Wpa Original Gardeners: Norfolk Botanical Garden

The Norfolk Botanical Garden is a 175 acre natural beauty in Norfolk, VA. It is the only existing WPA garden. During the Deep Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) to create jobs across the country. The City of Norfolk received WPA funds for a variety of projects. One project was to create the Norfolk Azalea Garden. From the grant 200 African American women and 20 men were given the job to clear 25 acres of swampland filled with marsh, trees, underbrush and shrubs to create an azalea garden. In September 1993, the gardeners began the work and by March 1939 they had cleared a protion of the marsh land to plant 4000 azaleas, 100 bushels of tulips, 2000 rhododendrons, camelias and a variety of other plants. The gardeners continued their work until 1942 and by that time, they had moved the equivalent of 150 truckloads of dirt by hand to build the levee for Mirror Lake. This is their story.--Back cover.

Author: Martha McClenny Williams

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: May 14, 2016

Number of Pages: 140 pages

Language: English

Binding: Paperback

ISBN-10: 1533246777

ISBN-13: 9781533246776