Archives of the Chicago Horticultural Society: Digital Content

Access the finding aid and digital images from the Archives of the Chicago Horticultural Society.

The Chicago Horticultural Society founded in 1890, established a public garden in 1972 that is known today as the Chicago Botanic Garden. Society publications such as Garden Talks began in 1945, and then continued from 1953 until 2007 until its name was changed. The informative journal includes growing tips, essays, and event listings, for Chicago-area urban gardeners.

Records include constitution, minutes, financial records, membership rosters, lists of officers, premiums awarded and notices of meetings; various announcements, passes and membership cards affixed to endpapers; typed or printed matter and contemporary newspaper articles affixed to pages or loosely inserted. Founded on October 1, 1890, the Horticultural Society of Chicago, known today as the Chicago Horticultural Society, was dedicated to the encouragement and promotion of the practice of horticulture in all its branches and the fostering of an increased love of it among the people. The Chicago Horticultural Society operates the Chicago Botanic Garden, which opened in 1972 and is one of the world's great living museums.

Chicago Collections Consortium’s digital exhibit, Wild in the City: Chicagoland’s Urban Ecology, explores the interaction of urban and natural environments in the Chicago region from the 1850s onward by drawing on the archival collections of the Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Chicago Botanic Garden, Lincoln Park Zoo, and North Central College.

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