Winter2015longwood

CHIMES 290

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This issue of Longwood Chimes showcases how legacy influences our future, in particular the vital role archives play in the life of an institution. Pierre du Pont was a meticulous record keeper, so we are fortunate to have a vast collection of images, documents, and artifacts that reveal our rich history. Today, we continue to methodically document our journey so future generations may have a broad collection of resources to build upon, as they endeavor to advance our mission.

Features 18The Fountains of LongwoodPart One: The Years of PreparationThe first in a 6-part installment on the history, building, and legacy of The Fountains of Longwood.By Colvin Randall

28Strictly for the BirdsCharting our native bird populations through the years.By Tom Brightman

36Camera ManThe enduring photographic legacy of Longwood gardener turned staff photographer Gottlieb Hampfler.

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46A Living RecordLibrary & Archives opens the vaults on the Gottlieb Hampfler photographic collection.

End Notes

No. 290

4Conversations with Our AlumniWe talk with a few of our alumni about their Longwood experience.

6The Wild SideHow expeditions to collect wild boxwood inform the future of our collection.By Barrett Wilson and Dr. Matt Taylor

8Sowing a Culture for HorticulturePartnering with like-minded organizations in a bid to promote horticulture as a viable career path.By Lynn Schuessler

In Brief

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10Expansion at the MansionThe Peirce-du Pont House conservatory and north wing addition celebrate 100 years.By Noël Raufaste

12Debut of a DebutantePiecing together the story behind Longwood’s quest to produce a superior yellow clivia.By Patricia Evans

14Pulling Out All The StopsA new documentary captures the drama of the inaugural Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition.By Lynn Schuessler

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In Brief

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Brass nozzles for the Main Fountain Garden, circa 1930. Mr. du Pont ordered dozens of these adjustable nozzles from the Schutte & Koerting Company of Philadelphia. Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.Photo by Daniel Traub.

Since the first international students arrived at Longwood Gardens in 1956, we have welcomed more than 2,000 students across our five domestic and international student education programs. In this issue of the Longwood Chimes, we talk with a few of those alumni about their experience—how it influenced their careers, shaped their future, and provided lasting memories. As you will see, their significant contributions to the field of public horticulture are just some of the many achievements of our alumni. From a college student studying engineering, to a horticulturist a continent away, to an executive director of a public garden, to an esteemed retired professor… we are pleased to introduce you to a few of the faces of our alumni.

The UndergradMadison AltmillerStudentLongwood Gardens Cooperative Education Program, Class of 2014Hometown: Middletown, DECurrent City & State: Newark, DE

Longwood Gardens: As a student at Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Technical High School seeking a Co-Op experience, did you ever think you would get the opportunity to work at a Public Garden?

Madison Altmiller: No! I was not aware that there were even positions available outside of the horticultural field. It was a pleasant surprise to discover that there were not only electrical maintenance positions, but also masonry, plumbing, and HVAC.What was your experience like working with the Longwood Facilities Team?

While I may have been working with Longwood’s team of electricians, I got to see how it takes a diverse group of experts in multiple disciplines, working together, to make Longwood Gardens flourish.During your 4 months at Longwood Gardens did any particular projects stand out?

One of my favorite projects was adding lighting to the Italian Water Garden. You are expected to graduate in 2018. Do you have any career paths in mind?

I hope to be an electrical engineer for an industrial building company that specializes in city buildings.

The International TraineeAlexander Giwa Principal Agricultural Superintendent I, National Centre for Genetic Resources and BiotechnologyLongwood Gardens International Internship and Training Program, Class of 2010 Hometown: South Western Nigeria (Ondo State)Current City & State: Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria

Longwood Gardens: What areas of horticulture did you study at Longwood Gardens?

Alexander Giwa: Ornamental horticulture.What was your experience like working at Longwood Gardens—especially since it was so far from your home?

Unexplainable! Longwood Gardens’ employees are incredible. The procedures that are in place for assigning and completing tasks in the Gardens are so efficient and effective. As a horticulturist, what particular project at Longwood Gardens were you most proud of? When I was completing my Research rotation, I was involved in the propagation of virus-free canna through meristem isolation. This is a scientific procedure to produce disease-free plantlets in a laboratory. The experience was amazing.How do you apply what you learned at Longwood Gardens in your career in Nigeria?

Longwood really turned me into a library of information. I shared what I learned at Longwood Gardens as much as I could through lecturing at the College of Forestry (where I was working at the time). New student projects began that were inspired by the skills I learned at Longwood Gardens, including the erection of screen houses, making of standard trees, biological control of garden pests, the making of compost tea, and more.

Conversationswith Our Alumni

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Education

The Horticulturist Carol WagnerStaff Horticulturist, Haverford College Arboretum Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program, Class of 1988 Hometown: Newtown Square, PA Current City & State: Newtown Square, PA

Longwood Gardens: Can you summarize your Longwood educational experience in one word?

Carol Wagner: I can’t choose one word, but I can summarize it as life-changing. I thank Longwood Gardens for always striving toward perfection. That has stayed with me since my time as a student and is the reason I take so much pride in my work. After you finished the Professional Gardener Program, you joined Haverford College Arboretum and have been there ever since?

Yes, I’m in my 27th year. I graduated from Longwood Saturday, February 20, 1988, and started at Haverford on Monday, February 22, 1988.With all of that experience at Haverford, do you have any particular projects or achievements that stand out most?

I think my greatest achievement has to do with one specific tree—the descendent Treaty Elm at Haverford College. In 2010, 200 years after the original tree grew along the Delaware River, the tree blew over in a storm. Tracing the lineage and the stories of the successive generations of this tree and propagating seedlings for the future have been a labor of love. Through this special tree I have met many exceptional people.

The Professor Dr. Richard CrileyEmeritus Professor of Horticulture, University of Hawaii Longwood Gardens College and University Internship Program, Summer Lab 1961 Hometown: Elizabethtown, PennsylvaniaCurrent City & State: Honolulu, Hawaii

Longwood Gardens: How did your intern experience at Longwood Gardens help guide your career?

Richard Criley: Longwood Gardener Whitey Cloud gave me lots of advice during my time in the greenhouses, but one statement has stuck with me. Whitey said, “If you keep at it, you’ll make a good horticulturist.” In part because of him and my advisor at Penn State University, I’ve always been very hands-on with my horticulture.Did a particular project or subject interest you most during your time as a Longwood intern?

Of interest were all of the tropical plants in the Conservatory—I think that steered me toward my ultimate career at the University of Hawaii. You spent your 42+ year career as a Professor and Researcher of Horticulture at the University of Hawaii at Manoa—what are some of your favorite highlights from the university?

When I joined the University of Hawaii, I wanted to work with crops other than the roses, carnations, and chrysanthemums that my contemporaries were working with. I set up early research plots with bird-of-paradise and red ginger, looking at planting densities and fertilization and later added heliconias. A new researcher in our Department, Dr. Phil Parvin, introduced me to proteas at the Maui Research Station and I conducted several studies with him.You’ve had so many achievements. Is there any one that you are most proud of?

That’s a hard one. I’m proudest of my role as a teacher, inspiring my students to learn more about plants and how to grow them.

