Lewis & Valentine company records, 1916-1971 Marca Woodhams 1995 Archives of American Gardens P.O. Box 37012 Capital Gallery West, Suite 3300, MRC 506 Washington, DC 20013-7012 [email protected] http://www.aag.si.edu Table of Contents Collection Overview ........................................................................................................ 1 Administrative Information .............................................................................................. 1 Biographical/Historical note.............................................................................................. 2 Arrangement note............................................................................................................ 2 Names and Subjects ...................................................................................................... 2 Container Listing ............................................................................................................. 4 Series 1: Trade Literature and Publications............................................................. 4 Subseries : Miscellaneous Files and Clippings........................................................ 5 Series : Garden Images........................................................................................... 7 Series 3: Videotape.............................................................................................. 106 Lewis & Valentine company records AAG.LVC Collection Overview Repository: Archives of American Gardens Title: Lewis & Valentine company records Identifier: AAG.LVC Date: 1916-1971 Creator: Lewis & Valentine Company Lewis, Hewlett Withington (Donor) Extent: 2.5 Cubic feet (documents, 366 photographs, 1 videotape.) Language: English . Summary: The Lewis & Valentine Company Collection contains records of the Lewis & Valentine Company dating from 1916 to 1971 including photographs, negatives, brochures, books, trade catalogs, company papers, letters from clients, customer lists and a history of the company written by Harold Carman Lewis. Photographs document the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia, estates in Long Island, New York, and the properties of Hugh D. Auchincloss, Eugene du Pont, Walter P. Chrysler, Otto H. Kahn, F. W. Woolworth, Pierre S. du Pont (Longwood Gardens), Charles M. Schwab and Edward T. Stotesbury. This collection contains only a sampling of the records of Lewis & Valentine and should not be considered comprehensive. Administrative Information Acquisition Information Gift from Hewlett Withington Lewis, former owner of Lewis & Valentine Nurseries. Finding Aids http://www.gardens.si.edu/horticulture/res_ed/AAG/FindingAids/L&VFindingAid_Jul2010.pdf Processing information The records were processed in 2000 and updated in 2003. Encoded by Rihoko Ueno, December 2011. Preferred Citation Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, Lewis & Valentine Company Records. Restrictions Access to original images by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: [email protected]. Page 1 of 106 Lewis & Valentine company records AAG.LVC Conditions Governing Use Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Biographical Note Specializing in moving and replanting large trees, Lewis & Valentine was one of the most prominent landscape contracting companies in the eastern United States during the first half of the twentieth century. The Lewis & Valentine Company was formed by five brothers whose father had hoped that his sons would grow up to be lawyers. Instead, the Lewis brothers formed a landscape design, installation and nursery firm that specialized in developing "successful methods for transplanting full-grown trees." Their success was based on "doing well the task which is usually considered impossible." The company was the inspiration of H.C. Lewis, the oldest of seven brothers, who believed that estate owners should have the luxury of immediate landscapes, rather than waiting decades for their landscapes to mature. The Lewis brothers started their business in the early 1900s. Shortly afterwards, a Mr. Valentine, roommate of Albert Addison Lewis at the Amherst Landscape School in Massachusetts, invested in the business. After three years Mr. Valentine moved on and the Lewis brothers bought back his interest, but continued to keep Valentine part of the company's name. Lewis & Valentine was the largest firm in America devoted to transplainting mature trees in the years leading up to the Great Depression. It claimed