Peachtree Garden Club, founded in 1923, was the first garden club in Atlanta, Georgia. It has been a member of the Garden Club of America since 1926. The "Club History" link on this page is a synopsis of club events from 1923 to the present.
PEACHTREE GARDEN CLUB PROJECTS
SWAN WOODS
Swan Woods, a ten acre outdoor ecological laboratory on the grounds of The Swan House and The Atlanta History Center, was conserved in 1967 by the Peachtree Garden Club. This woodland hosts an amazing variety of wildlife and native plant species. A recipient of the Garden Club of America Founders Fund Award in 1969, Swan Woods has welcomed thousands of school children and interested visitors who come to learn about forest ecology and conservation, endangered species and the simple joy of walking along woodland trails. PGC members help maintain this ecological jewel with regularly scheduled workdays, as well as providing financial support to the Swan Woods.
Endowment monies are used to finance visits of children from Title I schools. Peachtree Garden Club's continued investment of time and money ensures that this woodland sanctuary and its programs in forest ecology and conservation will continue to thrive.
"THE STORY OF SWAN WOODS"
A video by Don Smith 6 minutes
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NEEL REID SCHOLARSHIP
In 1947, Peachtree Garden Club received the Garden Club of America Achievement Trophy for establishing the Neel Reid Scholarship at the University of Georgia.
The Neel Reid Scholarship is a perpetual scholarship in Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia, Athens, GA. The Scholarship was initiated in 1946 through the joint efforts of Mrs. Jesse Draper, a Peachtree Garden Club member, and Mr. Hunter Perry of Charlottesville, Virginia, to honor the memory of the distinguished Georgia architect, Neel Reid (both were personal friends of the architect). The conceived intent of the Neel Reid Memorial Scholarship was to spread civic beauty and garden wisdom by providing the following: Tuition scholarships in landscape architecture, graduate assistantships; research projects; lectures by outstanding scholars; traveling fellowships; and promotion of the teaching and study of landscape architecture. Neel Reid's talents were devoted not only to architecture but to garden design, and his buildings and their place in the Georgia landscape are still serving as models and inspiration to students today. Neel Reid was a pioneer in the south in his treatment of house and garden as a unit, the one an ornamental and useful adjunct to the other.
The 1947 aim of the scholarship was to furnish the tuition fee, then $250; and also as the Fund increased, the living expenses of a worthy talented student. It was deemed necessary to accumulate $7,000 in principal to assure this annual gift. This was accomplished by means of club activities and by donations from friends and former clients of Neel Reid. These gifts were solicited primarily by Mrs. Draper on behalf of the Garden Club.
In May, 1963, at the 35th Anniversary of the UGA Landscape Architecture Department, the Peachtree Garden Club established a Neel Reid Traveling Fellowship.
In 1977, the Neel Reid Graduate Fellowship was established and
in 1999, an additional bequest to the Scholarship Fund by the Ermine and English Robinson Foundation made it possible to fund an Annual Visiting Lecturer for the School of Environmental Design; this lecturer is always a nationally recognized landscape architect, and the event held to coincide with Spring UGA Alumni Day is known as the Neel Reid Lecture.
Neel Reid Scholarships over the past 60 years have totaled over $800,000 and have benefited over 200 students.
• $25,000 awarded in Scholarships March 2007; included one Graduate Scholarship, one Travel Scholarship, and nine Memorial Scholarships.
• $30,000 awarded in Scholarships March 2008; included two Neel Reid Memorial Travel Scholarships and eight Neel Reid Memorial Scholarships.
• $30,000 awarded in Scholarships March 2009; included two Graduate Fellowships; seven Neel Reid Memorial Scholarships; three Neel Reid Travel Scholarships.
The Neel Reid Scholarship is the largest Scholarship in the College of Environment & Design. The Scholarship Committee of the Peachtree Garden Club is comprised of a Chairman and nine members.
These scholarships are only possible through the continued generosity of donors. Please submit your donations to:
Stephanie Crockatt
Scholarship Committee
University of Georgia
College of Environment & Design
609 Caldwell Hall
Athens, GA 30602-1845
Neel Reid Scholarship Committee Chairman - Mrs. Benjamin A. Hill
Committee Members: Mrs. Brian Beem, Mrs. William M. Dreyer, Mrs. Edward P. Ellis, Mrs. J. Hicks Lanier II, Mrs. Brooks Lide, Jr., Mrs. Peyton Robinson, Mrs. W. Michael Thompson, Jr., Mrs. William D. Young and Mrs. Robert Balentine, Jr. (Ex-Officio) For further information and a scholarship application, click on the
Neel Reid Scholarship page in the menu.
THE SHEPHERD CENTER
Each year in December club members decorate the dining room at the Shepherd Center, a private non-profit hospital specializing in treatment, care, and rehabilitation of spinal cord injury and disease including multiple sclerosis. Mrs. David Lowance and Mrs. Kent Stair were co-chairmen in 2009.
THE PEACHTREE GARDEN CLUB CHRISTMAS HOME TOUR
Peachtree's Christmas Home Tour, which was started in 1949 and continued until 1962, was resumed in 2008. Mrs. Richard Felker, Jr. and Mrs. Claud E. Morgan were the 2009 chairs. This is Peachtree's only fund raiser and all benefits go to our Community Fund.
THE PEACHTREE GARDEN CLUB COMMUNITY FUND
The Peachtree Garden Club Community Fund, Inc, is a 501 (c)(3) public charity. Contributions have been made to: The Piedmont Park Conservancy; Rhodes Hall; Historic Oakland Cemetery; the Neel Reid Scholarship Fund at the University of Georgia's College of Environment and Design and the Cultural Landscape Foundation; the Swan Woods Trail at the Atlanta History Center; the Shepherd Spinal Center, The Atlanta Botanical Gardens; The Southeastern Horticultural Society, and Park Pride.
Club Motto: The goals of Peachtree Garden Club are to stimulate, through education,the knowledge of gardening and conservation; to aid in the protection of native plants and birds; to encourage civic improvement; to share the advantage of association through conference and correspondence in this country and abroad; and as a member club, to support the Garden Club of America, Inc.
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