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Charles Sprague Sargent and the Preservation of the Landscape of Mount Vernon Or, "If Washington Were ’ Here Himself, He Would Be on My Side"

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Charles Sprague Sargent and the Preservation of the Landscape of Mount Vernon Or, Charles Sprague Sargent and the Preservation of the Landscape of Mount Vernon or, "If Washington were ’ here himself, he would be on my side" Phyllis Andersen The 1999 commemoration of the bicentennial of George Washington’s death presents an excellent occasion to reflect on C. S. Sargent’s strong commitment to preserve the Mount Vernon landscape and, while accepting the inevitability of change, to ensure that Washington’s original intent remained at the core of restoration efforts. esolved: That Mr. Sargent be authorized ened their mission. "There was no allusion to to direct the pruning, thinning and the work of beautifying or adornment of any planting of trees so that, as far as pos- kind," wrote Mrs. Townsend of her request to sible, Mount Vernon may be restored to the Sargent, "for our love of Mount Vernon and its condition in which George Washmgton planned precious trees forbade us to think of any change and kept it. But that no well-shaped beautiful in the well known grounds of Washmgton’s tree or flowenng shrub shall be destroyed, home." Sargent declined the position. He must except where they are interfering with other have a "free hand" or he would take no part in growth, which it is more important to retain. the work. The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association and the Union, Mmutes of the Council, May 19011 Professor Sargent reconnected ten years later thanks to a new, more flexible Regent, Harriet In 1901 Charles Sprague Sargent (1841-1927), Comegys, and to a softening of Sargent’s view. then director of the Arnold Arboretum, was Sargent’s participation in the preservation asked by the Regent of the Mount Vernon efforts at Mount Vernon, which continued until Ladies’ Association, Justine Van Rensselaer his death in 1927, has been virtually unrecog- Townsend, to give expert advice on the trees of nized, both in accounts of his career and in Mount Vernon, the home of George Washing- histories of Mount Vernon. Preserved in the ton. Sargent made a site visit, asked for relevant archives of the Association is the extensive historical documentation (in this case a copy correspondence between Sargent, Harriet of the list of plants Washington ordered from Comegys, and Harrison Dodge, the superinten- John Bartram in 1792), and demanded complete dent of Mount Vernon, from 1885 until his control of the plantings of the estate. Mrs. death in 1937; these documents make it clear Townsend demurred. Sargent’s peremptory that Sargent’s work was broad in scope and went manner, his evident dismay at the condition of well beyond arboricultural recommendations. the trees, and his bold recommendations for The letters, notes, memos, and internal removals and replacements intimidated the reports trace a struggle to overcome conflicts Association. In broadening the scope of the and develop a process to preserve a site of Association’s initial request, then narrowly national significance, a struggle remarkably defined as aiding in the care of a few of similar to the one the landscape preservation Washington’s trees, Sargent had clearly threat- community is undergoing today as it seeks to 4 sycophantic superintendent Dodge, whose need to please the ladies sometimes got in the way of his work on Sargent’s projects. If Washington had lived all this time he would use the ax, but the ladies believe in having two bad trees instead of one good one, and they have permitted a ~ob lot of kings and princes to stick m blood-leaved Japanese maples and purple beech wherever they wanted to ... the place needs a comprehensive landscape plan and the ax. Letter from Wilhelm Miller, Editorial Department, Country Life m Amenca, to Charles Sprague Sargent, 28 May 1912 The Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union was formed in 1853 to preserve and restore the Virginia home of the nation’s first president. Its membership was composed of one woman from each state. The group began by raismg funds to purchase Mount Vernon from Washington’s heirs. Regarded by many as the first historic preservation organization in the country, the Association should also be honored Charles Sprague Sargent m a charcoal sketch by his cousm, john Smger Sargent, 19199 develop consensus on guidelines for preserving historic landscape properties. Defining histori- cal appropriateness, balancing the protection of original features against the accomodation of the public, deciding how to replace plants of historic value-all these difficult questions sur- faced during Sargent’s work at Mount Vernon. While not always resolved (compromise did not come easily to Sargent), the issues were clearly defined by Sargent’s straightforward proposals for action. The letters in the Mount Vernon archives reveal by their personal tone the per- sonalities of the participants. Sargent, writing from the Arnold Arboretum or from Holm Lea, his estate in Brookline, Massachusetts, was the irascible consultant, impatient with the pace of the process and the ineptitude of the Mount Vernon work force. Harriet Comegys was patient and thorough, an excellent negotiator in spite of suffering all manner of ailments during Portrait of George Washmgton by Rembrandt Peale, her tenure as Regent. And finally there was the oil on canvas, 1823. 