growth patterns, growth habits, and affect. So that is actually and always has been an ongoing issue with the planting of the mall. Ms. Deitz you talked about your Italian Gardens. Her other influence was the wild gardens of maine. It is wonderful should put it together. I like the fact that you talk about that she did something that was different from everyone else in doing it. So in taking her trip, what are the things you think are most stayed most dominant in her work . Ms. Tankard i think what emerged from the trip is this wonderful garden notebook that she left, her comments. It is the only really personal insights that we get to her other than odd correspondence such as her correspondent with mildred bliss, who was a great friend of hers. She could let her hair down a bit and explain all the things that were going on in her life. But i think the garden notebook, which is a very important document, really takes us through all the places they went to