GCH members enthusiastically support Victory Gardens and other war efforts — from sending seeds to England to supplying garden tools to the local 79th regiment. Garden Club members also focus attention on establishing both vegetable gardens and beautification efforts at Bradley Field, a training ground for pilots and a major embarkation point for bombers on their way to Europe.
Along with the City of Hartford and with some funding from the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, GCH works to revitalize the grounds of the Old State House in Hartford.
The Seaverns estate, once the residence of a beloved GCH member, Mrs. Charles Seaverns, had been left by the family to The Hartford College for Women. In the early 1960s, GCH members chose its restoration as their civic project. The estate, “once renowned for its rare shrubs, beautiful trees and native wild flowers,” according to the Hartford Courant, would be restored with an emphasis on “preservationof a heritage…a woodland paradise in the heart of Hartford (from the May 13, 1962 GCH minutes).
The Club’s involvement at the Mark Twain House began in 1970, when several GCH members furnished the Conservatory with plant material authentic to the time of Samuel Clemens. By 1973, the Club had grander plants, voting unanimously to approve the restoration “to its original” of the grounds in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the house. By 1974, the grounds had been restored to their late 19th century grandeur.
The Garden Club of Hartford sponsors a program of environmental workshops for school administrators at Connecticut State University.
