Garden Club of Morristown
Established in 1913
Joined Garden Club of America in 1917
Established in 1913
Joined Garden Club of America in 1917
In 1913, Mrs. Gustav Kissel (Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt’s granddaughter) gathered a few women to begin a garden club that reflected a new type of organization where women “sowed their own seeds” not only for providing floral beauty in Morristown’s gardens, but also for civic action. Women from the “Gilded Age” mansions wrote a constitution stating that the club’s purpose was “to promote garden culture by the exchange of ideas on all matters pertaining to the garden.” In 1917, the club joined the Garden Club of America. The focus of meetings changed from teas to civic projects, conservation, preservation of wild flowers, and bird life.
Throughout our history, club members pressured Washington and Trenton, helped the needy through the Depression and the war, planting victory gardens and providing acreage for planting. The club supported “no billboards on a New Jersey highway built with federal funds” and the start of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1964. We beautified with plantings at Washington’s Headquarters in 1926,
Neighborhood House in 1934, and Macculloch Hall’s historic gardens in 1959 among others.
During WWII, the club sent small decorations to veteran’s hospitals, the precedent for our yearly wreath making and their to area not-for-profits. The Horticultural Committee had two main projects: 1) a flower arrangement course and 2) working three days in a greenhouse for practical lessons. Members won awards for their irises and chrysanthemums. By 1949, the club had grown to 77 members and dues went from $15 to $25.
In 1985, spearheaded by the leadership of Isabel Bartenstein, the Garden Club of Morristown was a Founders Fund finalist for its work on the restoration of the Gardens at Morven. In partnership with the Frelinghuysen Arboretum and Morris
County Park System, the club established ‘Branching Out’, an award-winning children’s garden. Fundraising events held in the 90’s included a Christmas house tour. Chris Willemsen, a GCM member, served as President of the Garden Club
of America from 1997-1999. The club hosted dinner parties and garden tours for the GCA annual meeting in 1999, and held the 2000 Zone IV meeting.
In 2007 the Hon. Rodney Frelinghuysen, was awarded GCA’s Frances K. Hutchinson Medal proposed by the Garden Club of Morristown for conservation, and since 2000, we have received the award for the most horticultural, flower show, and pho-
tography points at the Zone IV meeting five out of seven times. Our annual plant sale continues to be our biggest fund-raiser. We celebrated our Centennial with daffodil and tree plantings throughout Morristown, a gala celebration, “An Heir-loom Event,” at Morris County Golf Club with a dinner, auction, and presentation of our history “Garden Club of Morristown, The First Hundred Years” by Helen Brunet. The Garden Club of Morristown continues to be as vibrant and vigorous as our original founder.
Throughout our history, club members pressured Washington and Trenton, helped the needy through the Depression and the war, planting victory gardens and providing acreage for planting. The club supported “no billboards on a New Jersey highway built with federal funds” and the start of the Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge in 1964. We beautified with plantings at Washington’s Headquarters in 1926,
Neighborhood House in 1934, and Macculloch Hall’s historic gardens in 1959 among others.
During WWII, the club sent small decorations to veteran’s hospitals, the precedent for our yearly wreath making and their to area not-for-profits. The Horticultural Committee had two main projects: 1) a flower arrangement course and 2) working three days in a greenhouse for practical lessons. Members won awards for their irises and chrysanthemums. By 1949, the club had grown to 77 members and dues went from $15 to $25.
In 1985, spearheaded by the leadership of Isabel Bartenstein, the Garden Club of Morristown was a Founders Fund finalist for its work on the restoration of the Gardens at Morven. In partnership with the Frelinghuysen Arboretum and Morris
County Park System, the club established ‘Branching Out’, an award-winning children’s garden. Fundraising events held in the 90’s included a Christmas house tour. Chris Willemsen, a GCM member, served as President of the Garden Club
of America from 1997-1999. The club hosted dinner parties and garden tours for the GCA annual meeting in 1999, and held the 2000 Zone IV meeting.
In 2007 the Hon. Rodney Frelinghuysen, was awarded GCA’s Frances K. Hutchinson Medal proposed by the Garden Club of Morristown for conservation, and since 2000, we have received the award for the most horticultural, flower show, and pho-
tography points at the Zone IV meeting five out of seven times. Our annual plant sale continues to be our biggest fund-raiser. We celebrated our Centennial with daffodil and tree plantings throughout Morristown, a gala celebration, “An Heir-loom Event,” at Morris County Golf Club with a dinner, auction, and presentation of our history “Garden Club of Morristown, The First Hundred Years” by Helen Brunet. The Garden Club of Morristown continues to be as vibrant and vigorous as our original founder.