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Elizabeth Lord
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A diminutive, but adult, young lady traveling
to Europe by ship was placed by mistake at the Children's Table
in the Dining Salon. When she requested a glass of wine and
was refused, Edith Schryver insisted on being moved to another
table. There she met Elizabeth Lord who would become her lifetime
companion and partner in one of the pioneer landscaping firms
of the Northwest, Lord and Schryver.
Elizabeth Lord's inspiration for pursuing a career in gardening
was her mother, Juliet, who founded Salem Floral Society in
1915. The society, now called the Salem Garden Club, was Oregon's
first organization dedicated to floral gardening.
After her mother's death in 1924, Lord attended Lawthrope
School of Landscape Architecture in Groton, Massachusetts. Elizabeth
Lord, like Edith Schryver, traveled overseas to pursue further
study in garden design. The friends traveled and studied together
for several months in England and on the continent. At the end
of their trip Lord brought Schryver to Salem, her hometown.
According to a brochure published by the Gaiety Hill/ Bush’s
Pasture Park Historical District, "The 1929 founding of
the firm of Lord and Schryver in Salem is considered one of
the milestones in the history of Northwest garden design, as
Lord and Schryver were the first women landscape architects
in the Northwest. For the next four decades, the partners designed
and supervised work in Seattle, Tacoma, and Portland."
(In Salem, Lord and Schryver are known for their work at the
historic Deepwood estate among other commissions.)" Though
the volume of work was comparatively small, the quality was
consistently high. [They] brought to Oregon an intellectual
Eastern command of craft and style, combined with an instructive
sense of landscape taste otherwise unknown in Oregon during
this period."
Lord was Chairperson of the Willamette Valley Division of the
State Federation of Garden Clubs. She continued her public service
as a member of the Salem Garden Club where she was responsible
for the plantings at Salem's Marion County Courthouse.
In 1937 she was appointed to the Salem Parks Board where
she struggled with an inadequate budget and the problems of
Englewood, Willson, and Pringle Parks. Lord served on the Parks
Board for nine years and also served on the Salem Parks Advisory
Committee. As Chairperson of Salem's Tree Committee she fought
for a curbside tree planting program which included city responsibility
for the upkeep of trees in residential areas.
Elizabeth Lord was a member of state's Capitol Planning Commission
from 1949 to 1963. She was especially involved with the landscaping
of the Capitol Mall and the salvage of Capitol Park's old plantings
after the Columbus Day storm in 1962.
During her tenure as a board member and president of the Salem
Art Association, Lord assisted in the purchase of historic furnishings
for the Bush House, a city landmark managed by the association.
From 1952 to 1968 she was responsible for landscaping the historic
Minthorn House in Newberg, boyhood home of United States president
Herbert Hoover.
Elizabeth Lord once said, "Salem people have never seemed
to realize the great privilege we possess to make the city one
of the outstandingly beautiful cities in our country."
Although Lord died in 1975 at the age of 88 (followed by Edith
Schryver in 1984,) her presence is with us today in the continuing
gifts of natural beauty found in the residential gardens, neighborhood
parks, and public areas designed by Lord and Schryver.
Compiled by Virginia Green
Bibliography:
We are indebted to Ruth Roberts for this story of Elizabeth
and Edith's meeting.
Biographical information about Elizabeth Lord's achievements
have been taken from an article in Panegyric II, a publication
of the Mission Mill Museum, Inc., January 13, 1973.
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Edith Schryver and Elizabeth
Lord,c.1929
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