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Constance Knowles Draper Collection

 Collection
Collection number: ahc.MSS968

Scope and Contents of the Records

The Constance Knowles Draper Collection includes images of Mrs. Draper’s home and garden on Cherokee Road. The collection also contains Mrs. Draper’s lecture to the Peachtree Garden Club on Ferrell Gardens in LaGrange, Georgia. The bulk of the collection includes images of these gardens; Mrs. Draper used many of these in her Peachtree Garden Club lecture. In addition, the collection contains material documenting the landscape work that Edith Harrison and Constance Draper completed for Cason Callaway, as well as, material regarding the publication and sale of Garden History of Georgia, 1733-1933, the Peachtree Garden Club’s seminal work documenting the state’s historic gardens. The Peachtree Garden Club’s Garden Schedule is also included along with newspaper articles related to prime planting periods. Additional publications include Herb Journal and Garden Club of America, Annual Meeting, Atlanta, April 18, 19th, 20th 1932.

Note: Begun in 1841, Ferrell Gardens was the life’s work of Mrs. Sarah Coleman Ferrell. After the deaths of Mrs. Ferrell and her husband, Judge Blount Ferrell, Fuller Callaway purchased their 1500-acre estate, including the terraced boxwood parterre gardens, in 1912. Mr. Callaway maintained the gardens and commissioned the firm of Hentz and Reid to design a home, named Hills and Dales, to complement them.

Dates

  • 1921-1939

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Restrictions on Use

Unpublished manuscripts are protected by copyright. All requests to publish, quote, or reproduce must be submitted through the Kenan Research Center.

Administrative/Biographical History

Constance Knowles (1886-1976), daughter of Clarence and Frances "Fanny" Judah Knowles, was born in Atlanta 20 October 1886. Her prominent father made his mark in the insurance business and later became the first president of the Piedmont Driving Club. Constance Knowles began her education at Mrs. Mitchell’s Kindergarten. Afterwards, she attended the Prather Home School for Girls and then traveled to New York City to attend Veltin’s School for Girls. She completed her education at art schools in Paris, France. On 6 November 1915, Constance married fellow Atlantan, Jesse Draper, a well-known real estate broker and civic leader. Mr. Draper was a founder of the Atlanta Boys Clubs and later a catalyst for the development of Atlanta’s airport into a major aviation hub. In 1922, J. Neel Reid designed a home for Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Draper on Cherokee Road in the Peachtree Heights Park neighborhood of Atlanta (Job #468).

Constance Knowles Draper was one of the founding members of the Peachtree Garden Club in 1923 and served as the first chairperson of its Board of Directors. Later, she served as a book committee member and co-editor for the club’s heralded publication, Garden History of Georgia, 1733-1933. She also helped compile and edit a small publication called Garden Schedule in 1926. Constance Knowles Draper was also active in the Egleston Hospital Grounds Committee, the Atlanta Flower Show Association, and the Garden Club of America, for which she acted as a Fenwick Medal Judge at the New York International Flower Show for many years. She was also a partner in the firm of Edith Harrison (later Edith Henderson), landscape architect.

In 1945, Constance Knowles Draper spearheaded the effort to establish the Neel Reid Scholarship in Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia. In 1971, Jesse Draper endowed a chair of landscape architecture at the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design in honor of his wife. Constance Knowles Draper died in Atlanta 20 March 1976.

Extent

0.75 linear ft.

Language

English

Arrangement of the Papers

This collection is arranged according to its original order.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Marion McKellar, 1981 (CGL 1981.09).

General Physical Description note

.75 cubic feet; including 165 photographs, 12 postcards, 3 glass plate negatives, 61 black and white negatives, 3 publications

Processing Information

Collection processed in 2007.

Title
Constance Knowles Draper Collection
Author
Erica Danylchak
Date
September 2009
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Repository Details

Part of the Kenan Research Center at Atlanta History Center Repository

Contact:
130 West Paces Ferry Road
Atlanta GA 30305
404-814-4040