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The Plant Explorer Paul Meyer The F. Otto Haas Director, Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania Longwood Gardens Longwood Graduate Program, Class of 1976Hometown: Cincinnati, Ohio Current City & State: Philadelphia, PA

Longwood Gardens: What inspired you to study horticulture? Paul Meyer: From a very early age I worked in my parents’ garden, and at my grandparents’ house. And as a family, we would take trips to Cincinnati Parks—we would go for the Fall Mum Show… I believe these early influences really directed me toward horticulture.As a student of the 2-year Longwood Graduate Program, what was the greatest lesson you left Longwood with?

Without a doubt, the 2-year experience I had as a graduate student at Longwood Gardens set the foundation for my career. The field trips we took… were inspiring. I will never forget how generous Dr. Richard Lighty (first coordinator of the Longwood Graduate Program and current member of the Board of Trustees) and Russell J. Seibert (Longwood Gardens Director 1955–1979) were with their time… I still try and model myself after these Longwood Gardens icons. You’ve been recognized as a leader in the field of plant exploration and evaluation. Which of your 10 plant expeditions is most memorable?

Every trip has been fascinating, but the 1994 expedition to Wudangshan, Hubei, China was especially exciting and productive.You started at the Morris Arboretum in 1976, and now serve as The F. Otto Haas Director. How have you made a lasting impact?

While I may have received recognition for my accomplishments—for which I am humbled—what I’m most proud of, and what I think will continue to impact our institution in the years to come, is our internship program. In 1977 we started small with one 6-month botanical intern, and now have grown to have interns in every division.

Horticulture How expeditions to collect wild boxwood inform the future of our collection.By Barrett Wilson and Dr. Matt Taylor

Boxwood has been a staple in formal gardens worldwide for centuries. At Longwood, boxwood was first planted by the Peirce family in the 18th century. Today, many of those shrubs still grow among the specimen trees in Peirce’s Park. Pierre S. du Pont continued the extensive use of boxwood when he acquired the property in 1906, perhaps inspired by his travels to Europe where boxwood was used in many of the gardens he visited. Mr. du Pont’s most prolific use of boxwood was in the Main Fountain Garden. That tradition will continue as more than 2,600 boxwood are slated to be included in the revitalized Main Fountain Garden.

Our interest in boxwood extends beyond the plantings in that area. Boxwood is one of our 17 core collections of plants. The core collection is not simply a representation of all the boxwood in the Gardens, but rather consists of 156 accessions of wild collected material from an extensive geographical range. Buxus sempervirens is a genetically diverse species, although this diversity has been poorly represented in cultivation since its initial appearance in the U.S. in the 17th century.

We have participated in four expeditions to collect wild boxwood. The first exploration trip was in 2001 to the Republic of Georgia and the most recent expedition was in 2007 to areas south of Skopje, Macedonia.

Plants in the core collection have also been collected from Albania, Azerbaijan, Romania, Russian Federation, and Ukraine.

The boxwood collection represents the diversity of Buxus sempervirens growing naturally within its native range. These plants have distinct morphological characteristics and come from a range of growing environments and could potentially hold the genetics for future cultivars with improved landscape performance and increased resistance to diseases such as boxwood blight.

Boxwood blight has devastated boxwood collections of many European gardens. In order to prevent this from happening to our collection we have an integrated management plan that includes regularly scouting for the disease and specific cultural protocols for planting and maintenance.

The morphology of our core collection varies greatly with respect to leaf size, shape, and color, as well as the overall form and growth rates of the plants. The plants also provide opportunities for research on genetic relationships.

The vision for the collection is to support research and plant development through collaboration with other organizations. We are currently working with the U.S. National Arboretum, which is developing molecular markers that will be used to determine the genetic diversity of our collection. The collection will also be submitted to the NAPCC (North American Plant Collection Consortium) for accreditation in 2015.

Global QuestLongwood has been embarking on plant exploration and collection trips since the 1950s. The trips are often undertaken in collaboration with other organizations. In our four trips for Buxus sempervirens, Longwood has worked with the following organizations: Woodland NurserySalisbury, MD J.C. Raulston ArboretumRaleigh, NC Saunders Brothers NurseryPiney River, VA Willowwood ArboretumFar Hills, NJ Virginia Tech UniversityBlacksburg, VA Tbilisi Institute of Botany at the Georgia Academy of SciencesTbilisi, Georgia Batumi Botanical GardenBatumi, Georgia U.S. National ArboretumWashington, DC Institute of Botany at the Azerbaijan National Academy of SciencesBaku, Azerbaijan Research Institute of Mountain Forestry and Forest EcologySochi, Russia Ukrainian Academy of Agrarian Sciences at the Nikitsky Botanical GardenNikita, Ukraine Russian Ecological AcademySochi, Russia Sts. Cyril University and Methodius University of SkopjeRepublic of Macedonia, Skopje, Macedonia

The WildSide

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Early Boxwood SpecimensMr. du Pont originally sourced mature boxwoods from both commercial nurseries and private homeowners for the Main Fountain Garden and other areas at Longwood; these snapshots represent potential specimens for transplant to Longwood, 1921–1933. The supplier writes on the back of one photo: “Dwarf box specimen. This is a perfect specimen. Located near Gettysburg, PA. I cannot give a definite price on this but the owner, after 3 years careful work on my part, has written me stating that he wants to sell.” Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library.

Photo, top right, by David Ward.

Large boxwood center planting at the Main Fountain Garden, 1934.

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Partnering with like-minded organizations in a bid to promote horticulture as a viable career path.By Lynn Schuessler

Education

Sowing aCulture forHorticulture

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“Horticulture is universal. Horticulture is invaluable.” That’s the message that horticulturists would like to share with you—and your children.

Instead, they are battling a lack of public awareness of what horticulture is or why it’s important. And in gardens and boardrooms worldwide, conversations dwell on the fact that fewer and fewer students are choosing horticulture as a career. Horticulture Matters, a 2013 UK report published under the leadership of the Royal Horticultural Society, voiced concerns about the resulting “green skills gap” that is “threatening our economy, environment, and food security.”

Doug Needham, Director of Education at Longwood Gardens, recognized the importance of launching a similar initiative stateside. In December 2013, Longwood teamed up with the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS) to work on a national study and action plan entitled Promoting Horticulture in the United States. Along with four signing partners—AmericanHort, the American Horticultural Society (AHS), the American Public Gardens Association, and the National Junior Horticultural Association—they set a goal to increase public awareness of horticulture as “a vital, viable, and vibrant career path.”

Needham says that Promoting Horticulture grew from a “perfect storm” of factors both within and without the industry, including spiraling education costs that have resulted in the consolidation or closure of many four-year horticulture programs, and the growing need to address global issues such as climate change and food access.

To date, more than 150 partners have endorsed the initiative, and almost 500 industry professionals have completed a survey at the ASHS Promoting Horticulture website, as part of a national study

to determine people’s perceptions of horticulture and the challenges faced by the field. Early responses emphasize the need for an educated public, for affordable horticulture programs at the university level, and for internships that would make students aware of the variety of careers available.

This past summer, FleishmanHillard— the communications agency selected to conduct research, advocacy, and marketing for Promoting Horticulture —held focus groups with garden educators at the AHS National Children & Youth Garden Symposium in Columbus, Ohio. Participants remarked that public garden programs are often well-attended by young children, with a drop-off among middle and high school students. Suggestions for reaching out to youth included the use of technology such as iPads, hands-on experience with gardens, and exposure to a variety of horticulturists who are creative and passionate about what they do.

Needham feels that Longwood plays an important role in horticulture education, with 1.1 million guests annually and a wide range of education programs that include continuing education, K–12 classes, a two-year Professional Gardener program, an M.S. graduate program in public horticulture, and highly competitive college/university internships. Education remains a core part of our mission.

