Fenway Garden Society Records 1944-2007 Guide to the Collection

Table of Contents Collection Summary Historical Sketch Collection Description Acquisition Information Organization Detailed Description of the Collection Preferred Citation Access Terms

Collection Summary

Historical Sketch

The Fenway Victory Gardens were established in Boston in the spring of 1942 when it became clear that the nation's food production would be unable to supply both the armed forces overseas and the general public on the homefront. Across the nation, "victory gardens" sprang up in city lots and backyards in order to combat nationwide food shortages and wartime rationing.

The Boston Victory Garden Committee secured 49 areas for cultivation, including a large plot of land bordered by the Muddy River, Boylston Street, and Park Drive, an area that would come to be known as the Fenway Victory Gardens.

The Fenway Garden Society was formally established in 1944 by those who wished to continue their urban gardening as the war was drawing to a close and victory gardens were no longer needed. Richard D. Parker, for whom the Fenway Victory Gardens are now named, was one member of this group of gardeners, and he remained an influential leader in the Fenway Garden Society until his death in 1975. The Fenway Victory Gardens were initially supervised by the Boston Parks Department, but in 1949 the Fenway Garden Society gained full responsibility of the administration, maintenance, and appearance of the garden parkland.

Today, the Fenway Victory Gardens cover seven acres of the Fens, one of six Boston parklands of the historic "Emerald Necklace" designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the nineteenth century. Now an official Boston Historic Landmark, these 500 garden plots cultivated by both individual gardeners and community organizations represent a diverse mix of ethnic groups, occupations, ages, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

The Fenway Garden Society remains in existence today. Its purpose is to maintain and encourage urban gardening in the Victory Gardens for the benefit of all the people of the city of Boston, providing a chance to work outdoors, enjoy green space, and work with nature, as well as to cooperate with the Boston Parks Department and other related government agencies, community groups, and urban gardeners in preserving, maintaining, and beautifying city park areas and other green spaces.

Collection Description

The records of the Fenway Garden Society date from 1944-2007 and consist of four cartons and one rolled container. The bulk of the records date from 1970-1989.

Included are rules and by-laws, election records, membership lists and application records, newsletters, event calendars and fliers, newspaper clippings, committee and treasurer's reports, and non-Fenway Garden Society publications and printed material. Open letters and announcements to gardeners about upcoming events and general meeting and election information are included in this collection. A plaque presented to the Fenway Garden Society on its fiftieth anniversary by the mayor of Boston in 1992, and one rolled container of landscape plans and drawings of the Emerald Necklace and surrounding gardens from a 1991 improvement project are also included in the records. Administrative records, specifically meeting minutes and correspondence regarding project and activity planning, gardening rules, society regulations, garden maintenance and clean-up information, and application and plot renewals status make up the bulk of this collection.

Acquisition Information

The Fenway Garden Society records were deposited at the MHS by the Society in March 2008.

Organization of the Collection

The collection is organized into the following series:

Detailed Description of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Fenway Garden Society records, Massachusetts Historical Society.

Access Terms

This collection is indexed under the following headings in ABIGAIL, the online catalog of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Researchers desiring materials about related persons, organizations, or subjects should search the catalog using these headings.