Celebrating 50 years of Reading the Landscape with May T. Watts

"There is good reading on the land, first-hand reading, involving no symbols.

The records are written in forests, in fence-rows, in bogs, in play-grounds, in pastures, in gardens, in canyons, in trees rings.

The records were made by sun and shade; by wind, rain, and fire; by time; and by animals."

Opening from the Preface -- Reading the Landscape : an adventure in ecology
by May Theilgaard Watts published by Macmillan in 1957

This year marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Reading the Landscape : an adventure in ecology by May Theilgaard Watts. To celebrate this remarkable book, author and anniversary, the Sterling Morton Library staff has just created an interim display* of some of the treasures in our collection related to May T. Watts. Within the Library's collections can be found original artwork, papers, manuscripts, guides, books, poems, clippings, photographs, and, even, pottery by Watts, founder of the Arboretum's education program and renowned teacher, author, and naturalist. To commemorate this golden anniversary, we've selected items from our collection highlighting Reading the Landscape including manuscripts, original artwork, page proofs, fan mail, and reviews of her groundbreaking book. In addition, we've selected further resources from our collection to present other aspects of her contributions to the Arboretum and the study of nature and ecology.

As you will see when viewing this display, her contributions are significant and, as a bonus, visually interesting! Within the display, we're presenting her early Arboretum visitor maps, original artwork, publications, and even her efforts to create the Prairie Path which received a letter of commendation from the 37th President of the United States, Richard Nixon.

What better time to visit the Library, view this display and revisit a classic!

* Make haste! This special interim display will be available for viewing through August 22, 2007 in the Sterling Morton Library.

Articles of note in the Sterling Morton Library : July's offerings

These are some recent articles that can be found within the journal collection of the Sterling Morton Library. Please visit the Library to discover the incredible botanical and horticultural resources that await you! If you are unable to visit the Library and interested in reviewing one of these articles, I would be delighted to help you at rhassert@mortonarb.org.

Grande, J. K. Intraculture sculpture. Landscape Architecture, v. 97, no. 7, p. 44-55.
Part of their Art in the Landscape series. This article explore Chris Booth’s rock and earth sculptures.

Loewer, P. Pleasures of the evening garden. The American Gardener, v. 86, no. 4, p. 16-21.
“Enhance your enjoyment of the garden after dark with appropriate design, good lighting, and the addition of fragrant night-blooming plants.”

Manning, C. Turf v. turfless. American Nurseryman, v. 206, no. 2, p. 34-38.

Rehmeyer, J. J. Mathematical lives of plants : why plants grow in geometrically curious patterns. Science News, v. 172, no. 3, p. 42-45.

Thompson, P. Summer division of perennials. The Plantsman, v. 6, no. 2, p. 89-91.
“Observation of their natural cycles of growth can dictate the best time to divide perennials.”

Thorne, R.F. An updated classification of the class Magnoliopsida (“Angiospermae”). The Botanical Review, v. 73, no. 2, p. 67-181.

Leave No Child Inside

The June gathering of Leafing Through the Pages, the Sterling Morton Library’s book discussion group, was a rich and thought provoking conversation about Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv. Since our discussion, I’ve been exploring some additional resources on the topic.

In the recent issue of Chicago Wilderness (Summer 2007), there is a special report: People : Nurture & Nature by Katherine Millett. This report “examines how we and our children connect with nature—and how those behavioral patterns may affect the future.” It is a thoughtful article worth exploring. Part of a national movement, a new multi-year initiative called Leave No Child Inside recently has been launched “aimed at fostering generations of children who care enough for nature to protect it” by the 206 Chicago Wilderness member organizations. Many of the Chicago Wilderness organizations will be presenting a number of activities and events related to this initiative. For more, see http://www.kidsoutside.info/

Also within Millett’s report is a description of Conservation Psychology. For more details, see http://www.conservationpsychology.org/ As noted from the website: Conservation psychology is the scientific study of the reciprocal relationships between humans and the rest of nature, with a particular focus on how to encourage conservation of the natural world. This website has a particularly rich resource section highlighting key articles, books, journals, courses and research tools.

Within the Sterling Morton Library, there are a host of resources relating to children and nature, conservation psychology and plants/people. At the Arboretum, we’ve had a long history of leaders in these fields including May T. Watts and Charles Lewis. In the Library, we have papers, documents, photographs, and artwork of May T. Watts, founder of the Arboretum's education program and renowned teacher, author, and naturalist. Charles A. Lewis, horticulturist, long-time Arboretum staff member and author of Green Nature/Human Nature: the Meaning of Plants in our Lives, was a frequent library user and encouraged us to acquire resources exploring the relationship of people and plants. Additionally, to support the efforts of The Morton Arboretum, the Library has a children’s book collection, a number of resources on gardening with children and an exploration of people-plant interactions.

Additional resources of interest:

• Leave No Child Inside : the growing movement to reconnect children and nature, and to battle "nature deficit disorder" by Richard Louv. Published in the March/April 2007 issue of Orion magazine and at http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/240/
• Getting Lost in the Great Indoors : many adults worry nature is disappearing from children's lives by Donna St. George from the Washington Post at
  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/18/AR2007061801808_pf.html
• Leave No Child Inside : the remedy for environmental despair is as close as the front door by Richard Louv at http://www.sierraclub.org/sierra/200607/child.asp
• Children and Nature Network at http://www.cnaturenet.org/

So … get outside! Visit The Morton Arboretum! Or, if you have to be inside, spend your time in the Sterling Morton Library and challenge yourself to learn more about plants and nature.