The Garden
Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library is one of thirteen historic gardens designated and maintained by The Garden Club of Virginia. Each spring the grounds are on tour for Historic Garden Week for all to enjoy. The original property did not have a garden, but rather outbuildings, functional plantings, and served as grazing land for the family sheep. The gardens were designed after President Wilson’s widow provided funding to begin the Woodrow Wilson Foundation.
The gardens at the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library have evolved in three phases. The first gardens, designed in 1933 by Richmond landscape architect Charles F. Gillette was done as a project by The Garden Club of Virginia. The Victorian restoration, suitable to the 1846 construction date of the house, the gardens included two terraces, the lower one featuring boxwood-lined bowknot beds, the only bowknot garden that Gillette created. To further highlight the features of the gardens, a brick terrace and pathways, designed by landscape architect Ralph E. Griswold were erected in 1967-68.
The second phase of the garden took place in 1990, with the Rudy J. Favretti addition of a forecourt and lawn around the new Woodrow Wilson Museum and added garden walkways connecting the Museum and the rest of the grounds.
The final phase to date occurred in 2008, as the Garden Club of Virginia brought new life back to the garden by rebuilding perimeter fencing, planting new boxwoods, lilacs, hostas and perennials.
did you know?
Wilson was president throughout World War I. He attempted to keep America out of
the war and even won reelection with the slogan "He kept us out of war." Nonetheless,
after the sinking of the Lusitania, continued run-ins with German submarines, and
the release of the Zimmerman Telegram, America became involved. with the Lusitania,
the continued harassment of American ships by German submarines, and the release
of the Zimmerman Telegram meant that America joined the allies in April, 1917.
Woodrow Wilson was President when the 19th amendment was ratified in 1920 giving
women the right to vote.
Wilson piloted the ship that brought America onto the world stage. He made the first
steps of leading us out of isolationism, violating Washington's tenet of avoiding
foreign entanglements.
He led America during World War I. His fervent hope was for the US to join a League
of Nations, the precursor to the United Nations.
A Woodrow Wilson Quote: "Life does not consist in thinking, it consists in acting."
A Woodrow Wilson Quote: "The Constitution was not made to fit us like a straitjacket.
In its elasticity lies its chief greatness."
A Woodrow Wilson Quote: "I believe in democracy because it releases the energies
of every human being."
The Seventeenth Amendment was formally adopted on May 31, 1913. Wilson had been
president for almost three months at the time. The amendment provided for the direct
election of senators. Prior to its adoption, Senators were chosen by state legislatures.
Wilson was the first president to receive a PhD which he got in Political Science
from Johns Hopkins University. He had received his undergraduate degree from the
College of New Jersey, renamed Princeton University in 1896.
Woodrow Wilson could not read during the first decade of his life. Though undiagnosed,
he may have suffered from a learning disability
Woodrow Wilson was known as "Tommy" until his college years.
Woodrow Wilson during his boyhood, helped establish the "Lightfoot Baseball Club"
with his friends. Wilson played second base and was an avid sport fan throughout
his adult life.
Woodrow Wilson was the first president to attend the Major League Baseball Fall
Classic. He saw the debut of a young 20 year old pitcher by the name of George Herman
"Babe" Ruth.
Woodrow Wilson was a graduate of Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University
and the only president to hold an earned doctoral degree.
Woodrow Wilson image is on the $100,000 bill although it is no longer in circulation
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