Extending Outside of the Garden

Garden clubs across America offer a long list of benefits to families, neighborhoods and the communities that they’re in. These contributions are supported by research going back to the now-legendary Victory Gardens of the Second World War. Community gardens are even more valuable in challenging times, such as during the recent pandemic.

One of the earliest Black garden clubs recently celebrated their 90th anniversary. Founded in 1932 as the Negro Garden Club and later known as the Virginia Garden Club, it grew from only seven clubs to hundreds across Virginia in twenty years. Just like many other garden clubs, civic engagement was used to bring communities together, and they were instrumental in beautifying the community. Other goals for the Negro Garden Club were to foster enthusiasm behind getting people to vote, increase food access, and provide a safe place for oppressed people. With anything to make the community better, the garden club was typically at the forefront when asking for support from their city.

 Gardens have been used as social spaces for African American Civil Rights activists, such as Langston Hughes and Martin Luther King, who found solace in the poet Anne Spencer’s garden. For others in the segregated south, African American women used garden clubs to promote leadership and talent. Holding luncheons, lectures and flower shows not only gave them an outlet from their burdens but allowed them to hold a sense dignity and value in their communities.

Exchanging seeds, touring gardens and collaborating on beautification projects with non- African Americans were also not uncommon during times of segregation. Due to factors like the lack of canopy or the presence of harmful pollutants in water, soil and air in African American communities, there was an emphasis on environmental work that preserved the natural world and conservation efforts The ladies of these garden clubs were able to get trees planted and improvements made to community streets in their neighborhoods.

 While gardens tend to bring together people from all races and social statuses today, what stands out to me most is that even during times when gathering among different races was outlawed, gardens were able to bring people together and provide a space for camaraderie and peace for many. Even in our darkest times, nature has the power to overshadow our burdens with its beauty.