LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION commemorating the 120th Anniversary of The New
York Botanical Garden

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to commend those
illustrious organizations of the State of New York whose focus and
intent is to promote conservation education and to encourage the appre-
ciation and understanding of the environment as a whole; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to commem-
orate the 120th Anniversary of The New York Botanical Garden; and
WHEREAS, On April 28, 1891, the New York State Legislature passed an
act incorporating The New York Botanical Garden, directing its visionary
professional and volunteer founders, and their successors, to build and
develop a public botanic garden of the highest class on 250 acres of
land in northernmost New York City for the collection and culture of
plants, flowers, shrubs and trees, and the advancement of botanical
science and knowledge as well as for the entertainment, recreation, and
instruction of the people; and
WHEREAS, This act of the Legislature facilitated the birth, growth,
and maturation of an internationally renowned New York City cultural
organization that has become a world leader in studying, exhibiting, and
conserving plants; and
WHEREAS, The New York Botanical Garden's professional founders were
Dr. Nathaniel Lord Britton (1859-1934), a Columbia University professor
of botany and geology, and his wife, Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton
(1858-1934), an avid and respected scholar of mosses; in 1888, the Brit-
tons traveled to London, visited the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and
admired the way that institution operated; and
WHEREAS, Upon their return, they launched a public campaign to estab-
lish a similar institution; three years later, The New York Botanical
Garden was founded and Cornelius Vanderbilt II became the first Presi-
dent of the Board; and
WHEREAS, In 1896, Nathaniel Britton became the first Director; one of
Dr. Britton's first priorities was the development of the physical site
of the Garden; the Garden's highly picturesque terrain, its freshwater
river in a rock-cut gorge, and its 50 acres of old-growth forest
provided a wonderful natural palette for talented landscape designers;
and
WHEREAS, The Garden's scientific and educational missions required an
appropriate infrastructure, and in 1897, Dr. Britton commissioned two
principal buildings to meet these needs, a museum building for herbarium
and library collections and a grand conservatory for display of living
plant collections; and
WHEREAS, The museum building, designed by Robert Gibson, a
300-foot-long, six-story limestone Beaux-Arts structure, was completed
in 1901; the conservatory, designed and built by the firm of Lord &
Burnham, consisting of 11 interconnected greenhouses and featuring a
90-foot-high central Palm Court, opened in 1902; and
WHEREAS, With these key structures in place, development of the
Garden's collections and programs began in earnest; accessions to the
Garden's library actually began in 1899, and these items were trans-
ferred to the new museum building when it was completed two years later;
and
WHEREAS, The core, initial collection of the herbarium originated, as
in the case of the library, as a donation from Columbia University,
including the specimens of Torrey Herbarium, perhaps the most comprehen-
sive collection of American plant specimens at the time; and

WHEREAS, By 1934, the year of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Britton's
deaths, the Garden had conducted nearly 200 expeditions and its herbari-
um had grown to nearly two million specimens, making it one of the
world's largest and most important, especially with respect to the
plants and fungi of the Americas; and
WHEREAS, Following the formative Britton era, over a period of five
decades during the mid-20th Century, the Garden had a succession of six
talented scientific and academic leaders, supported by a dedicated Board
and staff, who catalyzed and shaped a trajectory of growth and matura-
tion of the institution's scientific, educational, and horticultural
programs and its infrastructure; and
WHEREAS, The Garden's educational mission was elaborated at all
levels; the adult education program was expanded; the School of Profes-
sional Horticulture was established in the 1950s by the renowned Garden
horticulturist Thomas H. Everett; and a family gardening program was
begun so that children and their parents could learn about growing vege-
tables, herbs, and flowers; and
WHEREAS, The Garden's living collections were expanded greatly during
the mid-20th Century, and its scientific research program, geograph-
ically focused on North America and the New World tropics, was also
productive during this phase of the institution's history; and
WHEREAS, With the appointment of Gregory Long in 1989 as its 8th Chief
Executive, the Garden inaugurated its current period of restoration and
revitalization; during this era, the Garden has completed two 7-year
strategic plans, 1993-1999 and 2001-2007, and is in the midst of a third
for 2009-2015, which affirms the Garden's vitality and continued growth
for the future; and
WHEREAS, Projects that are currently under construction include the
new Azalea Garden, new Native Plant Garden, and a new 825-car parking
garage, the first project to be built outside the Garden's grounds; and
WHEREAS, The Garden's esteemed graduate studies programs expanded its
university partners from CUNY to include Cornell University, Columbia
University, New York University, Yale University, and Fordham Universi-
ty; and its press, the New York Botanical Garden Press, established in
1896, evolved to be one of the largest publishing programs of any inde-
pendent botanical garden in the world; and
WHEREAS, The Garden's systematic and economic botany field programs
have continued and grown; while conservation of plants has always been a
concern for Garden researchers, the urgency has become even greater in
recent years, in the face of rapid habitat modification and climate
change; and
WHEREAS, Today, the New York Botanical Garden has the largest, most
diverse educational programs of any botanical garden in the world; some
275,000 school children, families, and teachers participate in informal
science education programs annually; in addition, the Teacher Training
and Curriculum Development Programs improve educators' science teaching
skills, while reinforcing state and federal science teaching objectives;
and
WHEREAS, The success of the New York Botanical Garden is in direct
correlation to the efforts of its members, whose involvement is, and
always has been, characterized by an impressive commitment, an unbridled
enthusiasm, and an uncompromising standard of excellence in all endeav-
ors on behalf of the Gardens and the population it serves; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that those organiza-
tions which enhance the well-being and vitality of the community have
earned the recognition and applause of all the citizens of this great
Empire State; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
commemorate the 120th Anniversary of The New York Botanical Garden; and
be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to The New York Botanical Garden.