What’s next? The Promoting Horticulture Steering Committee has identified the firm Marts & Lundy to act as philanthropic counsel, in order to raise funds for this two million dollar project. In 2015 the National Study continues, reaching out to colleges, universities, and the general public. Results will then be used to develop an action plan consisting of education, marketing, and advocacy, with a projected rollout of early 2017.

Got horticulture? You bet. Horticulture is invaluable—and that’s an amazing career path.

For More Information

Promoting Horticulturehttp://growit.ashs.org

Horticulture Mattershttps://www.rhs.org.uk/education-learning/careers-horticulture/horticulture-matters

Clockwise from top left:Senior Gardener Roger Davis.

Gardener Mark Mosinski.

Senior Gardener Kat McCullough.

TRIAD Fellowship participant Hitomi Kawasaki, from Iwakura Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Japan.

Photos by Daniel Traub

different materials were spaced around the room, symbolizing the Sun (gold), Mercury (liquid mercury), Venus (copper), Earth (rock), Moon (silver), Mars (iron), Jupiter (tin), Saturn (lead), and Uranus (platinum). Five of the floor plates house electrical outlets to minimize the use of extension cords.

There was a bowling alley in the basement, much to the delight of his nieces and nephews. A glass-bottomed pool built outside at ground level provided a truly unique skylight for the bowlers. In the 1940s, the bowling alley was converted into archival storage and a small elevator was added that ran from the basement to the second floor. The basement was so well constructed that it was stocked with Civil Defense rations during the early years of the Cold War!

system activated in the north wing by sliding fireproof doors to seal off rooms where he stored his valuable books and manuscripts; air conditioning for the collection; a low-pressure fire alarm system that triggered at 140 degrees; a humidistat connected to a fire alarm system; and a separate water line connected by a series of fire hoses. In the kitchen and pantry he included electric plate warming ovens and a towel dryer.

In the library Mr. du Pont included a drainage system to divert possible water discharge from reaching the basement book area. He also installed an electric rug roller that stored a 19 × 33-foot rug out of sight below the floor during the summer when straw mats were put down. Ten ornamental “solar system” floor plates of

In 1909, three years after purchasing the Peirce farm that would become Longwood Gardens, Pierre du Pont modernized the quaint but primitive 1730 farm house with heat, electricity, and plumbing and added a two-story servants’ wing (his employees often referred to the house as the Mansion; it was designated early on as B-1, Longwood’s first building). Within a year Pierre began planning a two-story brick addition with library and bedroom suites to the mansion’s north side and a courtyard conservatory connecting the new north wing to the existing south wing. The design contract for the north wing and house additions went to the architectural firm of Brown and Whiteside of Wilmington, DE. For the conservatory, Pierre consulted with two firms. One was Lord and Burnham, a greenhouse manufacturer that provided Pierre’s cousin T. Coleman du Pont with a collapsible structure to cover a swimming pool in the winter with a greenhouse. The Pierson U-Bar Company instead suggested a permanent structure with a glass roof on steel rafters that introduced great expanses of glass on the sides and roof. Mr. du Pont agreed, so Pierson got the contract for the Winter Garden. Construction took place from 1913 to 1914.

Pierre du Pont was keen to incorporate modern technology into his addition. The house conservatory included sash windows and screens arranged with counterbalance weights to slide up and down into pockets from the main level to the basement. This permitted fresh air to circulate in the summer months. In the fall the screens were lowered into the basement and the raised windows gave winter protection. Over the years he also integrated state-of-the-art equipment into the house, including direct and indirect radiation heating with thermostatically controlled dampers; an elaborate fire protection

The Peirce-du Pont House conservatory and north wing addition celebrate 100 years.By Noël Raufaste

Legacy

Expansionat theMansion

Peirce-du Pont House conservatory, 1928, toned photographic print signed by the photographer. Longwood Gardens Library & Archives. Photo by Frank E. Geisler. Geisler, a New York society and architectural photographer, photographed other du Pont family estates and gardens, including Louise du Pont Crowninshield’s

‘Eleutherian Mills’ on the site of the original DuPont Company powder mills on the Brandywine.

Peirce-du Pont House conservatory, 1922, early color-process lantern slide. Courtesy Hagley Museum and Library.

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Opposite:Collage elements: Clivia miniata ‘Sir John Thouron’, watercolor on paper by Fowzia Karimi, curatorial intern 2003–2004; Petals of Gold article, The News Journal, June 1995. Pictured in inset is Dr. Robert Armstrong. Photo of Dr. Armstrong by Fred Comegys for The News Journal.

Debutof aDebutante

Horticulture

miniata var. aurea (today known as Clivia miniata Citrina Group). Thouron was a friend of Longwood, as his wife was Esther du Pont Thouron (1908–1984), a niece of Pierre S. du Pont.

We officially began the clivia breeding program in 1976, with the goal of producing a superior yellow clivia. The program was started by Dr. Robert Armstrong, who joined Longwood as a research horticulturist in 1967 and eventually was head of research and production until his retirement in 1999.

Clivia breeding is an exercise in patience. Seedlings can take up to eight years to bloom from the time the seed is planted. And even when the plant does bloom, it can be slow to multiply. It can take years for the parent plant to produce offsets.

After decades of making crosses, it wasn’t until 2011 that we felt it had an improved yellow clivia with strong enough color and flower form to release as a new cultivar. Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Debutante’ was named and released in March 2011 at the North American Clivia Society’s International Symposium and Show, which was held at the Gardens.

Dr. Robert Armstrong was present at the release. ‘Longwood Debutante’ is a luminous yellow clivia, featuring large, uniform flowers that contrast well with the dark green foliage. Its flowers are slightly fragrant with rounded petals that overlap to produce a beautiful floral display lasting 2–3 weeks. The introductions continued with the release in 2012 of Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Fireworks,’ unique for its reflexed creamy yellow petals in umbels held well above the foliage.

In 2014, Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Sunrise’ was released. ‘Longwood Sunrise’ is orange, but has the rare feature of keeled petals. (The keel is a raised ridge that runs along the center of the petal, akin to the keel of a boat.) This keeling plays an important role in future selections from the breeding program.

This trait, along with other unique characteristics, has been bred into a variety of seedlings that are now being evaluated by our research team. Over the next several years new cultivars with the keeling trait will be released in a variety of colors, as well as cultivars that spread the flower color range into white, green, and peach.

If you ask Alan Petravich what his favorite time of year is in the research greenhouses, chances are he would say February and March. That’s when our collection of clivia begins to bloom, and Petravich, who has been leading the clivia breeding program since 2007, admits “my head starts swimming” when the riot of color and flower forms fill the greenhouse each winter.

But the vibrant oranges, creamy yellows, and rich reds that bloom so beautifully today are the result of an intense effort that began decades earlier.

In the 1960s, clivias in commerce were almost exclusively orange. In 1964 Longwood received its first yellow clivia from South Africa. Although the flowers were small, having a yellow clivia of any sort was noteworthy. This plant was crossed with a plant that had large, orange flowers. In the following years, other yellows were added to Longwood’s collection. In 1965, Sir John Rupert Hunt Thouron (1907–2007), an avid horticulturist residing in nearby Unionville, Pennsylvania, gave Longwood another yellow Clivia

Piecing together the story behind Longwood’s quest to produce a superioryellow clivia.By Patricia Evans

Below, left to right:Clivia miniata ‘Sir John Thouron’.

Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Debutante’.

Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Fireworks’.

Clivia miniata ‘Longwood Sunrise.’

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Pulling Out All The Stops will premiere on WHYY in early 2015.

Thank you to our sponsorsLead Sponsor: Wilmington TrustSponsors: Frederick R. Haas Legacy Fund, Crystal Trust, 1916 Foundation

For More Information

PCK Mediahttp://www.pckmedia.com/

The Longwood Organhttp://longwoodgardens.org/events-and-performances/music-performance-and-theater/our-resident-instruments/longwood-organ

Longwood Gardens International Organ Competitionhttp://longwoodgardens.org/events-and-performances/music-performance-and-theater/our-resident-instruments/longwood-organ/international-organ-competition

Pulling Out All The Stops

The Arts

in movie theaters, hotel lobbies, and even car dealerships. And Irénée du Pont, Jr., spins a tale of familial one-upmanship that led his Uncle Pierre to purchase the largest and most expensive residential organ ever.

The uniqueness of Longwood’s organ lends character to the competition. “We have a symphonic organ,” explains Emily Moody, Assistant Manager of Performing Arts at Longwood. “Certain repertoire showcase the organ’s sound better than others.” Moody also points out that the “performance aspect of competing and engaging with the audience,” made possible by the intimacy of the Ballroom, sets this competition apart from those held in churches and cathedrals. It is a competition filled with surprises, including audience glee when Adam Pajan plays Tico Tico, which Schultz embellishes with a clip of Ethel Smith playing the same piece on a Hammond organ in the 1944 movie Bathing Beauty.

In his aptly named documentary—Pulling Out All The Stops—Eric Schultz does just that. He delivers great music, performance, and story, set within the magnificence of the Gardens. But the story doesn’t end with the closing credits. Director Paul B. Redman says that while the inspiration behind the event was to showcase our organ, “the more important part of it is the role we can play in developing and nurturing the next generation of professional organists.” So save the date for the next Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, June 14–18, 2016!

Fingers fly over keyboards and feet dance over pedals as the sounds of the William Tell Overture—flutes, trumpets, tympani, and strings—fill the Ballroom. Eric Schultz, from PCK Media in Trenton, New Jersey, captures the action. But what his camera sees and the audience applauds is the performance, not of an orchestra but an organist.

For ten days in June 2013, ten young musicians practiced and performed in the inaugural Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition, vying for the Pierre S. du Pont First Prize of $40,000. Schultz—with 20 years of experience producing Emmy-winning arts programs, a master’s degree in cello performance, and memories of a childhood visit to Longwood—was naturally drawn to the event. Through images, interviews, and musical phrases selected from over ten hours of recorded music, he offers glimpses not only of the competition, but also of the human stories at its heart.

The filmmaker skillfully guides us from airplane cockpit to organ console on a breathtaking flight through Sorcerer’s Apprentice with French pilot and organist Baptiste-Florian Marle-Ouvrard. We see the pride in the eyes of Benjamin Sheen of London, not only because he wins first prize, but because he’s playing music transcribed by his father. And a segue from Adam Pajan’s practice in his Oklahoma church to his performance at Longwood allows us to hear the singularity of each organ’s voice.

But it is the rich voice of Longwood’s 10,010-pipe Aeolian organ that whispers and swells in accompaniment to the stories that unfold here. Colvin Randall, P. S. du Pont Fellow at Longwood, relates the history of the Gardens. Organ Technician Jonathan Ambrosino tells about American organ culture in the early twentieth century, when pipe organs could be found

A new documentary captures the drama of the inaugural Longwood Gardens International Organ Competition.By Lynn Schuessler

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Adam Pajan is awarded the Firmin Swinnen Second Prize by Longwood Gardens Trustees Nathan Hayward III and Cynthia Tobias.

Left:Pierre S. du Pont First Prize winner Benjamin Sheen.

Organ Competition event photography by Larry Albee.

The panel of international judges score the competitors.

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Features

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The Masterpieces of the Centennial Exhibition Illustrated, Philadelphia, 1876; limestone balustrades from the Rectangular Basin, Main Fountain Garden; bronze armillary sphere, engraved with signs of the zodiac; History of the World’s Fair: Being a complete description of the World’s Columbian Exposition by Benjamin C. Truman, 1893; Baedeker’s guide books for Northern France, Paris, and Italy, 1889–1910; wooden stave water pipe, 1920. Used to pump water from Pocopson Creek to the Large Lake. Longwood Gardens Library & Archives. Photo by Daniel Traub.

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After decades of discussion and two years of intense planning, Longwood has finally begun the largest construction project in our history—the revitalization of the Main Fountain Garden. It is one of the Gardens’ most iconic features, along with the Conservatory, and worthy of preservation at any cost. The original fountains were a technological wonder, just as the rebuilt fountains will incorporate the latest pumping, lighting, and control developments of the modern age.

Longwood’s fountains have a fascinating history reflecting the varied interests and experiences of their creator, Pierre S. du Pont. Mr. du Pont’s methodical saving of all paperwork, photos, and travel plans makes it possible to reconstruct not only the fountain evolution, but the influences that inspired him, namely the classic gardens of Europe and the technology-laced world’s fairs of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Those were heady times, with a sky-is-the-limit attitude. While Pierre was sensibly grounded in his private life, in his gardens he preferred a theatrical exuberance unrivalled in this hemisphere and equaled only in a handful of European predecessors. Even those stellar creations are hard pressed to compete with the eye-popping thrill of a landscape full of colored jets and sprays, synchronized to music and occasionally surmounted by an orgiastic display of pyrotechnics. Would Louis XIV have been jealous? He certainly might be with the result of the upcoming rebuild.

For more than 40 years, Colvin Randall, Longwood’s P.S. du Pont Fellow, has researched this story, studying sketches, blueprints, calculations, purchase orders, photographs, hydraulic test sheets, newspaper articles, and interviews with those who built the fountains. In addition, he has programmed the fountains to music since 1980. He will tell the complete story over the next six issues of the Longwood Chimes, starting on the following pages with the early years of Pierre S. du Pont and his first travels.

Main Fountain Garden, photographed in late Summer 2014, just prior to closing in preparation for New Heights: The Fountain Revitalization Project.Photo by Sam Markey.

The Fountainsof Longwood

Legacy

A 6-part series.By Colvin Randall

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Pierre S. du Pont visited many expositions and world’s fairs as a young man and later acknowledged the influence this had on the fountains he would ultimately create at Longwood. The Longwood Gardens Library & Archives has many significant books in its collection documenting these expositions, including:The Book of the Fair: An historical and descriptive presentation of the world’s science, art, and industry as viewed through the Columbian Exposition at Chicago in 1893 by Hubert Howe Bancroft, 1893; Official Guide to the World’s Columbian Exposition in the city of Chicago by John J. Flinn, 1893; Shepp’s World’s Fair photographed: Being a collection of original copyrighted photographs authorized and permitted by the management of the World’s Columbian Exposition by James W. Shepp and Daniel B. Shepp, 1893; History of the World’s Fair: Being a complete description of the World’s Columbian Exposition by Benjamin C. Truman, 1893; The Official Pictures of A Century of Progress Exposition, Chicago, 1933 with an introduction by James Weber Linn and photographs by Kaufmann & Fabry Co., 1933.Photo by Daniel Traub.

