MELA's tour of
the historic Garfield Park Conservatory
took place on November 17th, 2006.


Unidentified woman at Garfield Park Conservatory, 1929
DN-0087772, Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Chicago Historical Society

 

And we had a great time! The turnout was excellent, and Barbara's talk was fascinating. After the official tour, we all wandered at our own pace and in our own way through the rest of this Chicago treasure. Even the refreshments were good.


Barbara Geiger, the noted landscape historian, gave a short talk on Jens Jensen and why MELA might not exist without his pioneering efforts. Jens Jensen began updating the very Victorian Garfield Park to the very modern Prairie style when he became superintendent in 1905. Jensen's appreciation for native prairie plants and his naturalistic design style not only set the tone for Midwestern landscapes for years to come but also combined beautifully with the work of Chicago botanist Henry Cowles, the father of modern ecology.

Barbara also led a tour of . . .

 

. . . the brilliantly contemporary incarnation of this historic place.

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