The Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women
Upper Dublin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
This school was among the first in the nation to educate women for careers in horticulture and agriculture. It was founded in 1910 on this site by Jane Bowne Haines and a "congress of women." Three years later the Woman's National Farm and Garden Association originated here at a meeting sponsored by the school. During WWI & WWII PSHW trained women to grow and preserve food for the war effort. In 1958, PSHW merged with Temple University.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Founded in 1910 by Jane Bowne Haines and a "congress of women," this school was among the first in the nation to train women for professional careers in horticulture and agriculture. It became a seedbed for organized women's work in the field, hosting the founding of the Woman's National Farm and Garden Association in 1913. During both world wars its students taught women to grow and preserve food for the war effort before the school merged with Temple University in 1958.
Why it matters
The school opened a professional path in the land-based sciences to women decades before such opportunities were common, expanding the horizons of American women's education and work.
Plan your visit
NearbyMake a day of it — museums, food, and places to stay near this marker.
Museums & culture
- National Constitution Center14.7 mi away · 525 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- African American Museum in Philadelphia14.7 mi away · 701 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Betsy Ross House14.9 mi away · 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Independence Visitor Center14.9 mi away · 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Illadelph Glass Gallery14.9 mi away · 68 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Muse Gallery14.9 mi away · 52 North 2nd Street, Philadelphia, PA
Attractions
- Discovery Center at East Park Reservoir12.5 mi away
- Pennsylvania Railroad, Connecting Railway Bridge13.0 mi away
- Harbison's Dairy Milk Bottle13.0 mi away
- Philadelphia Zoo13.3 mi away
- Rocky Steps13.8 mi away
- Philly Gun Range14.1 mi away · North Percy Street
Food & drink
- Independence Mall Cafe14.9 mi away · 50 North Independence Mall East, Philadelphia
- Burger King14.9 mi away
- Dunkin'14.9 mi away · 634 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
- La Colombe Coffee Roasters14.9 mi away
- Philly Pretzel Factory15.0 mi away
- Time & Peace15.0 mi away · 36 South 7th Street, Philadelphia, PA
Places to stay
- Days Inn Philadelphia Convention Center - Philadelphia14.5 mi away · 1227 Race Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Four Points by Sheraton Philadelphia City Center14.5 mi away · 1201 Race Street, Philadelphia
- Clarion Suites Philadelphia14.6 mi away · 1010 Race Street, Philadelphia
- Sleep Inn Center City14.6 mi away · 1020 Cherry Street, Philadelphia, PA
- Home2 Suites by Hilton Philadelphia - Convention Center, PA14.7 mi away · 1200 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
- The Notary Hotel14.7 mi away · 21 North Juniper Street, Philadelphia
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Related people
- · Jane Bowne Haines
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Anna Thomas Jeanes (1822-1907)
Philadelphia, PA · est. 2019
Anna Thomas Jeanes was a Philadelphia Quaker who used her wealth to answer some of her era's hardest problems. Her bequest founded the institutions that became Jeanes Hospital and Fox Chase Cancer Center, while her Jeanes Foundation — the Negro Rural School Fund — poured money into education for Black children in the segregated South. She named Booker T. Washington a trustee, and the fund trained the traveling Black teachers known as Jeanes Supervisors.
Female Medical College of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA · est. 1996
Founded in 1850, this was the first degree-granting medical school for women anywhere in the nation, opening the profession of medicine to a sex long barred from it. Under Dean Ann Preston it was renamed the Woman's Medical College of Pennsylvania and trained generations of pioneering physicians. It went coeducational in 1969 and evolved through later mergers into a modern medical institution.
Margaret Mead (1901-1978)
Doylestown, PA · est. 1996
Long before she became the most famous anthropologist in America, Margaret Mead grew up in this Doylestown house and graduated from the local high school in 1918. Her fieldwork among Pacific island peoples produced the 1928 bestseller "Coming of Age in Samoa," which challenged American assumptions about adolescence, gender, and culture. Through decades of writing and public life she brought the study of human societies to a mass audience.
Bryn Mawr Summer School for Women Workers in Industry
Lower Merion Township, PA · est. 2001
From 1921 to 1938, the campus of Bryn Mawr College hosted a bold experiment: a summer liberal arts school for women who spent their days in factories and workshops. Led by educator Hilda Worthington Smith, it welcomed more than 1,700 students of varied races, ethnicities, and backgrounds, offering wage-earning women the kind of humanities education usually reserved for the privileged. Many graduates went on to become leaders in their unions, communities, and public life.