Pierre Samuel du Pont was born five years after the close of the Civil War, in 1870, at Nemours, a DuPont Company house overlooking the Brandywine Creek a few miles north of Wilmington, Delaware (not to be confused with the much later Nemours built by Alfred I. du Pont). He was the third child and first son of Lammot and Mary du Pont, whose large family eventually included ten surviving children.

Pierre’s early years were influenced by the traditions of the Brandywine country. He was exposed to the natural beauty of the gently rolling landscape, to the du Pont family traditions of gardening, and, always, to the water of the Brandywine.

Water fascinated Pierre. “As a child,” he wrote, “I was always delighted to behold flowing water and I confess to still feel a thrill at the sight of clear water running freely from a faucett.” Growing up around the Company’s Powder Yards, he must have been intrigued by the raceways that supplied water to power the mills. This water system, as well as the adjacent Brandywine, provided the setting for hours of recreational activity for neighborhood children.

Pierre was impressed by fountains as early as his sixth year. The first one he remembered was at Nemours: “At home we had a garden fountain with one jet, the size of a knitting needle, ‘turned on’ occasionally, closely watched and ‘turned off’ as soon as possible.”

By comparison, the water display at the 1876 Centennial held in Philadelphia was thrilling beyond compare. Six-year-old Pierre had the good fortune to be taken to the Centennial on two occasions, and true to his later interests, it was the architecture, the machinery, the horticultural exhibits, and, above all, the waterworks that he remembered. He was most amazed by the great “Cataract,” which was “captivating beyond description with its jets of all kinds spurting like mad and without cease….

The fountains of Longwood have a fascinating history reflecting the varied interests and experiences of their creator, Pierre S. du Pont. By Colvin Randall

Part One

The Years of Preparation

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Left to right:Fountain at Nemours, c. 1882. Note ghostly images of two small children (lower left).

Pierre S. du Pont in 1875 at age 5.

The Cataract was a display of industrial pumps recirculating more than 20,000 gallons of water a minute.

Photo owned by Pierre du Pont of the vista through the Eiffel Tower to the Champs de Mars, 1889. The fair’s illuminated fountains were in the center, beyond the Tower.

Six-year-old Pierre… was most amazed by the great “Cataract,” which was “captivating beyond description with its jets of all kinds spurting like mad and without cease… I could have remained all day beside this pool in Machinery Hall.”

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Pierre’s guide book to Versailles. Hagley Museum and Library.

Below:The 1889 fountain control rooms (some underground) were à la Jules Verne—a system of levers and cables changed the jets and moved color filters.

thousands of electric bulbs; the pavilions and gardens on the fair grounds were garlanded with strings of lights. And at nine every evening began one of the fair goers’ favorite shows, a brilliant display of luminous fountains. Folding chairs surrounding the monumental allegorical fountain representing “France Steering the Ship of Progress” were occupied hours before the first jet of vibrantly colored water shot sixty feet into the air. Located squarely in the middle of the Champ de Mars between the Eiffel Tower and the Central Dome, the fountain by day was a triumph of pompous academic sculpture. France, a plump, winged lady raising a torch in her right hand, steered the ship of the Republic, with a crowing Gallic cock on its prow, as lissome young things named Science, Art and Progress cheered her on. At night, all this could be overlooked as columns, curtains and corollas of water spurted from nozzles in a reflecting pool 120 feet long and fifty feet wide. Illuminated from the pool’s bed by a complex system of electric lights behind colored lenses, the fountains seemed to hurl glowing rubies, diamonds, pearls, sapphires and emeralds at the evening sky as crowds marveled at this latest scientific gadget. The show went on

for twenty minutes, nozzles and light shifting and combining to produce changing patterns of ever more grand effect. The spectacle was repeated twice again every night.”

On July 16, 1889, Pierre made his first visit to Versailles, aided by a guide book that he had purchased. As this was on a Tuesday, it is doubtful that the fountains would have been in operation. The family continued through Switzerland and visited palaces, castles, churches, and scenic spots, then traveled down to northern Italy. There, they visited the gardens of Isola Bella, Villa Serbelloni, and Villa Carlotta. Returning through Switzerland, they stopped briefly in Cologne and in Brussels before arriving in London prior to their departure for home on August 31 from Liverpool. It had been a grand trip, which Pierre recorded as costing $5,917.39 (more than $150,000 today), exclusive of passage across the Atlantic.

Following graduation in 1890 from M.I.T., Pierre secured employment with the DuPont Company. His mother took this opportunity to move her family back to Wilmington and built a house there, called “Saint Amour.” Twenty-one-year-old Pierre was overseer on this project, and he recorded in his notebook the construction process, including digging the wells. He was charged with laying

I could have remained all day beside this pool in Machinery Hall.”

In 1881, Lammot moved the family to Philadelphia to be closer to his new dynamite plant in New Jersey. Tragically, he was killed in an explosion there in 1884. Pierre assumed the role as surrogate father to his brothers and sisters, and in 1886 he entered M.I.T. to study chemistry. A highlight of his college years was a trip to Europe in 1889 for the entire family. Mrs. du Pont, her ten children, and two maids sailed from New York and landed in Ireland on June 1. They toured Irish castles and abbeys before arriving in London where they visited most of the popular attractions, including the zoo and several of the famous London parks, and made two trips to the Crystal Palace, at least once to see the fireworks. After a week spent touring the countryside and castles of Scotland, the du Ponts arrived in Paris on July 8.

Paris in 1889 was the place to be. “L’Exposition Universelle,” symbolized by the new Eiffel Tower, was the greatest ever held, and 19-year-old Pierre made four trips to the fair.

Joseph Harriss, in his 1975 book The Tallest Tower, described the nighttime effects: “The Eiffel Tower was illuminated by

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and, as far as the writer then knew, the display of colored lights in connection with water had not been presented publicly in so magnificent a manner, though, as memory serves, colored lights were applied only to two of the smaller fountains at either side of the principal group.”

Published accounts noted that “The electric fountains are among the prominent features at the Fair. Thousands of people stand at points of vantage about the great court each evening to watch the ever-changing beauties of these fountains. They are two in number, located on the lower terraces on either side of the MacMonnies emblematical fountains, and are without a rival in ancient or modern days in hydraulic or electrical design. Supplied from the high pressure system placed for the fire protection of the World’s Fair by the Worthington pump people, each of these two fountains requires for its own individual service the full capacity of a 16-inch water main under 100 pounds pressure….The light for the fountains with their prismatic hues and chameleon-like changes of color, was produced in a subterraneous chamber, with which the fountains were connected. The lamps resembled the search-lights on board a

man-of-war, except that for the lens used at sea was substituted a silver-lined parabolic reflector, from which the rays were shot upward for a distance of 150 feet. The lighting capacity of the lamps was controlled by a mechanism similar to clock-work, and could be intensified to a brilliancy of 350,000 candlepower. The water effects were also regulated in this mystic chamber, to the orifices of which a nozzle was attached, and through it the water projected in columns, jets, or sprays, with electric light playing upon them in varying hues from color screens [filters] beneath….Two foamy domes mounted upward, and were magically tinted in fairy hues, changing and interchanging, rising and retiring, twisting, whirling, and falling in violet, sea-green, pink, purple—it was a tiny convention of tamed rainbows. And, meanwhile, from lofty towers great electric sunbeams fell upon the dome of the Administration Building, and created a cameo against the sky: upon the MacMonnies Fountain, giving it a transfigured snowy loveliness: upon one beautiful group after another, bringing them to vivid life. The beams were at times full of smoke and spray, that gave a shimmering motion to their light.” Add to this the dazzling effects of 90,000 incandescent bulbs and 5,100 arc lamps

out the garden and with supervising the new gardener.

