Call Number:

03

Repository:

Morris Arboretum Archives

Extent:

12.0 linear feet

Language:

English

Date:

1885-1950 (bulk) and 1885-2000 (inclusive)

Creator:

University of Pennsylvania. Morris Arboretum

Abstract:

The land that is now the Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania, the official Arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, was previously the private estate of Quaker siblings John Thompson Morris (1847-1915) and Lydia Thompson Morris (1849-1932). The Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania Historic Image Collection, 1885-2000, includes photographs, lantern slides, glass plates, postcards, and film negatives, primarily depicting the botanical features and buildings of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania.

The Morris Arboretum at the University of Pennsylvania is the official Arboretum of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It was formerly owned by Quaker siblings John Thompson Morris (1847-1915) and Lydia Thompson Morris (1849-1932), who acquired the area through the purchase of two large estates and surrounding lands--Compton in 1887 and Bloomfield in 1913. When Lydia died in 1932, she left the gardens to the University of Pennsylvania as the Morris Arboretum. The Arboretum was part of the University's Botany Department until, in 1975, it was established as a separate Interdisciplinary Resource Center.

The Historic Image Collection includes photographs, lantern slides, glass plates, postcards, and film negatives, primarily depicting the botanical features and buildings of the Morris Arboretum of the University of Pennsylvania. The majority have been digitized and cataloged, and can be viewed online at http://morrisarboretum.pastperfect-online.com.

The collection is organized by building, garden feature, or other subject. There are photographs of the following buildings: Cedar Grove, Compton Mansion, English Park, Fernery, Gates Hall, Japanese Tea House, Mercury Loggia, Seven Arches, and Springfield Mills. There are photographs of the following garden features: Fountains, Japanese Hill and Water Garden, Japanese Overlook Garden, Japanese Pond Garden, Long Fountain, Oak Allee, Orange Balustrade, Pennock Flower Walk, Ravine Garden, Rock Wall Garden, Rose Garden, Summerhouse Pavilion, Swan Pond, Wetlands and Meadows. There are images of the following other subjects: Aerial Views, Bloomfield Farm, Other Places, People, Plants. Nitrate negatives from this collection are in cold storage at the University of Pennsylvania.

This collection also includes a small number of slides by Dr. Edgar T. Wherry (botanist and ecologist to the Morris Arboretum) and Dr. John M. Fogg (botanist, taxonomist, and director of the Morris Arboretum) that have not been digitized. Dr. Fogg's slides are primarily photographs of plants, features, and scenes at Morris Arboretum. About 700 slides pertaining to Morris Arboretum views, garden features, garden, or plant collections have been digitized. Another 2,000 or more film slides of plants Dr. Fogg used for botany lectures are stored separately (in the herbarium) and have not been digitized. Dr. Wherry's slides are primarily photographs of plants and features elsewhere, mostly in the Mid-Atlantic region.

A number of nitrate negatives, notepads, and postcards from University of Pennsylvania botany professor Dr. John Harshberger are also part of this collection. In the 1920s, Dr. Harshberger often brought his students to Morris Arboretum and led field trips throughout the Northeast. About 300 of the negatives have been digitized. (Dr. Harshberger's photographs of Chestnut Hill homes and gardens are held at the Chestnut Hill Historical Society; about 2,000 more negatives of United States gardens, people, large homes, and botanically significant research sites are in the University of Pennsylvania Archives.) The postcards, many of which were printed in Germany, date from the early 1900s. Dr. Harshberger collected them to illustrate his botany lectures.