Balancing the interplay between botanical gardens and schools: the work of William Hales and Lilian Clarke

Abstract

Although the generic subject of botanical garden history is increasingly well documented, botanical gardens lack a reflective historical commentary on the educational work of their institutions. Apart from individual garden monographs,1 and the work of Stafleu,2 Prest,3 and Spary,4 few authors have examined the socio-educational history of botanical gardens. Exceptions to this are Gilberthorpe's doctoral thesis, which critiqued changes in British botanical gardens in the 1980s, and Kleinman's doctoral study, The Museum in the Garden, which considered research, display, and education at The Missouri Botanical Garden from 1859.5 Gilberthorpe's research highlighted the silence created by the lack of socio-historical documentation on British botanical gardens and Kleinman's study considered the struggle, ‘to balance and integrate’ the diverse needs of multiple audiences. These silences and struggles are still salient issues for botanical gardens today. This paper considers the interplay between professionals within botanical gardens and schools. It utilizes documentary material from school and garden archives to consider evidence for both the exclusion and encouragement of children in botanical garden histories and the sometimes competing roles of institutional ideology and personal interest. It ends with an examination of how these cultural memories might inform current debates on the socio-educational roles of botanical gardens in the twenty-first century.