In 1893, twenty-three-year-old Pierre visited Chicago and its spectacular World Columbian Exposition, which commemorated, albeit a year late, the 400th anniversary of the “discovery” of America. He was overwhelmed by the grandiose effects. “I am enjoying the Fair immensely, there is so much beauty and interest that one can hardly decide to what to devote the time,” he wrote to a cousin. “The large buildings are magnificent beyond description, it is a lasting enjoyment to look at them alone. I only regret that they must so soon go and that, comparatively, so very few have been able to see them. I do not wonder that the Chicago people are proud of their city and the Fair.”

In 1938, Pierre recalled: “The germ of the creation of the Longwood fountains was found in the great fountain in the Court of Honor at the Chicago Exposition in 189[3]. This great court with its impressive, glistening white buildings of Grecian order and its magnificent water courses and fountains has not been equaled in any exposition held since that date. To be sure, the electric lighting was then in its infancy as compared with effects produced today

In 1938, Pierre recalled: “The germ of the creation of the Longwood fountains was found in the great fountain in the Court of Honor at the Chicago Exposition in 1893. This great court with its impressive, glistening white buildings of Grecian order and its magnificent water courses and fountains has not been equaled in any exposition held since that date.”

One of two matching illuminated fountains at the Chicago World Columbian Exposition, 1893.

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The South Canal of the Chicago World Columbian Exposition, photographed by Pierre du Pont, 1893.

The Court Of Honor, Chicago World Columbian Exposition, 1893, by H.D. Nichols. Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

cartouches, terminals, and arabesques, now Rembrandting the stucco reliefs, and delicately toning down the color, till the effect is strikingly allegro.”

All this was due to the world’s first major hydroelectric plant some 20 miles away at Niagara Falls. A preview in a Scientific American supplement in 1900 noted: “With the sky lines of the buildings traced in fire against the heavens, with the basin of the Court of the Fountains golden with thousands of floating lights, the cascades resplendent with mysteriously changing fiery hues, and rising above all the stately Electric Tower, one mass of shining splendor from the plashing fountain at its feet to [the] dazzling Goddess of Light upon its topmost pinnacle—with such a scene to portray, the most skillful word painter will be at a loss where to begin and where to end his task.” It is no wonder that Pierre du Pont was impressed.

Three years later in September 1904, Pierre visited the 1,272-acre, 1,576-building Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, where he reserved hotel rooms for 10 days; how many times he visited the Expo is not known. The central feature was the 1,200-foot-long Grand Basin with three cascades and fountains that flowed down a hill at supposedly 90,000 gallons per minute. Each cascade was 45' wide at the top and 160' wide at the bottom; it was 275' from the top of the central dome to the Basin lake below. Again, electric lighting, fountains, and fireworks created never-to-be-forgotten proof of the miracles of technology.

Technology was Pierre du Pont’s business, too, and as a rising industrialist he was gaining the knowledge and means to adapt these latest developments over the next three decades to create spectacles that would rival any World’s Fair.

turning night into day throughout the fair, and the World Columbian Exposition was “the very apotheosis of electricity.”

Pierre’s early travels, both for business and for pleasure, exposed him to a variety of landscape and horticultural situations. As early as his M.I.T. years, he had noted: “the hyacinths, pansies, etc. in the public gardens are very fine this year and look well.” He later advised his mother to “take a drive through the Parks in Boston… they are worth seeing.” By comparison, the parks in Cleveland were “quite pretty though not very large.”

In September 1900, Pierre visited Phoenix, Arizona, and was “pleasantly disappointed in the green appearance of the landscape.” He did not fail to notice the ornamental effect of palms, umbrella trees, oleander, figs, oranges, and pomegranates, as well as the technique of watering by irrigation.

When he visited the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, in June 1901, he was especially impressed by the trees and landscaping. Pierre wrote to his mother: “The Pan American is in some ways more impressive than the Chicago fair. The buildings are partly colored and in good taste which adds a great deal to their beauty. Of course the whole thing is not on as grand a scale as the Worlds Fair but a large part of the grounds are more beautiful owing to the natural advantages in trees….”

Chicago’s fair was known as the White City; Buffalo’s was called the Rainbow City, with colored buildings becoming progressively paler towards the fair’s focal point, the light-cream Electric Tower. As author Ernest Knaufft noted in 1901, one should first view the expo at night, where “he will see a unique and imposing sight, that outdoes Chicago, Nashville, Atlanta, Omaha—a sight the world has never seen before. At 8 o’clock the ivory city lies half-veiled in the dusk, when suddenly, but gradually, on every cornice, every column, every dome, break forth tiny pink buds of light as though some eastern magician were commanding a Sultan’s garden to bloom. A moment more, and the pink lights glow larger and take on a saffron hue, and the whole exposition lies before us illumined by 500,000 electric flames (the eight-candle power incandescent light which Mr. Edison, who developed it, has proclaimed his pet)—and these delicate lights, some single, some bunched, bring out a thousand delicate tints, now playing hide and seek, and many

The next installment in The Fountains of Longwood series will appear in the Longwood Chimes no. 291.

Part TwoMr. du Pont buys Longwood and builds its first fountains, takes two trips to Italy, and also visits California and Hawaii.

Above:Plan view of the Pan American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, 1901. Hagley Museum and Library.

Below:Fountains at St. Louis World’s Fair, 1904.Library of Congress.

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Fountain technology has been a beneficiary of the great world’s fairs during the past century and a half. Industrial exhibitions began in the 1790s, but it was the 1851 Great Exhibition in London with its Crystal Palace that is usually considered the first world’s fair. It featured many free-standing manufactured fountains, including a massive glass fountain made of four tons of crystal standing in the center of the building. When the Crystal Palace was re-erected in Sydenham in 1853, the fountain was moved, too, and Pierre du Pont would have seen it there in 1889, along with the remnants of the outdoor display fountains that included 11,000 jets, two of which rose 280', and two 600' cascades. The entire system used 120,000 gallons a minute (12 times Longwood’s Main Fountain Garden flow) or 7.2 million gallons an hour—so much that it ran only four or five times a year and eventually rusted.

Industrial and cultural fairs were held somewhere almost every year thereafter. Many featured fountains produced by foundries that offered similar or smaller versions for sale. Especially memorable were unique spectacles like the Hydraulic Annex in Philadelphia in 1876 and the Paris fair of 1878 with its Trocadero Cascade.

Nighttime fountains illuminated by fireworks and flares had dazzled the royal courts of Europe, especially at Versailles in the 17th and 18th centuries. But the first brightly illuminated fountains using carbon arc electric lights were probably in 1884, at London’s International Health Exhibition. Much improved fountain

lighting was installed at the 1887 Royal Jubilee Exhibition in Manchester, England, followed by an 1888 Glasgow fair with an even better system. Its technology was applied to the 1889 Paris hydraulic spectacle that Pierre du Pont enjoyed, the greatest yet seen.

