[United States Government Manual] [June 01, 2000] [Pages 45-46] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]UNITED STATES BOTANIC GARDEN Office of Executive Director, 245 First Street SW., Washington, DC 20024 Phone, 202-225-8333. Internet, www.aoc.gov. Conservatory, Maryland Avenue, First to Second Streets SW., Washington, DC 20024 Phone, 202-225-6647 Production Facility, 4700 Shepherd Parkway SW., Washington, DC 20032 Phone, 202-563-2220 Director (Architect of the Capitol) Alan M. Hantman Executive Director (vacancy) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The United States Botanic Garden informs visitors about the aesthetic, cultural, economic, therapeutic, and ecological importance of plants to the well-being of humankind. The U.S. Botanic Garden carries out its mission by presenting artistic displays of plants, exhibits, and a program of educational activities; promoting botanical knowledge through the cultivation of an ordered collection of plants; fostering plant conservation by acting as a repository for endangered species; and growing plants for the beautification of the Capitol complex. Uniquely situated at the heart of the U.S. Government, the Botanic Garden seeks to promote the exchange of ideas and information relevant to this mission among national and international visitors and policymakers. Collections of the U.S. Botanic Garden include orchids, epiphytes, bromeliads, carnivorous plants, ferns, cycads, cacti, succulents, medicinal plants, rare and endangered plants, and plants valued as sources of food, beverages, fibers, and other industrial products. The U.S. Botanic Garden is currently undergoing a significant expansion and transformation. The Conservatory, one of the largest structures of its kind in this country, closed to the public on September 2, 1997, for a complete renovation. In addition to upgraded amenities for visitors, it will feature 12 new exhibit and plant display areas interpreting plants in their relationship to humankind and to the environment. The Conservatory is expected to reopen in the year 2001. Construction for the National Garden, a 3-acre site just west of the Conservatory, is scheduled for 2001. This new public facility will feature a First Ladies water garden, a formal rose garden, a showcase garden displaying the outstanding native plants of the Mid-Atlantic region in naturalistic settings, and the Senator John Heinz Environmental Learning Center. [[Page 46]] Outdoor plantings are showcased in Bartholdi Park, a home landscape demonstration area. Each of the displays is sized and scaled for suitability in an urban or suburban house site. The gardens display ornamental plants that perform well in this region arrayed in a variety of styles and themes. Also located in this park is Bartholdi Fountain, created by Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), sculptor of the Statue of Liberty. The Botanic Garden makes available many rare and interesting botanical specimens for study to students, botanists, and floriculturists . In addition to educational programs and special exhibits, a horticultural hotline is available to answer questions from the public. The U.S. Botanic Garden was founded in 1820 under the auspices of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, an organization that was the outgrowth of an association known as the Metropolitan Society and that received its charter from Congress on April 20, 1818. The Garden continued under the direction of this Institute until 1837, when the Institute ceased to exist as an active organization. The Botanic Garden remained abandoned until 1842, when it became necessary for the Government to provide accommodations for the botanical collections brought to Washington, DC, from the South Seas by the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838-42, under the leadership of Capt. Charles Wilkes. The collections were placed temporarily on exhibition at the Patent Office upon return of the expedition in June 1842. The first greenhouse for this purpose was constructed in 1842 on a lot behind the Patent Office Building under the direction and control of the Joint Committee of Congress on the Library, from funds appropriated by Congress. The act of May 15, 1850 (9 Stat. 427), provided for the relocation of the Botanic Garden under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library. The site selected was on The Mall at the west end of the Capitol Grounds, practically the same site the Garden occupied during the period it functioned under the Columbia Institute. This site was later enlarged, and the main area continued to serve as the principal Botanic Garden site from 1850 to 1933, when the Garden was relocated to its present site. Although the Botanic Garden began functioning as a Government-owned institution in 1842, the records indicate that it was not until 1856 that the maintenance of the Garden was specifically placed under the direction of the Joint Committee on the Library and a regular, annual appropriation was provided by Congress (11 Stat. 104). At the present time the Joint Committee exercises its supervision through the Architect of the Capitol, who has been serving as Acting Director since 1934. For further information concerning the United States Botanic Garden, contact the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, U.S. Capitol Building, Washington, DC 20515. Phone, 202-228-1793. Horticulture Hotline, 202-563-1222. Internet, www.aoc.gov. ------------------------------------------------------------------------