In 1927, Mary Henderson Kirkland, wife of Chancellor James Kirkland, called together a small group of faculty wives and wives of members of the Board of Trust and asked their help with the beautification of the campus. It was not until 1935 that a formal charter was drawn up and the Vanderbilt Garden Club for Campus Beautification became a reality. The Club undertook a number of projects to beautify the campus, including the Iris Project, in which they identified, purchased and planted old varieties of irses, and the planting of magnolia trees. The Club disbanded in 2006 because its work had been taken over by professional landscapers.
From the description of Vanderbilt Garden Club Records. (Vanderbilt University Library). WorldCat record id: 269289368
