Category Archives: Exhibition

Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Birmingham Historical Society, Birmingham Landmarks, Exhibition, Frederick Law Olmsted, Olmsted Brothers, Parks & Recreation, Research, Warren Manning

The Life and Legacy of the Olmsted Family by Laurence Cotton, Historian

Celebrating Olmsted: BRINGING NATURE TO THE CITY AND CREATING BREATHING SPACE FOR DEMOCRACY

As part of a series of nation-wide, year-long events celebrating the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and the Olmsted family of landscape architects, historian Laurence Cotton presented a lecture detailing their impact at The Birmingham Botanical Gardens on February 16th.

Consulting producer on the PBS film, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America, Cotton had not only visited, but was often intimately familiar with many of the Olmsted projects he discussed. His slides traveled the audience across America, giving the history, motivation, and importance of each of the parks and green spaces. Many are well-known and include:

  • Niagra Falls
  • The Biltmore Estate
  • Central Park in NYC
  • Yosemite
  • The Capitol Grounds and The Washington Mall
  • The Great White City – Chicago
  • Boston’s Emerald Necklace
  • Prospect Park in Brooklyn

Cotton emphasized the social importance of the Olmsted legacy. The green spaces and parks were designed to be available to all walks of life, to enhance the health and well-being of visitors, to encourage social engagement across economic & cultural divides, to provide forestry and landscape experiments, and to stand the test of time. As he stated, Frederick Law Olmsted and his sons were true artists of the landscape, while working on a vast scale, in FOUR dimensions, with the fourth being time…to allow their design visions to mature over decades.

However, their public spaces were not always green, as Cotton illustrated by Olmsted’s plan for the Capitol steps in Washington, D.C. There, Olmsted’s step design again encouraged democracy and provided an open forum for public engagement.

As another example, their design for Niagra Falls restored and enhanced the beauty that was already there. Before and after images were startling.

Niagra gorge circa 1901

Cotton ended his travel log in Birmingham, drawing upon the resources written by The Birmingham Historical Society and Marjorie White, with a special recommendation for Shades Creek, Flowing Through Time. Related artifacts assembled by The Southern History Department of The Birmingham Public Library, were part of a special exhibit and reception following the lecture. Books by The Birmingham Historical Society on Olmsted were available, and a reading list assembled by Laurence Cotton is available HERE.

Birmingham Historical Society, Book Sale, Exhibition

Shop at Shoppe!

Searching for that perfect holiday gift? Many of our BHS titles are now available at the Shoppe in Forest Park. Enjoy browsing among the gorgeous flowers and gifts to find them.

Our newest publication, Pretty Posies, is surrounded by gardening tools, the best gift ever for the gardener on your list.

Need a stocking stuffer for a golfer? How about BHS publication, “Golf in Birmingham before 1925”, along with assorted pocket tools. And the popular Bob Moody’s Birmingham is stacked among what could be described as a watercolor still life display of history titles and orchids.

A big thank you to the owners for contributing to BHS as Heritage Society members in addition to showcasing their appreciation for the history of our community! Please drop by and support them!

What a TREAT to see many of our BHS titles displayed so beautifully at the SHOPPE in Forest Park. Many thanks to these Heritage Society members who have such an appreciation for the history of our community!
Book Sale, Book Signing, Exhibition, Grandmothers Garden, Watercolors

Pretty Posies “Rainy Day” Garden Party, Sunday Oct 13th, 2019

Pretty Posies publication principals: artists/illustrators, author and editor, left to right: Gardener, Editor, & BHS Director, Marjorie White; Illustrators, Ellen Erdreich, Sumter Coleman; Herbalist and author, Antonia Viteri; Illustrators, Gail Cosby, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross….and Mary Virginia Rushing and her sister sampling the lavender.

Barbara Shores is presiding over the Lemon Balm and Lavender Punch that was a big hit….

  • Watercolors and books are for sale at the Botanical Gardens Library, $20 and $300 respectively. Thirty-four watercolors are in the exhibit.
  • Gardeners (with floral hats) Eunice Gray and Marjorie White. Pretty Posies publication principals include artists/illustrators, author & editor, left to right: Marjorie White, Ellen Erdreich, Sumter Coleman, Antonia Viteri, Gail Cosby, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross.
  • Eunie Gray and Marjorie White previewing the exhibit
  • Eunie Gray and Marjorie White previewing the exhibit
  • The herbalist/author Antonia Viteri and her sister Esperanza
  • Herbed biscuits using herbs from Grandmother’s Garden
  • Barbara Shores serving Lemon Balm and Lavender Punch
  • Mary Virginia Rushing and her sister sampling the lavender with Jane Reed Ross’s watercolors of the Passion Flower vine/May Pop (that they also enjoyed eating in the garden).
Book Sale, Book Signing, Exhibition, Grandmothers Garden, Watercolors

Sunday, October 13, 3-5PM

Sunday, October 13, 3–5 p.m.—Garden Party, Publication Celebration, and Exhibit of watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer by featured artists Sumter Coleman, Gail Cosby, Ellen Erdreich, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross, all Birmingham residents. Grandmother’s Garden at Sloss Quarters, 10 North 32nd Street.

