Edith Harrison Henderson (1911–2005) was an American landscape architect who practiced largely in the

American South The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

. She wrote a column for the ''Atlanta Journal Constitution'' and was the first woman to be elected an officer of the

American Society of Landscape Architects The American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) is a professional association for landscape architects in the United States. The ASLA's mission is to advance landscape architecture through advocacy, communication, education, and fellowshi ...

Early life and education

Edith Harrison was born June 9, 1911 in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

. Her family moved to

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

in 1925. In 1934, she graduated from the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture in Massachusetts and in the same year received her bachelor of science degree from Boston's

Simmons College Institutions of learning called Simmons College or Simmons University include: * Simmons University, a women's liberal arts college in Boston, Massachusetts * Simmons College of Kentucky, a historically black college in Louisville, Kentucky * Har ...

, which at the time was affiliated with the Lowthorpe School. In 1939, Harrison married Army Captain James Henderson (1913–2013). The couple had three children, a daughter, Grey, and two sons, Edward and James Ross.

Career

After college, Edith moved back to Atlanta, where she opened her own practice with fellow landscape architect Grace Campbell. In 1936, she took a job as director of the new Rich’s Department Store Garden Center. In 1938, with her private practice increasing, she left the position. During a career that spanned five decades, Henderson consulted with thousands of clients on projects ranging from private gardens to churches and public projects. She eventually obtained landscape architect's licenses in six states. Her most notable project may be the landscaping of the

Techwood Homes Techwood Homes was an early public housing project in the United States, opened just before the First Houses. Located in Atlanta, Georgia, the whites-only Techwood Homes replaced an integrated settlement of low-income people known as Tanyard B ...

, the nation's first public housing project, completed in 1936. Of this project, she later observed, In 1939, she and Campbell were invited to develop the landscape plan for the neighboring Clark Howell Homes, another public housing project in Atlanta. Other prominent projects include the grounds of the

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA, ) is the principal public transport operator in the Atlanta metropolitan area. Formed in 1971 as strictly a bus system, MARTA operates a network of bus routes linked to a rapid transit s ...

(MARTA) and the

First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta is a congregation of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) located in the Midtown section of Atlanta, Georgia. First Presbyterian Church was founded in 1848, and it was Atlanta's first Presbyterian house of wor ...

. A Memory Garden she designed for the church takes the form of an angel with outstretched wings, when viewed from above. In 1940, Henderson started writing a weekly gardenin
column
for the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

'' that ran until the late 1970s. In addition to offering practical advice for gardeners, Henderson would write about her own projects as case studies. Henderson also occasionally wrote for ''Veranda'' and ''Southern Accents'' magazines. In the late 1950s, Henderson worked with the state of Georgia to develop a new authority, the Board of Landscape Architects of Georgia, that would license landscape architects who passed an examination. Henderson received numerous civic awards and an honorary bachelor's degree from the

Rhode Island School of Design The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD , pronounced "Riz-D") is a private art and design school in Providence, Rhode Island. The school was founded as a coeducational institution in 1877 by Helen Adelia Rowe Metcalf, who sought to increase the ...

(which had absorbed the Lowthorpe School in 1945). In 1971, the Garden Club of America honored Henderson with the Oakleigh Thorne Medal of Excellence in Landscape Architecture. A member of the American Society of Landscape Architects since 1955, in 1976 she was elected its vice-president, thereby becoming the first woman to serve as an officer of the society. She went on to serve on the society's board and to chair its Council of Fellows. Towards the end of her career, Henderson published books on gardening, including ''The Peachtree Garden Book: A Month-by-Month Guide for Lawn & Garden Care in the Southeast'' (1982) and ''Edith Henderson’s Home Landscape Companion'' (1993). Henderson was diagnosed with

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

in 1995 and died of complications from the disease in Atlanta on October 12, 2005. Her papers are held in the Kenan Research Center of the

Atlanta History Center Atlanta History Center is a history museum and research center located in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. The Museum was founded in 1926 and currently consists of nine permanent, and several temporary, exhibitions. Atlanta History C ...

. The Landscape Architecture Foundation has established a scholarship in her name, the Edith H. Henderson Scholarship for students of landscape architecture.

References

External Links

“Edith Harrison Henderson.” ''Edith Harrison Henderson , The Cultural Landscape Foundation'', https://tclf.org/pioneer/edith-harrison-henderson “Edith Henderson Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information.” ''Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information'', https://www.asturner.com/obituaries/Edith-Henderson?obId=1728860

Books

Henderson, Edith. ''Edith Henderson's Home Landscape Companion''. Peachtree Publishers, 1993 {{DEFAULTSORT:Henderson, Edith 1911 births 2005 deaths American landscape and garden designers Women landscape architects People from Charlotte, North Carolina American landscape architects Architects from Atlanta