5 for its commitment, unusual for the time, to treat the buildings and land- scape of Mount Vernon as a single unit; buildings, furniture, garden plants, and agricultural activities were to be equally valued. Like most preservation groups, the Association was formed around the idea of rescue: the sagging roofs, the lawn waist-high with weeds, the neglected gardens. As if to reassure themselves of the validity of their acquisition, the early histories of the Association and of their ownership of Mount Vernon are filled with the names of the dignitaries that visited-presidents and kings, minor European royalty, religious leaders, heads of exotic nations-and to Sargent’s consternation each was encouraged to plant a tree. By 1911 the Association had out- grown the high emotion of its save- and-rescue stage and realized that further work would require careful thought and professional expertise. At this point the group had not refined its mission beyond striving not to lose anything already in hand. However, the members were serious, highly orga- nized strategists, remarkably adept at raising funds for special projects, and mutually supportive. Enduring friend- Harriet Comegys, 4th Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ ships were formed among the members; Association 1909 to 1927. friendships that, because of geographic from distance or age differences, might have never restore the grounds of Mount Vernon to the con- otherwise occurred. Like many early women’s dition in which they were when Washmgton organizations, the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Asso- was alive. ciation adhered to formal rituals and strict pro- Letter from Charles Sprague Sargent to Harriet tocols that can seem quaintly amusmg to us Comegys, Regent of the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the 2 October 1914 today. But this formal structure may well have Umon, developed to deflect any potential criticism that Charles Sprague Sargent became the first direc- the women of the Association were not capable tor of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard Univer- of handling the serious issues before them as sity in 1872 and held that position until his well as protecting them as individual members death fifty-five years later. His "austere pur- from mtrusive publicity. pose" (to use his daughter’s phrase) was to develop a collection of all the woody plants, You speak about compensation, a retainer, etc. both mdigenous and exotic, that could be raised Please dismiss any such sub~ect from your in the open air in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts. mind. I consider it a great primlege and honor The plant collection, begun in the 1870s, was to be allowed to do anything in my power to mitially gathered from North America and 6 specialist at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design, in a review in Landscape Architecture magazine.l Sargent was also a leader in the effort to establish an American forestry policy. His Catalog of the Forest Trees of North America for the Tenth Census in 1884 and the plan he submitted to the New York State leg- islature for preserving the Adirondack forest placed him in the ranks of John Murr, George Engelmann, and Gifford Pinchot. His association with Frederick _ Law Olmsted resulted in a major contri- bution to the design of both the Arnold Arboretum and Boston’s Emerald Neck- lace park system, of which the Arbore- tum is a part. In short, by 1911, when the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Umon sought advice from him for the second time, Sargent’s own reputation, as well as that of the Arnold Arboretum as an institution of international stand- ing, had been secured. His decision to work with the Association was there- fore based not on a desire to enhance his own prestige but rather on patriotism and a deep sense of responsibility to a historic site. Harnson Howell Mount Vernon from Dodge, Supenntendent of Like most with 1885 to 1937. groups seeking help historic preservation, the Association Europe but by the end of the nineteenth century first defined its needs in the narrowest sense: Sargent’s collection policy had expanded to the trees, many planted by George Washington include the entire North Temperate Zone, with himself, needed professional care. Typical of emphasis on China and Japan. The metamor- Sargent, he redefined his role and from the phosis of this small scientific station into one of beginning offered advice on the broader require- the world’s leading study centers for woody ments for preservation: inventories of both plants was due to the expansiveness of Sargent’s plants and structures, restoration of specific vision and the smgle-mindedness with which he features, vegetation management, and, most pursued it.
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