to be "the most experienced and most versatile, backed by an intimate knowledge of horticulture and the development of fine estates." The company was noted as a leader in providing complete landscape services, from selling and guaranteeing the plants, to designing and installation, requiring that its staff be men "of good character and not afraid of hard work." This was evident in the firm's principle of no limitations to the size of trees that they were willing to deliver. The trees were often full-grown and ranged in age from twenty to a hundred years old. Many were so large that 20 or more tons of earth had to be moved during the relocation process. During its first 25 years in business, Lewis & Valentine opened nineteen offices east of the Mississippi serving such notable clients as Charles A. Schwab and Pierre du Pont at his estate, Longwood. The business was set up as an organization of independent companies. Each was incorporated under the laws of the state in which it operated. The offices were located in Connecticut (Darien), Florida (Palm Beach), Illinois (Chicago), Maryland (Baltimore), Massachusetts (Boston and Hanover), Michigan (Detroit), Pennsylvania (Ardmore and Pittsburg), New Jersey (Ashbury Park and Morristown), New York (Buffalo, Roslyn-Long Island, Rye, Valley Stream-Long Island, New York City), North Carolina (Winston-Salem) and Ohio (Cleveland and Cincinnati). Although no longer owned by any members of the Lewis family, the company still exists and operates in Long Island under the name Lewis & Valentine Nurseries. Arrangement The collection is arranged into 3 series: Series 1: Documents Series 2: Photographs Series 3: Videotape Names and Subject Terms This collection is indexed in the online catalog of the Smithsonian Institution under the following terms: Page 2 of 106 Lewis & Valentine company records AAG.LVC Subjects: Gardens -- New York (State) Landscape gardening -- New York (State) Nurseries (Horticulture) -- United States Tree moving Types of Materials: Books Brochures Correspondence Lists Photographs Trade catalogs Videotapes Names: Auchincloss, Hugh D. Du Pont, Eugene Kahn, Otto Hermann, 1867-1934 Lewis & Valentine Company Lewis, Harold Carman Longwood Gardens (Kennett Square, Pa.) Rodin Museum (Philadelphia, Pa.) Schwab, Charles M., 1862-1939 Stotesbury, Edward Townsend, 1849-1938 Woolworth, F. W. du Pont, Pierre S. Places: New York (State) -- Greenvale New York (State) -- Roslyn Page 3 of 106 Series 1: Trade Literature and Publications Lewis & Valentine company records AAG.LVC Container Listing Series 1: Trade Literature and Publications 1 Linear foot Box 1 Scope and This series contains a sampling of the records of the Lewis & Valentine Company including Contents: brochures, books, trade catalogs, company papers, letters from clients, customer lists and a history of the company written by Harold Carman Lewis. Box 2, Folder 4 Trees, Evergreens, Shrubs, & Perennials. Rosyln, NY: Lewis Nurseries, Inc., circa 1915-1930 Notes: Catalog with annotations added.Booklet is annotated Box 1, Folder 6 Lewis & Valentine. Rosyln, NY: Lewis & Valentine Co., 1916 3 Booklets (3 copies of publication) Box 2, Folder 1 Catalogue of Available Plant Materials. NY: Associated Lewis & Valentine Companies, 1917 Notes: Threewo copies are included in the Lewis and Valentine Company records at the Archives of American Gardens. Binder 2, Folder 7 Plant to Gain Twenty Years. Roslyn, NY: Lewis and Valentine Co., circa 1920-1930 Box 2, Folder 7 What to Plant in June. Rosyln, NY: Lewis & Valentine Co., circa 1920-1930 Box 2, Folder 7 A Few Boxwood Plants (photocopy), circa 1920-1940 Box 1, Folder 2 "A Few Letters Selected from Those Received This Year..." New York: Lewis & Valentine Co., 1921 Box 4, Folder 4 Landscape Planting and Engineering. New York: Lewis & Valentine Co., 1922 Notes: Two copies are included in the Lewis and Valentine Company records at the Archives of American Gardens. Box 2, Folder 5 Lewis, Albert Addison. Boxwood Gardens: Old and New. Richmond, VA: William Byrd Press, Inc., 1924 Box 2, Folder 10 The Lewis & Valentine Magazine. Roslyn, NY: Lewis & Valentine Co., circa 1925 Box 2, Folder 12 Lewis & Valentine. Roslyn, NY: Lewis & Valentine Co., circa 1925-1940 Box 2, Folder 2 Large and Rare Trees, Shade, Evergreen, Ornamental for Immediate Effects. Roslyn, NY: Lewis & Valentine Co., 1926 September Box 4, Folder 6 Modern Landscape Engineering, circa 1928 Page 4 of 106 Series 1: Trade Literature and Publications Lewis & Valentine company records