School Gardens Collection

Gardening as part of the school curriculum began in the United States in the early 1900s and is still thriving today. Magazine articles, education and extension bulletins were written to support the growing of food and the responsibility of gardening for children. At the advent of World War I, the US Bureau of Education with funding from the War Department created the United States School Garden Army (USSGA) to boost the concept as well as morale. The target audience was urban and suburban boys and girls, ages 9 through 15, and their teachers. This was one of the first attempts by the BOE to establish a curriculum nationally. It was also an attempt to help in the war effort by having the schools help grow food. To support this program a series of documents were written and distributed. Among these were the USSGA Manuals and Guides, and 17 School Home-Garden Circulars. The subjects covered growing vegetables from seed, growing flowers, building hotbeds and coldframes, organic matter and soil health, regional guides and others. As well as primary sources of gardening information from 1919, these guides are still applicable to the teachers, parents and gardeners of today. -- Written by Suzi Teghtmeyer, Agriculture, Botany and Forestry Librarian

Content warning: language and content in resource descriptions and collections may be biased, harmful, and oppressive due to the historical nature of the content.