Seed Library and Gardening Resources

The Gardens and Cultural Landscapes of Black America visual arts materials collection includes images of residential gardens, landscapes, farms, educational institutions, parks and green spaces, both urban and rural, created and used by Black Americans. These images provide details such as garden and campus design, plant choices, farming methods, and land use as well as social and economic conditions in Black communities. Funding is provided by the Carter Heyward Morris Acquisitions Endowment Fund of the Cherokee Garden Library.

The Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens collects, preserves, and provides access to resources that document the history of gardens in America. The Archives includes photographic and written documentation on over 10,000 historic and contemporary gardens. The collections document the work of landscape architects, garden designers, and garden photographers as well as a handful of seed companies. Photographic formats and processes represented in the collections include stereographs, lantern slides, autochromes, glass plate negatives, 35mm slides, and digital images.

Special Collections holds 2,200 rare herbals, historic scientific literature, and illustrated botanical books. RSABG Library holdings, can be found in the Claremont Colleges Library catalog https://library.claremont.edu/.