Members of the Club in 1955
OUR HISTORY
"To preserve what is good, To grow what is good, To display what is good.”
The Hillsborough Garden Club is the oldest surviving garden club in North Carolina. The Club was formed in 1925, when twelve ladies of Hillsborough gathered in an old school building to envision the beautification of the town's streets and gardens. They began by cleaning lots in Hillsborough's business district and planting Crepe Myrtles along the streets downtown.
The Hillsborough Garden Club has evolved from its original goal to create a more beautiful town. Meetings of the Hillsborough Garden Club now feature cutting edge speakers or civic programs related to the care of plants, with an emphasis on the creation of pollinating gardens. The Club offers an integrated supportive network for Master Horticulturists, as well as fledgling gardeners.
The Hillsborough Garden Club supports approximately 60 members, and is a not for profit, an affiliate of The Garden Club of North Carolina, Inc., which is a federated garden club and 501 (c) 3 volunteer organization. The Club has no restrictions based upon race, color, creed, religion, gender, age, or national origin.
CLUB FLOWER - Crepe Myrtle
How Do We Look Today? The suits are gone but the passion for gardening remains!
Past Hillsborough Garden Club Presidents
1925 - 1933 - Pearle Causey Robertson
1934 - 1935 - Thomas Norfleet Webb Jr. (yes, a man!)*
1935 - 1938 - Virginia Warren Forrest
1938 - 1939 - Roberta Justice Sparrow Brown (daughter-in-law of founder Mary Catherine Turner Brown)
1939 - 1939 - Mae “Jack” Jackson Smith Gilmore (she went by Jack)
1939 - 1941 - Mary Elizabeth Keadle Roberts
1941 - 1943 - Pearle Causey Robertson
WAR YEARS
1946 - 1948 - Lena Davis Moore
1948 - 1950 - Mercer Reeves Hubbard
1950 - 1950 - Marjorie Catherine Brown Matteson (daughter of founder Mary Catherine Turner Brown)
1951 - 1953 - Mae “Jack” Jackson Smith Gilmore
1953 - 1955 - Margaret Houston Sockwell Jones
1955 - 1957 - Gladys Lee Sweatt Carr
1957 - 1958 - May Alpha Snipes Blake (went by Alpha)
1958 - 1960 - Elizabeth "Lib" Thomas Cates (went by Lib)
1960 - 1962 - Minerva Ann Waynick Kenyon
1962 - 1964 - Henrietta Victor Castlebury Auman
1964 - 1966 - Evelyn Mae Burton Patterson
1966 - 1968 - Virginia Vaunceil Riley Cates
1968 - 1970 - Helen Meryl Stokes Minnis
1970 - 1972 - Rebecca Bennehan Wall
1972 - 1973 - May Lawson Pendleton
1973 - 1974 - Bettie Minnis Broadwell Isenhour
1974 - 1976 - Dorothy “Jo” Josephine Hinds Barbour (went by Jo)
1976 - 1978 - Elizabeth McKnight Breeze (this is Ann Sebesan’s mother)
1978 - 1980 - Minerva Ann Waynick Kenyon
1980 - 1982 - Emily Brown Lambert
1982 - 1984 – Edna “Peg” Frances Crandall Rundgren (went by Peg)
1984 - 1986 - Allene Craven Huffines Williams
1986 - 1988 - Stella N. Bartlett
1988 - 1990 - Emily Brown Lambert
1990 - 1992 - Ruby Manning Hollins
1992 - 1994 - Edna “Peg” Frances Crandall Rundgren
1994 - 1996 - Ruby Manning Hollins
1996 - 1998 - Peggy Carney Troxell
1998 - 2002 - Linda Ellison Schmitt
2002 - 2003 - Judy Cozzoli, Dolly Hunnell, Peggy Troxell
2003 - 2004 - Dolly Hunnell, Peggy Troxell
2004 - 2006 - Andrea Lewis, Linda Schmitt
2006 - 2008 - Andrea Lewis, Pat Lopp
2008 - 2010 - Andrea Lewis, Marcella Gross
2010 - 2012 - Andrea Lewis, Linda Schmitt
2012 - 2014 - Linda Ostrand, Linda Schmitt
2014 - 2016 - Carolyn Bass, Catherine Phelps
2016 - 2017 - Carolyn Bass
2017 - 2019 - Andrea Lewis
2019 - 2019 - Susan Harris
2019 - 2020 - Andrea Lewis, Ann S. Burton
2020 - 2022 - Ann S. Burton
2022 - Tammy Dorfman