Electricity and all that it could do was now the invisible force that drove these fairs and the future they promised. Chicago in 1893, Paris in 1900, Buffalo in 1901, and St. Louis in 1904 outdid their predecessors in electric glamour. San Francisco in 1915, with its Tower of Jewels and more than a dozen major illuminated fountains, was not to be missed at night. The 1925 Paris expo, which popularized the Art Deco style and which Pierre du Pont probably visited since he was in Paris that summer, featured cutting edge, and sometimes controversial, fountain design. Barcelona debuted its famous Magic Fountain of Montjuïc at its 1929 fair, and it still plays today with music added in 1980. The 1931 Paris fair used illuminated water in new, abstract ways, and the 1937 Paris fair (which Pierre visited) debuted the famous hydraulic “cannons” that still arc massive streams across from the Eiffel Tower.

The 1933–34 Chicago World’s Fair featured Singing Color Fountains, and the 1939–40 New York World’s Fair took musical fountains, lights, and fireworks to a new level of sophistication. The Lagoon of Nations night show used 1,400 water nozzles, 400 gas jets, 350 fireworks guns, and 585 colored drum lamps and 5 giant spotlights consuming 3,000,000 watts. A band played in a nearby studio and the live music was broadcast in stereo from giant speakers, with everything synchronized by hand.

Post-war fairs have continued this evolution. The 1962 Seattle World’s Fair, 1964–65 New York World’s Fair, and 1970 Osaka (Japan) and 1992 Seville (Spain) fairs have all featured unusual fountains. Even more memorable in the public’s mind have been the great show fountains that began with Dancing Waters in the 1920s, established worldwide awareness at Bellagio in Las Vegas in 1998 and in Dubai in 2009 next to the world’s tallest building, and in 2010 at Disney California Adventure. But lest we forget, Longwood has had fountains spurting since 1907, illuminated since 1915, and filling the night sky big time since 1931. Now the latest computers, moving nozzles, LED lighting, fire, fireworks, and music will take Longwood’s fountain technology to new heights.

Field Notes

Fountain Dazzle?Go to a World’s Fair.

Above: Electric Tower, Pan-American Exposition, Buffalo, New York, 1901. Hagley Museum and Library.

Below: The Lagoon of Nations, New York World’s Fair, 1939.

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Strictlyfor theBirds

Horticulture

Photographs by Carlos Alejandro

Eastern bluebirds nest in a bluebird house in the Meadow Garden, a common sight throughout the year.Photo by Carlos Alejandro.

Charting our native bird populations through the years.By Tom Brightman

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Over the past half century, no form of wildlife at Longwood has been as studied and appreciated as have our native birds. From early bird observations that appeared in the exquisitely rendered Birds of Longwood pamphlet in 1958; to our 40-plus-year Eastern bluebird box program, which now encompasses 200 bluebird boxes in the field; to a thriving purple martin colony in the Idea Garden with 62 young juveniles banded in 2014; to the 86 contiguous acres of the new Meadow Garden that support a diverse array of local and migrant woodland and grassland species, birds are a year-round, vital presence at Longwood.

With an experienced cadre of volunteers that lead bird tours, we keep inventory of bird sightings, and maintain and monitor bird boxes throughout our property. (More than 40 years of records can be found on the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology’s Ebird website, http://ebird.org/content/ebird/. You can access our data by going to the “Explore Data” tab, then “Explore Hotspots,” and enter Longwood.) The staff of Longwood’s Natural Lands division maintains the habitat necessary for continued, long-term habitat preservation and ecological resilience on our property.

Although many different people have played a role in this story, it is the presence

of quality habitat on our property and in our region, and the stewardship of that habitat, that is the driving force supporting our diverse and robust bird populations.

Longwood’s 600-plus acres of Natural Lands comprise a variety of habitat types, from wetlands and streams to meadows and forests, all within a regional matrix of similar-type habitats throughout the Brandywine Valley and beyond. Using our Soil to Sky Land Stewardship plan as a guide for habitat management, we strive to link the various ecosystems together in ways that restore, expand, and nurture native plant communities and the habitat structure and food resources that they provide our native bird species. For example, it takes hundreds of pounds of insects to feed a young family of Eastern bluebirds or purple martins each breeding season. Without habitat like our Meadow Garden nearby, there would be no significant source of insects for the adult birds to bring to their offspring.

Likewise, Longwood manages its forest resources carefully to retain and promote nesting sites such as standing dead trees for pileated woodpeckers and wood ducks; and diverse herbaceous, shrub, and tree layers that provide both nesting habitat and food in the form of insects

Longwood’s 600-plus acres of Natural Lands comprise a variety of habitat types, from wetlands and streams to meadows and forests, all within a regional matrix of similar type habitats throughout the Brandywine Valley and beyond.

Photographs by Carlos Alejandro

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Left:Purple martin houses in the Idea Garden at Longwood.Photo by Daniel Traub.

Below:Mallard ducks in the Hourglass Lake, Meadow Garden.

Clockwise from far left:A great blue heron at the Hourglass Lake.

A green heron captures its prey at the Hourglass Lake—they often nest in the bush surrounding the Lake.

Eastern bluebird in winter, photographed in woody area north of the Italian Water Garden.

Opposite, top to bottom:An Eastern bluebird takes flight in the Meadow Garden.

Red-winged blackbirds often nest in wetland meadows around Longwood.

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A Carolina chickadee perches on an Eastern redbud near the Meadow Garden. Photo by Daniel Traub.

in the spring and summer, and berries in the fall. Woodland birds such as the locally breeding wood thrush, veery, and scarlet tanager and migratory species such as the yellow-rumped warbler all benefit from such multi-layered and diverse native woodlands.

We have also been host to several rare species of birds. Recent sightings include the sandhill crane (more often seen in the Midwest U.S.), and the red phalarope, an ocean-going species that breeds in the Arctic. The crane was sighted for several weeks one winter at the sewage effluent pond, mixed in with a flock of Canada geese, and the phalarope was also sighted at the same pond, probably blown off course during a large coastal storm.

The future of birding here is bright. In particular, we hope that the new Meadow Garden will attract two species of birds, the Eastern meadowlark and the bobolink, that have not nested here in at least the last quarter century. Ideally, the expanded Meadow habitat acreage and quality, along with other habitat improvements on other conservation properties in the region, will prove to be sufficient to encourage these two grassland-obligate bird species, whose populations have been declining over time. Irrespective of whether these particular species decide to call Longwood home in the future, we will continue to manage our various natural habitats in an ecologically sensitive manner to the benefit of our native birds.

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Green roof bluebird house in the Meadow Garden, the most recent twist in a long legacy of box design innovation at Longwood. An ongoing research project at Longwood involves studying how the green roof may contribute to breeding success by helping to moderate temperatures inside the box. Photo by Daniel Traub

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Tribute to the “Bluebird Man”As this issue closed, we learned of the passing of Warren Lauder, Longwood’s self-proclaimed “Bluebird Man,” on November 18, 2014. Lauder began his work with bluebirds in 1960, when he noticed their decline in the region. Through the years, his work included redesigning and improving the Audubon nest box most frequently used at the time, making it larger, deeper, and adding ventilation. He brought his passion and box design to Longwood around 1972, when he began working with employee Jesse Grantham on a project to improve the production of bluebirds at Longwood. In 1985 he became “a full-fledged volunteer,” and, working with Herbert “Doc” Houston, a Wildlife Service licensed bird bander, kept up a regular bluebird box maintenance routine, which helped the bluebird population thrive. Under Lauder’s care, the number of bluebird houses on Longwood’s property grew steadily from just a few in 1972 to 100 boxes in 2003, when Lauder passed the responsibility for the program over to Volunteer Dick Gies, who still maintains this important program today with Longwood’s Natural Lands team.

