norfolkbg

Since 1938, the Norfolk Botanical Garden has been a symbol of resilience and triumph.  The Garden started with 30 acres of wetlands and through the Works Progress Administration, the Original Gardeners planted a garden of color that has only continued to grow in beauty.  None of that would have been possible if not for the 200 African American women and 20 African American men who worked arduously through all types of weather and physical hardship to convert those wetlands.  Laboring from dawn until dusk, the gardeners cleared dense vegetation and carried the equivalent of 150 truckloads of dirt by hand to build a levee for the lake.  They battled snakes, mosquitoes, ticks, and poison ivy.  In less than a year, a section of the trees, briers, vines and underbrush had been cleared and readied for planting, using only pickaxes, hoes, shovels, and wheelbarrows. By March of 1939, four thousand azaleas, two thousand rhododendrons, several thousand miscellaneous shrubs and trees and one hundred bushels of daffodils had been planted.  The Original Gardeners cleared 75 acres of land and created a city garden they would not have access to due to segregation laws and sanctions. Today, Norfolk Botanical Garden includes 175 acres, with more than 60 themed gardens and is an historical landmark due to the 220 Original Gardeners participation in the Works Progress Administration program.