October 15–November 30—Watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer. Birmingham Botanical Gardens Library Gallery. Here’s a preview!

Thirty-four watercolors are included in the exhibit at Botanical Gardens Library and are available for sale at $300/each. Books are available for $20/each. Proceeds benefit the Botanical Gardens and the Birmingham Historical Society.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Maria Antonia Viteri, a native of Mobile, has studied Western and Southern Appalachian herbal traditions in Alabama and California. Viteri, a Master Gardener, is also licensed in Architecture and Landscape Design. She currently resides in Sterrett, Alabama.

ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATORS

Birmingham Historical Society “Artists in the Garden,” all avid gardeners themselves, have been painting en plein air in Grandmother’s Garden for many years. For this volume, they sketched our herbs from specimens and photographs, coordinating their work at lunchtime gatherings at Gail Cosby’s home.

Sumter Coleman is a psychiatrist now retired to her mountain top residence where she writes and paints.

Writer, editor, publicist Gail Cosby now employs her talent as a watercolorist.

Artist and art historian Ellen Erdreich first sketched herbs as a teenager.

Louise McPhillips, an architect by profession, currently specializes in making portraits of her family.

Landscape architect Jane Reed Ross has left her mark on many Birmingham area park and greenway projects.

Book Signing, Exhibition, Watercolors

Pretty posies – Powerful Healing, An Herbal Primer

Pretty Posies – Powerful Healing, An Herbal Primer by Maria Antonia Viteri for sale SUNDAY, October 13th, 2019

Sunday, October 13, 3–5 p.m.—Garden Party, Publication Celebration, and Exhibit of watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer by featured artists Sumter Coleman, Gail Cosby, Ellen Erdreich, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross, all Birmingham residents. Grandmother’s Garden at Sloss Quarters, 10 North 32nd Street


They’re simply gorgeous to witness, the blooms and glories festooning Grandmother’s Garden on the grounds of Duncan House, headquarters of the Birmingham Historical Society at Sloss Furnaces National Historic Landmark. What more could we ask of them beyond their beauty? As it turns out we can ask a lot, for each of the plantings contains medicinal properties to cure what ails you, to soften a symptom or two.
Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer whisks you into the world of medicinal plantings with illustrations by five Birmingham watercolorists inspired by Grandmother’s Garden. Author and noted herbalist Maria Antonia Viteri supplies an engaging guide to the blooms, the buds and shoots—and their soothing uses over time.
“This book is a fascinating combination of lovely artwork and detailed accounts of historic methods of herbal healing that can be successful yet today,” says Marjorie L. White, Director of the Birmingham Historical Society, which will publish the volume in October 2019. “You leave the final page with a heightened understanding of simpler eras when the backyard was the pharmacy for our ancestors.


“Viteri, who has extensively studied herbs and their healing properties, walks us through the subject with ease and eloquence. You gain both inspiration and education.”
The illustrated guide focuses on Southern/Appalachian traditions—from usage and sources to traditions of teas, salves, and tinctures. Chapters feature Backyard Weeds, Southern Soothers, Culinary Herbs, Teas, and Roses; herbs include Dandelion, Elder, Passion Flower, Rosemary, Sage, Solomon Seal, and Roses, used to heal or help ailments from coughs and cholesterol to diuretics and digestion and more.
“Viteri introduces us to powers and potential of flowers and plants we’ve seen all our lives and appreciated solely for their beauty. This book goes beyond the beauty and creates new possibilities for the reader,” says White.

EVENTS:
Sunday, October 13, 3–5 p.m.—Garden Party, Publication Celebration, and Exhibit of watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer by featured artists Sumter Coleman, Gail Cosby, Ellen Erdreich, Louise McPhillips, and Jane Reed Ross, all Birmingham residents. Grandmother’s Garden at Sloss Quarters, 10 North 32nd Street.
October 15–November 30—Watercolors from Pretty Posies, Healing Powers–An Herbal Primer. Birmingham Botanical Gardens Library Gallery.
TO PURCHASE: From Birmingham Historical Society, One Sloss Quarters, Birmingham, AL 35222 or Amazon by mail or from Leaf & Petal at The Gardens during the exhibition, $19.95.
BOOK DETAILS: 27 illustrations of medicinal herbs, all grown at Grandmother’s Garden; 64 pages, full color; additional illustrations of the garden.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Maria Antonia Viteri, a native of Mobile, has studied Western and Southern Appalachian herbal traditions in Alabama and California. Viteri, a Master Gardener, is also licensed in Architecture and Landscape Design. She currently resides in Sterrett, Alabama.