Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Fremont Garden Center Council Records, 1938-1988

LH-150

Introduction
Agency History
Scope and Content
Inventory
Addenda

Introduction
The records of the Fremont, Ohio Garden Center Council were donated to the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center by the organization in 1982.

Agency History
The Fremont Garden Center was organized in April, 1938 by the Home Garden Club, one of many countywide garden clubs which would later comprise the Fremont Garden Center Council.  In 1941 the Fremont Garden Center moved into the basement of the Birchard Public Library in Fremont, Ohio,  where it remained headquartered until its dissolution in 1982.  1941 also witnessed the addition of the Fremont and Croghan Garden Clubs to the Garden Center project.  During the years of WWII,  persons interested in Victory Gardens made use of the Center.  In 1945 the Garden Center Council was formed.  The Garden Center was supported by assessing the member clubs yearly dues.  The Center held its first flower and fruit exhibit in September 1946 at Birchard Center in 1948 and 1949 respectively.  Two years later,  the Sun and Shade Gardeners were added to the Garden Center.  1954 saw the addition of two more clubs— Plant-N-Bloom and Harrison Trail.  The Garden Center in 1959 began holding its annual flower show in the newly constructed Fremont Ross Senior High School.  The following year saw the Lindsey Garden Club added to the roster of Fremont Garden Clubs.  By 1964 eight clubs with over 250 members comprised the Center.  In 1970 the Center’s name was officially changed in the organization’s constitution to that of Fremont Garden Center Council.  Six years later, only five clubs remained as members of the Council: — Countywide, Croghan, Home, Horizon, and Plant-N-Bloom.  As of May 28, 1982 the Fremont Garden Center Council became a defunct organization.  During its forty-five year existence, the Fremont Garden Center helped to beautify Fremont and the surrounding area, participated in Arbor Day plantings, placed books in the Birchard Public Library, and familiarized its membership and the community with the practices of good gardening.

Scope and Content
The records of the Fremont Garden Center Council consist chiefly of yearbooks from the various member countywide garden clubs, minutes of Garden Center meetings, 1942-1982, financial records, 1942-1982, programs and other miscellaneous material.

Inventory
1½ linear feet
Ac. 4477

Box 1

Folders:
1.  Minutes, May 1942 - November 1946
2.  Minutes, January 1947 - December 1959
3.  Minutes, January 1952 - December 1957
4.  Minutes, January 1960 - October 1965
5.  Minutes, January 1966 - October 1969
6.  Minutes, January 1970 - June 1975
7.  Minutes, February 1976 - November 1979
8.  Minutes, March 1980 - May 1982
9.  Meeting Notes, 1979
10.Treasurer’s Book, 1954-1982
11. Financial Records, 1942-1982 (includes miscellaneous records, bank book, 1942-1957
     (Croghan Bank), check register, 1964-1982, and account of special fund, 1967-1970)
12. Constitution and By-Laws, 1963 & 1970
13. Histories
14. Programs
15. Fremont Flower Shows, 1959-1963
16. Flower Show Guest Book, July 27-28, 1963
17. 1964 Christmas Decoration (photos)
18. 40^th Anniversary Guest Book, May 25, 1978
19. Map - “Civic Beautification”
20. Handbooks
21. Garden Poetry
22. Miscellaneous Papers
23. Cover Layout for 1968 History

Box 2  Club Yearbooks

Folders:
1.  Fremont Garden Club Yearbook, 1938
2.  Clyde Garden Club, 1949; Bellevue Garden Club, 1975-76; Green Springs Garden Club,
     1947; Lindsey Garden Club, 1950 & 1961; and Woodville Garden Club, 1967
     Countywide Garden Club (1949):
         1947
         1952
         1962-63
         1975-76
         1976-77
         1978-79
    Croghan Garden Club (1939):
         1947
         1959
         1960
         1961
         1963-65
         1968-71
         1975-75
         1979
    Fremont Garden Club (1938):
         1938-52
         1954
         1956-59
         1963-65
    Hayes Garden Club (1948):
         1970
         1974
    Home Garden Club (1948):
         1947
         1949
         1950
         1953
         1960
         1962-70
         1973
         1975
         1976-79
         1980
    Horizon Garden Club (1947)l
         1949
         1950
         1953
         1954
         1958
         1959
         1962-69
         1975
         1976
         1980
         1981
    New Bloom Garden Club (1971):
         1972
    Plant-N-Bloom Garden Club (1953):
         1957-58
         1961-67
         1968-70
         1972-77
    Sun and Shade Garden Club (1950):
         1952
         1955
         1959

Box 3

Program Booklets for Fremont Home Garden Club:
     1947
     1949-53
     1957-58
     1960-70
     1973
     1975-76
     1979-82
     1984-86
Ledger containing minutes, membership roster, and news releases 1970-1988
Fiftieth Anniversary Guest Book
Certificates and Announcements (folder)          

Addenda
Ac. 5330

Croghan Garden Club - Addenda

Croghan Garden Club Minutes, membership roster, and news releases, 1979-85, 1985-89

Addenda
Ac. 5664

Program Booklets
1.  Countywide Garden Club, 1979 - 1980
2.  Croghan Garden Club, 1962
3.  Fremont Garden Club, 1953           
4.  Harrison Trail Garden Club, 1976
5.  Hayes Garden Club, 1968
6.  Home Garden Club, 1954
7.  Horizon Garden Club, 1957-1958
8.  Lindsey Garden Club, 1951
9.  New Bloom Garden Club, 1971
10. Plant n Bloom Garden Club, 1953-1954
11. Sun and Shade Gardeners, 1953

Fremont Garden Center Constitution & by-laws, 1963

Wooden gavel, inscribed “30th Anniversary Fremont Garden Center Council, May 16, 1968.”