Pennsylvania Horticultural Society - Joseph Ascenzi Lantern Slide Collection

About This Collection

The Joseph Ascenzi Collection consists of 64 color and black-and-white glass lantern slides, most were produced by the J. Horace McFarland Company, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Williams, Brown & Earle Inc. of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, between approximately 1920-1940. Many of the Williams, Brown & Earle slides focus primarily on trees in-situ and include images of Sycamores, Poplars, and Oaks among others. In addition, the William, Brown, & Earle slides contain images from three series titled “Spring’s Awakening” featuring woodland plants, “Botany,” and “A Summer’s Ramble.” The J. Horace McFarland slides in the collection typically center on foundation plantings around entryways and corner plantings around suburban houses. The collector, Joseph M. Ascenzi, is the horticulturist and president of Laurel Hill Gardens (Chestnut Hill, Philadelphia). This digital project is supported in part by a National Endowment for the Humanities Sustaining the Humanities Through the American Rescue Plan (SHARP) grant.