Warren Lauder, Longwood’s self-proclaimed “Bluebird Man,” holds one of the bluebird boxes that he designed. Photograph used on the cover of the July/August, 1993, issue 188 of the Longwood Chimes.

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CameraMan

The Arts

The enduring photographic legacy of Longwood gardener turned staff photographer Gottlieb Hampfler.

Photographs byGottlieb Hampfler

Gottlieb Hampfler began his career at Longwood as a gardener, but it was his photography of the gardens that is perhaps his most enduring legacy. Hampfler, a Philadelphia native, joined the horticulture staff on May 7, 1934. By 1938, he was indulging his passion in photography by doing freelance work. His reputation and acclaim grew, resulting in a one-man show at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, in 1943. It was not until 1955 that he became the staff photographer at Longwood, a position he held until his retirement in 1975.

Over the course of his career, Hampfler took thousands of photographs in black-and-white and in color.

In a recent interview with StoryCorps, Hampfler’s daughter, Elaine, talked about her father’s work, noting that he experimented in time-lapse photography, shot a series of motion pictures of plants, and even had an image selected by NASA for inclusion in the Outer Space-Interstellar Record on the Voyager I and II spacecraft.

Upon his retirement, the Longwood January–March 1975 Quarterly Report noted: “Mr. Hampfler’s photographs will continue to play an important role at Longwood, and will be a visual record of the development of the garden during the past thirty years.” Today, Hampfler’s photographs are increasingly relevant to Longwood, not only as an historical resource, but also for their timeless beauty. In the pages to follow, we share some representative highlights from Hampfler’s broad oeuvre.

Gottlieb Hampfler with his large format camera, 1994.

Opposite: Orchid Catasetum pileatum, 1940.

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“Classic, timeless, iconic… these are the words that come to mind when I think of Gottlieb Hampfler.I am always looking for opportunities to use his photos; they have a visual impact that is hard to beat.”—Steve Fenton, Art Director, Longwood Gardens

Clockwise from left:Production greenhouse facility, March 1963.

Azalea House with Cymbidium orchids in center bed, April 1973.

Sphaeropteris cooperi (tree fern), 1956. This image appeared in the publication Longwood Favorites No. 2: Tree Ferns, by Walter Henrick Hodges, 1956.

All images: Longwood Gardens Staff Photographer Negatives, Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

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Clockwise from top left:Main Fountain Garden Pump House Façade iron arches, 1965.

Main Fountain Garden Pump House, 1958.

Main Fountain Garden Rectangular Basin, May 1949.

All images: Longwood Gardens Staff Photographer Negatives, Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

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“Lieb Hampfler was a fascinating personality. He still was staff photographer when I entered the Longwood Graduate Program in 1973, and I remember how he would always wet down the Conservatory walkways when filming inside.”—Colvin Randall, P.S. du Pont Fellow, Longwood Gardens

Left to right:Exhibition Hall spring displays, April 1957.

Knowles Bowen making sun observation at noon to calibrate Analemmatic Sundial, 1937.

All images: Longwood Gardens Staff Photographer Negatives, Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

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Main Fountain Garden and Overlook, photographed from Conservatory rooftop, 1973. Longwood Gardens Staff Photographer Negatives, Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

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A Living Record

End Notes “Cultural heritage institutions serve the public best when they keep their own traditions close. Institutional archives remind the staff of its mission, its innovation, and also its missteps, thereby helping to give clarity of purpose and providing lessons learned.”—Erik P. Rau, Ph.D., Director, Library Services, Hagley Museum and Library

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The Gottlieb Hampfler Collection at Longwood Gardens features negatives, contact prints, and mounted photographs shot by Gottlieb Hampfler, staff photographer from 1955 to 1975. Hampfler documented seasonal displays, plant collections, lectures, classes, special events, and performances, and in many cases, these photos are the only visual record of Longwood’s early history as a public garden. Archivists are currently working to digitize these photographs for the Library & Archives in order to make them available to all staff.

This page:Photographs by Gottlieb Hampfler. Top to bottom: tree pruning demonstration, 1957; flower arrangement class, 1957; Cymbidium cultivar, 1955. Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.Photo by David Ward.

Opposite:The Gottlieb Hampfler archive includes his photographic documentation (shown here) of a Longwood Plant Materials Laboratory, Lecture on “Geographical Origins of Ornamental Plants” by Dr. W.H. Hodge, 1958.Photo by Daniel Traub.

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Longwood Chimes

Editorial BoardMarnie ConleyPatricia EvansSteve Fenton Julie LandgrebeColvin RandallNoël RaufasteDavid SleasmanJames S. SuttonMatt Taylor, Ph.D.Aimee TheriaultBrian W. Trader, Ph.D.

Contributors This Issue

Longwood Staff and Volunteer ContributorsKristina AguilarPlant Records ManagerTom BrightmanLand StewardJim Harbage, Ph.D.Floriculture LeaderMaureen McCaddenDigital Resource SpecialistDouglas Needham, Ph.D.Education Department HeadAbigail PalutisMarketing Communications CoordinatorAlan PetravichResearch SpecialistSandy ReberArchives and Research AssistantJudy StevensonArchivistDavid WardVolunteer PhotographerBarrett WilsonResearch Specialist

Other ContributorsLarry AlbeePhotographerCarlos AlejandroPhotographerSam MarkeyPhotographerLynn SchuesslerWriterDaniel TraubPhotographer

DistributionLongwood Chimes is mailed to Longwood Gardens Staff, Pensioners, Volunteers, and Chimes Tower Level Members and is available electronically to all Longwood Gardens Members via longwoodgardens.org.

Longwood Chimes is produced twice annually by and for Longwood Gardens, Inc.

ContactAs we went to print, every effort was made to ensure the accuracy of all information contained within this publication. Contact us at chimes@longwoodgardens.org.

© 2015 Longwood Gardens. All rights reserved.

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Front CoverComposition of orchid photographs by Gottlieb Hampfler. Many of these abstract, portrait-style close-ups feature orchids from the collection of Mrs. W.K. du Pont of Wilmington, Delaware. Mrs. du Pont would later donate her entire orchid collection to Longwood. Of note is the top photo, third column from left, which was developed using the rare Flexichrome color printing process (similar to the Technicolor process). Archival evidence indicates that Gottlieb Hampfler entered this Paphiopedilum photograph in several photography salons, including the Rochester International Salon of Photography and the 1954 Baltimore International Salon of Photography. The same photo is featured again in the bottom photo, fourth column from left. Here it is shown as it was reproduced via offset lithography, as published in the Calendar of Flowering: Flowering dates of display plants at Longwood Gardens, 1956.

Inside CoversInside front: Angraecum sesquipedale, photographed for Mrs. W.K. du Pont by Gottlieb Hampfler, 1939–1942. Format of original: black and white silver gelatin print. Inside back: Coelogyne cristata, photographed for Mrs. W.K. du Pont by Gottlieb Hampfler, 1940. Format of original: black and white silver gelatin print.

Originals in Longwood Gardens Library & Archives.

No. 290Winter 2015

“I thank longwood gardens for always striving toward perfection. That has stayed with me since my time as a student and is the reason I take so much pride in my work.”—Carol Wagner, Longwood Gardens Professional Gardener Program, Class of 1976

Longwood Gardens is the living legacy of Pierre S. du Pont, inspiring people through excellence in garden design, horticulture, education, and the arts.

Longwood GardensP.O. Box 501Kennett Square, PA 19348

longwoodgardens.org