History & Horticulture
by Laura Wulf, Photographic Specialist & Digital Imaging Coordinator at the MHS
I’ve been working at the Massachusetts Historical Society (MHS) since 2008 and I’ve had a community garden plot in my neighborhood in Jamaica Plain since the late 1980s. In the spring of 2020 these two experiences collided when some co-workers and I, who had put our name on the waiting list a few years earlier, got a plot in the Victory Gardens. Weeding and digging out the overgrown plot turned out to be the perfect pandemic project and by the fall we had cleared the growth and could envision the plot as a place to sit during our lunch break or after work.
Over the next 3 years we got to know our neighboring gardeners and also discovered that the plot was in a very low-lying area of the Fenway and flooded easily and often. The soil stayed soggy for long periods in the spring and it was challenging to plant and even move around the plot without sinking deep into the muddy ground. Eventually we realized that it was going to require a herculean effort to build up the plot and deal with the flooding and we asked if we could move to a different plot.
We’ve since moved to a new plot on higher ground and have been enjoying the space as a place to sit, eat lunch, turn away from our computer screens and enjoy the greenery and bird life. So I was happy when my colleague Kanisorn Wongsrichanalai, our Director of Research, asked if I would take him on a tour of the gardens for the final episode of Season 4 of the MHS’s podcast “The Object of History”. Each episode of this podcast takes the listener on a behind the scenes audio tour of the vast collections of the MHS.
Season 4 of the podcast has been dedicated to exploring local institutions that are connected to the MHS through our collections, and the final episode of the season focuses on the Fenway Victory Gardens. Not only does the MHS hold the papers of this remarkable site, but now we can also include our present day interaction with the gardens through our plot.
Kanisorn has a way of putting people at ease and I certainly felt it during our tour together. Kanisorn is an avid bird photographer and even caught a photo of a deer in the park recently and we shared our enthusiasm for the natural world just steps away from our workplace. I very quickly stopped thinking about being recorded and just enjoyed the morning walk and the conversation. And clearly the other folks that Kanisorn interviewed for the podcast felt similarly. Sai Boddupalli, President of Fenway Garden Society, shares how he got involved with the gardens, the importance of Frederick Law Olmstead’s vision and the notion of land stewardship and community building; Dennis Fiori, former President of the MHS, reminisces about setting up a wading pool for his grandkids; and MHS’s Chief Historian Peter Drummey gives us the history of victory gardens in the US as part of the war effort, and the creation of the Fenway Garden Society to insure that the gardens would not be built over.
We’re lucky to have such a large green space in the middle of the city, and I have spent many lunch hours and walk breaks exploring and enjoying the park and it’s human and animal inhabitants. I recommend a stroll there any time of year, but the fall may be the most eye catching as everything is glistening in the autumnal light. Stop by for a visit - dip your noses into the abundant roses and honeysuckle, keep your eyes open for great blue heron and osprey, or chat with an avid angler trying to catch an elusive carp - and walk away refreshed and revitalized by the treasure in our midst.
And I would be remiss if I didn’t also encourage gardeners and non-gardeners alike to avail themselves of the treasures held in the MHS, which is free and open to the public for research or for visits. Stop by anytime to see what we have on view in our exhibit spaces, or make an appointment to come in and view the Victory Garden collection or any of our other collections or artifacts. As the first historical society in the country, the MHS is well worth a visit.
You can listen to Season 4, Episode 8: An Oasis in the City: Visiting the Fenway Victory Gardens.