African-American Gardens and Yards in the Rural South


Book Description

Slave family could assert some measure of independence and perhaps find some degree of spiritual refreshment. Since slavery, working the garden for the survival of the family has become less urgent, but now pleasure is taken from growing flowers and produce and in welcoming friends to the yard. Similarities in attitude between rural southern blacks and whites are reflected in the expression of such values as the importance of the agrarian lifestyle, self-reliance, and.







Places for the Spirit


Book Description

A mystical and spiritual portrait of African American folk gardens in the South




Conquer the Soil


Book Description

Conquer the Soil profiles 45 hidden figures of horticulture—the Black men and women whose accomplished careers in the plant world are little known or untold. Among them are Wormley Hughes, an enslaved African-American who was head gardener at Monticello and dug Jefferson’s grave; Annie Vann Reid, an ex-teacher turned entrepreneur in South Carolina who owned a five-acre greenhouse and nursery in the 1940s that sold millions of plants and seeds; and David August Williston, a graduate of Cornell University and the first African-American landscape architect, a student of Liberty Hyde Bailey, and the designer of the Tuskegee University campus. The lively text is enriched by illustrations of each individual, making this a beaituful package. In Conquer the Soil, Abra Lee--a rising star in the plant world--gives these women and men the spotlight they deserve and enriches our collective understanding of the history of horticulture.




The Vernacular Garden


Book Description

Much has been written on the traditions of elite gardens but little attention has been directed to the gardens of more humble and popular cultures that reflect regional, localized, ethnic, personal, or folk creations. These articles reflect growing interest in a range of cultural artifacts that demonstrate how culture influences surroundings.




An Unassuming Love


Book Description

One autumn morning I am led to Anthurium, a journal published by the University of Miamis Department of English, Coral Gables. Of the four essays I decide to listen to, one by M NourbeSe Philip titled A Travelogue of Sorts: Trafficking in Silence and Erasure catches my attention. As the author observes how museums in and around London marked the two hundredth anniversary of the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade, she comes upon a shrine from which she archaeologizes a familiar West Indian artifacta cocoyea broom. From then on the passionate narrative erupts in and for me: swept interconnected yards, yard cricket pitches, a cricket match between Bangladesh and West Indies against Dominicas fascinating landscape, West Indian persistent match losses, Australian strategies, and the rise of India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, and some ninety-five associate and affiliate cricketing countries. By way of David Rudders calypso, An Unassuming Love finds Haitis deep hurt in the games of life and does not separate them from West Indian cricket losses. Universally, were shifting, it suggests. Its a story for culture leaders, keepers of memory banks, and calypso markers; sportspersons, cricketers, and cricket administrators globally; and students and teachers of social history, sociology, social studies, and psychology. Come on, take it!




Places of Commemoration


Book Description

"Everyone is occupied, consciously or unconsciously, with identity--one's origin and the question of one's place in humankind and society of the past, present, and future. Identity and memory are not stable and objective things, but representations or constructions of reality related to a particular interest, such as class, gender, of power relations. Identity is problematic without history and without the commemoration of history, and of course such remembrance may distort historical events and facts. When dealing with gardens, a substantial part of our physical environment, there are always unspoken questions of identity." Places of Commemoration examines commemorative sites of different character, including gardens, landscapes, memorials, cemeteries, and sites of former Nazi concentration camps, detailing the ideas behind the creation of memorials and monuments and the struggles over the narratives they present.




American Sanctuary


Book Description

This volume examines a diverse set of spaces and buildings seen through the lens of popular practice and belief to shed light on the complexities of sacred space in America. Contributors explore how dedication sermons document shifting understandings of the meetinghouse in early 19th-century Connecticut; the changes in evangelical church architecture during the same century and what that tells us about evangelical religious life; the impact of contemporary issues on Catholic church architecture; the impact of globalization on the construction of traditional sacred spaces; the urban practice of Jewish space; nature worship and Central Park in New York; the mezuzah and domestic sacred space; and, finally, the spiritual aspects of African American yard art.




Literature of Nature


Book Description

First Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.