I only knew the nonprofit Garden Conservancy for its hundreds of Open Day events throughout the U.S. That’s until I got an email inviting me to the “world premiere” of a documentary produced by the Conservancy – news to me!
And it’s not their first. You can watch their film about New York’s Blithewood Garden here, a “woodland sanctuary” in Alabama here, and a very short film about a Japanese stroll garden here. All thanks to the Suzanne and Frederic Rheinstein Fund for Documentary Films, a “groundbreaking Garden Conservancy initiative envisioned by the late Suzanne Rheinstein to use film to capture the essence of gardens and their historical significance.” Good for her!
Their latest documentary, which premiered last Sunday at the Smithsonian’s Museum of African American History and Culture, is “Earth, I Thank you. The Garden and Legacy of Anne Spencer.” Click here or in the screen shot above to watch the trailer. The whole 35-minute film will be available on the Conservancy’s website in a few months, after it’s been screened at various film festivals.Meet Anne Spencer
Anne and Edward and grandchildren, late 1920s. Courtesy of Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum, Inc.
From the press release:
James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of the Garden Conservancy, calls the garden “a powerful example of why gardens matter. From the moment I first stepped into it, I knew it was remarkable. We’ve been proud to champion its preservation since 2008, and to help ensure that her legacy as a gardener, poet, and advocate continues to educate and inspire.”
Anne Spencer Pond, courtesy of The Garden Conservancy
As shown in the film, the garden is indeed wonderful, especially imagining it filled with such luminaries as Langston Hughes and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Oh, to have been a fly on the wall – or the trellis!
But the film (by Udris Film) includes far more than the garden – with interviews of historians, family members and others who could attest to Spencer’s impact. The full house for the premiere included dozens of Spencer family members; imagine their pride in Spencer, the film, and the site for the premiere.
Changes at the Smithsonian
Times have changed since this beloved and critically acclaimed museum opened in 2016, when I took this photo. I hadn’t visited since then, and I’d never seen the Oprah Winfrey Theater, where the film was screened and panel discussion took place on the stage. So what a treat to be invited to cover the event!
Then a few days before the premiere I received an email saying that I wouldn’t be allowed to take photos, interview anyone, or otherwise act as “press.” Instead, I would be given photos and quotes to use in my reporting. (I was sent the press release, with three photos, two of which you see above.)
Further, I learned that all public events in all Smithsonian museums are similarly off-limits to press. So the directive isn’t about this film or even this museum – it’s much more. And much more concerning. Especially so coming the same week as reports and more reports of important historical items (including the iconic Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, NC) being removed from the museum.
Which contributed to the mix of emotions I felt that day at the Museum of African American History and Culture – happy to see Anne Spencer’s home and gardens preserved and Spencer immortalized as an important figure in history, but dreading the next news story about American history being selectively censored from museums, books, universities and who knows where next.
Okay, now that I’m off the topic of gardening, I’ll add that I was personally notified of one more presidential action this week – that as part of the declassification of JFK and MLK assassination files, I was one of the 400+ former congressional staffers who’d been doxxed. That news came to me in a letter from the National Archives, and thanks only to press coverage did I figure out that it was because I’d worked for the Church Committee that investigated the intelligence community. Like over 100 of us, I’d had my Social Security number, et cetera made public.
Yeah, not good. But my many friends who are federal employees, some who have lost their jobs already and the many who are in fear of losing theirs, help me keep this inconvenience in perspective. I’m so lucky to be retired.
Garden Conservancy’s Movie Premiere at Smithsonian’s African-American Museum originally appeared on GardenRant on May 10, 2025.
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