The records of the Michigan Garden Clubs are a synthesis of the collections kept by individual members of the organization over time. The structure of the finding aid reflects this in that several topics such as Meeting Minutes, Correspondence, and Newsletters, appear in multiple series of the collection. The record group is divided into eight series: Administration; Activities; Landscape Design Critics Council; Gardening Consultants Council; Ruth Knott files; Awards, Loda Lake Nature Preserve, Yearbooks, and 2017 accessions.
The idea for the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan (FGCM, now Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc.) was conceived at a meeting on June 30, 1931 at the Women's League Building in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Forty representatives of 15 existing garden clubs in Michigan were present at the meeting, where a nominating committee for the new organization was appointed and a secretary and temporary president chosen. The first formal meeting took place in October of 1931 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The Federation's first president, Mrs. Joseph Dexter, who later became president of the National Council of State Garden Clubs in 1941, was instrumental in laying the groundwork for many of the projects the organization was to undertake. Due to her efforts and those of her successors, by 1941 the organization had grown from its original 15 clubs to 121 clubs, with a membership of between five and six thousand.
The first bulletin of the organization was published in December, 1931. This later became its official publication, "Thru the Garden Gate", which FCGM has only recently decided (2007) to discontinue.
During World War II many of the programs that had been started were put on hold for the duration of the war. Several garden clubs in Michigan disbanded, but new members joined and the Federation continued. The Victory Garden program became its primary project and many members volunteered at the Red Cross, Bond drives, and at various camps and hospitals. The Federation was incorporated in 1941 and became the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan, Inc.
Following the war, the Victory Gardens program continued as the Peace Gardens and other projects were begun. These included work on the Michigan section of the Blue Star Memorial Highway (completed in 1946), the "Help for Holland" and "Help for Finland and Lapland" programs in which quantities of tools, seeds, fertilizer, and insecticides were sent to the Norwegian countries, and the planting of 1,254 Freedom Gardens following the government's call for growing more vegetables in 1947.
Conservation has always been a primary concern for the organization. Its first Conservation Conference took place in 1934 in Lansing, Michigan after the State Department's declaration that if 100 women could be found who were interested in learning about conservation, it would come and give a comprehensive program. These conferences continued yearly and beginning in 1947 were held at the Higgins Lake Conference center. The first Conservation Training School for Teachers took place at Higgins Lake that year as well. In 1941 the Federation began the Loda Lake Sanctuary, the first wildlife sanctuary of the Forest Service in the Great Lakes Region, and several other initiatives followed. One of the biggest of these was the purchase by FGCM in 1980 of a large tract of land on Lake Huron known as Grass Bay. This purchase, and subsequent land grants, are managed by the Nature Conservancy and have helped to secure many miles of protected shoreline along the lake.
Education has also been one of the priorities of the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan. The first Flower Show School was organized in 1945 to standardize the judging of flower shows in the state (it was then called the Judging School Committee). Many more of these schools emerged, particularly in the early 1950s, when the Federation's Garden Therapy program was at its beginning. The first Landscape Design School was instituted in 1958 and a Landscape Critics Council was formed in 1961. A Landscape Design School was founded in Holland, Michigan in the same year. Also in 1961, an organization was created to manage scholarship funds and support students of horticulture, environmental education, and related fields. This was known as the Federation of the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan. It was incorporated in 1961 and merged with the Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan, Inc. in 2004.
In 1976 the first two Schools of Gardening were taught by Mrs. Paul Dunn. Upon completion of four courses, graduates were awarded certificates as Horticultural Consultants. These were the first of the Gardening Study Courses that the organization has continued to the present. A Gardening Consultant's Council was formed in 1980.
Through youth activities, education, celebrations, and campaigns, Michigan Garden Clubs, Inc. has and continues to play a major role in raising awareness about environmental issues, sustaining conservation initiatives, and beautifying the state of Michigan. Some of their involvements that were not mentioned above include Arbor Day, Michigan Garden Week, the establishment of Public Gardens, Roadside Beautification, the Frederick Meijer Gardens, the Daffodil Project, the Loda Lake Nature Preserve, and the Jo Russell Memorial Wildflower Project.
