Cherokee Garden Library

Under Staci’s leadership over the past 23 years, Cherokee Garden Library has evolved into a premier institution for the study of gardening, landscape design, garden history, horticulture, cultural and natural landscapes, and plant ecology. The Historic Preservation Medal is given for outstanding work in the field of preservation and/or restoration of historic gardens or buildings of national importance.

Atlanta History Center is excited to partner with Black in the Garden for a special four-part podcast series exploring Gardens and Cultural Landscapes of Black America, the new digital collection from Cherokee Garden Library. Host Colah B Tawkin explains how this partnership came to be.

In partnership with the Trust for Public Land, Atlanta History Center featured an onsite display in the Don and Neva Dixon Rountree Visual Vault about the history of the Chattahoochee River. Spanning from indigenous life to current uses, the exhibit highlights artifacts and archival materials that show the diversity and use of the Chattahoochee River over the course of human habitation.

The Cherokee Garden Library continuingly works to build a book collection that enhances our understanding of the gardening traditions of African American, Native American, and Latinx communities of the Southeastern United States. Explore our new titles that highlight these areas of focus.

Atlanta History Center is thrilled to highlight Goizueta Gardens and associated offerings May 10–19, 2024, in support of Go Public Gardens.

Explore Seeking Eden which bring awareness and appreciation to Georgia’s rich garden history.

Explore the lives of four pioneering women who played a vital role in shaping the landscape of our city and state.

Take a closer look at the remarkable gems of the Cherokee Garden Library.

The Mary Howard Gilbert Memorial Quarry Garden brims with Georgia’s native flora due to the careful consideration of Mr. Cline.

Founded by the Cherokee Garden Club of Atlanta in 1975, the Cherokee Garden Library is named for the state floral emblem of Georgia, the Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata) and is one of the special collection libraries of the Kenan Research Center.

This tree that was so much a part of the American landscape for an estimated 40 million years, was made functionally extinct in forty.

Atlanta’s history of influential and entrepreneurial women includes Adelle Bartlett Harper, the first woman to own and operate a florist shop in Atlanta in 1921.

A husband and wife team were instrumental at a critical time in the roots of Georgia’s environmental struggles and inspired many to continue to protect Georgia’s valuable wilderness.

Through photographs, postcards, landscape plans, and manuscripts, Seeking Eden highlights the importance of historic gardens in Georgia.