Garden Club of America
We don’t know if Edith Fetherston read these mentioned texts, but she was at least exposed to their effect. Fetherston lived and studied during the peak popularity of garden clubs in America. Fetherston’s school records show that she did take Botany while attending the Bucknell Women’s Institute.She was also a member of the The Garden Club of America, founded in 1913. Though membership to the GCA was not restricted to women, it was popular among women in Edith Fetherston’s social class.
The GCA and many local branches hosted trips and conferences across the nation.
The most significant trip Edith took with the GCA was the “Pilgrimage to England” where she traveled by steamship and resided in the Burlington Hotel while in London. This trip was not Edith Fetherston’s only ties to England; the Packwood house is named after the Fetherston’s family’s estate in Warwickshire, England. The house remained in the family for about 300 years until 1876. The house is now a part of the National Trust in England.