Correspondence, Flowers, Flower shows, Gardening, Horticulture, Minutes, Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, Reports
The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society (PHS) was founded on November 24, 1827 by fifty-three prominent Philadelphians; among them Horace Binney, David Landreth Jr., William Davidson, George Pepper, Nicolas Biddle and Moses Brown. Emulating similar societies existing in England at the time, the men formed their Society to promote "a highly instructive and interesting science for the purpose of improving the growth of vegetables, plants, trees, fruits and flowers." Since that time, the Society and its membership has fostered "...an appreciation of plants, acquiring scientific knowledge about them, disseminating horticultural information, and involving the public in gardening and beautifying the City of Philadelphia." More recently, the Society has worked specifically to beautify the city and help realize William Penn's founding vision for Philadelphia to be a "greene countrie towne." This is a collection of meeting minutes of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. The collection contains twenty-seven volumes of recorded meeting minutes that date from 1827 to 2001. The minutes document the business activities and projects undertaken by the Society. The volumes include reports from standing and special committees, department and project reports, and lists of premiums and awards. In addition to reports from committees, the minute books contain some announcements of events, correspondence, and a list of awards.