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Friday, November 13, 2015

The Frederick Douglass Garden


This statue of a young Frederick Douglass, portraying him in his twenties, is the focal point of the new Frederic Douglass Garden on Hornbake Plaza in front of Hornbake Library.



The Frederick Douglass Garden, our newest garden on campus, will be dedicated next week on Wednesday, November 18 at 2 p.m.  This garden and statue honors Frederick Douglass, a national hero and native of the state of Maryland.  It is located on Hornbake Plaza in front of the Hornbake Library.  Douglass was an abolitionist and gifted orator that believed in social justice. 

Wallace D. Loh, President of the University of Maryland sent out this invitation to the dedication to our community this week:

November 10, 2015

Dear University of Maryland community,

If one listens carefully, one might hear the fire of the great abolitionist and orator Frederick Douglass crackling outside of Hornbake Library.  A towering bronze statue has been installed on the plaza and Douglass Square will be formally dedicated next week. 

Etched there in stone and metal, Douglass’ soaring words echo more than a century after his death.

“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

The statue catches Douglass in mid-sentence.

“In a composite nation like ours, there should be no rich, no poor, no high, no low, no white, no black, but common…citizenship, equal rights, and a composite destiny.”

Born a slave near Easton, Maryland, Frederick Douglass probably never set foot on this campus. Now, he stands here, in the state’s flagship university, as an enduring role model for social justice and the transformative power of education—values that are at the core of our institution's mission.

“Once you learn to read you will ever be free.”

The vision for this contemplative and inspiring installation began several years ago with Distinguished University Professor of History Ira Berlin. I want to thank him and a faculty/staff committee. They labored and fundraised for five years to bring this magnificent project to fruition. 

The statue was cast in Ireland and shipped here. It is a replica of the one erected there in Douglass’ honor. He spent two years in Ireland and Britain where, he said, he felt treated "not as a color, but as a man." 

Funding comes from private gifts, UMD Foundation funds, and grants from the Maryland Commission on African American History and Culture and the Maryland Historical Trust.

Douglass lived in many places, but now he has come home to Maryland.

“I am a Marylander and love Maryland and her people.”

You are invited to the official dedication of Frederick Douglass Square on Wednesday, November 18, at 2 p.m. Expected to be in attendance as honored guests will be both his great-great granddaughter and great-great-great grandson.

Sincerely,

Wallace D. Loh
President, University of Maryland




The University of Maryland's student run paper, The Diamond Back, has some great articles that tell about the development of this memorial to Frederick Douglass.
 
Darwin Feuerstein from the UMD Facilities Design and Construction Department was the project manager for the team that designed this wonderful garden.  He led the design team that included Flora Teeter and Scott Munroe, campus landscape architect.

This new garden is a roof garden that is built over the basement floor of the Hornbake Library.  There are two garden size light wells that were existing features for the basement below on either side of this new garden.  The depth of the soil in this garden is only 8 to 18 inches deep, which means that the plant materials for this sunny garden in an open, hot in summer plaza had to be carefully selected in order to thrive in these challenging conditions.
 
This small garden is a wonderful addition to our campus in my opinion.  I would like to thank all who had a part in helping this garden to become a reality.  Below are pictures of the Frederick Douglass Garden.  I am hoping that these pictures will encourage you to visit and experience the beauty and history portrayed in this garden first hand.


 














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Contact Information for the University of Maryland Arboretum and Botanical Garden

Mailing and Shipping address (This is the location of our partner, UMD Landscape Services, and the office of our Assistant Director, Karen Petroff):
University of Maryland
Wye Oak Building (428)
4201 Landscape Ln.
College Park, MD 20742-7215
phone: 301-405-3320
fax: 301-314-9943
hours: 6 am to 2:30 pm, M-F

Horticulturist's Offices and Meeting Room (No mail delivery or shipping to this location):
University of Maryland
Arboretum Outreach Center (156)
3931 Stadium Dr.
College Park, MD 20742
phone: 301-405-3320
fax: 301-314-9943
hours: 7 am to 3:30 pm, M-F, by appointment or prescheduled times only, as sometimes everyone is out on campus and the building will be locked

When using the UMD Campus Map, you can click on a building name and the street address of that building and other information about that building should come up in a pop up window.

blog administrator, Sam Bahr, 301-405-7926 or 301-405-3320
e-mail: sbahr@umd.edu

updated 1/30/20

Parking

Our gardens are free and open to the public. There are some parking lots (read the signs for that parking lot carefully) that are free to park in after 4 pm and before 7 am and on weekends, except on game days and during other special events. There is public parking in four large parking garages at the rate of $3 per hour with a daily maximum of $15. On weekends in the garages, the rate is $3 per hour with a daily maximum rate of $5 per hour. There is a small amount of additional pay parking along some streets.

Navigation around campus is much easier with this interactive campus map. You can look up parking locations and building locations using this map. Use the search tab to bring up the page to search for campus building names, locations and addresses. If you click on a building name on this interactive campus map, a popup window should appear with the address and other details about the building.

updated 10/6/2015


Butterfly feeding on the nectar of Russian Sage blossoms

General Information about the UMD Arboretum and Botanical Garden

The University of Maryland, the state’s flagship campus, is located in the Baltimore-Washington corridor. The American Association of Public Gardens, by designating the university as an arboretum and botanical garden in 2008, recognized former President C.D. Mote, Jr.’s commitment to becoming a green campus. Maryland is also the first university in the state to be honored as a Tree Campus USA by the Arbor Day Foundation.

The Arboretum and Botanical Garden consists of our entire 1,250 acre College Park, Maryland campus. The Campus collection of over 8,000 trees, garden plantings and nearly 400 acres of undeveloped urban forest is a beautiful reminder of Maryland’s history and a harbinger of Maryland’s future. The university looks at the campus’ green space as a major resource for its educational, research and service missions.

Hornbake Plaza

Hornbake Plaza
Honeylocust fall foliage color

University of Maryland Arboretum Explorer or UMD ABG Explorer (Tree and Shrub Inventory)

You can look up the identity of many trees and shrubs using this interactive campus map: https://maps.umd.edu/abg/. Herbaceous plants and even some small woody plants are not a part of this inventory. It is still a work in progress and we do not consider it a complete or entirely up to date inventory.

Our plant inventory or plant collections database can also be considered a plant database, plant search, plant locator, plant finder, plant collection database, living collections management system, plant records system or plant mapping system for campus plantings.

updated 1/30/20

Image and Link to the Interactive Campus Map Showing the Campus Plant Inventory

Tawes Plaza Gardens

Tawes Plaza Gardens
Kim's Knee High Purple Coneflower, Russian Sage, White Out Rose and Dwarf Pampas Grass are featured in this planting in 2010.