Biographical Note
Florence Homes Gerke (nee Hill) was born February 16, 1896 in Portland, Oregon. She was a graduate of Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University) and of the Cambridge School of Landscape Architecture in Massachusetts. Gerke served as the landscape architect for the city of Portland. She was charged with designing the gardens in Washington Park, including the Portland International Test Garden, Amphitheatre, and Shakespeare Garden as well as Grant, Irving, and Dawson parks. With her husband, Gerke founded the Oregon Society of Landscape Architects and served as one of its presidents. She also wrote a column for the Oregon Journal in the late 1930s in the capacity of garden editor.
Florence Holmes Gerke died February 22, 1964.
Although the exact date is unknown, Walter Henry Gerke was born around 1891 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He graduated from Oregon Agricultural College in 1916. Gerke became the first arborculturalist, in 1921, to be hired by the Portland Parks Bureau. He married Florence Hill in 1922, and they worked together as architects from 1924 until her death in 1964. Together they designed the gardens for the Lloyd Center in Portland (a shopping mall), the Dammasch State Hospital grounds in Salem, and the grounds for the Shriners' Children's Hospital in Portland.
Walter Henry Gerke died November 29, 1982.
Content Description
The blueprints and tracings found in this collection of landscape architectural drawings represent projects done in Oregon. Architectural drawings for the Bonneville Power Navigation Project include the planting plans for the permanent headquarters; the plans for walks, curbs, gutters and sprinkler systems for the permanent headquarters area; and the planting plan for the auditorium area.
Another project is represented in a drawing of the Dammasch State Hospital in Clackamas County, Oregon. (Note: this site plan is badly water damaged and torn) Also included are the landscape plans for various gardens in Washington Park, located in Portland, Oregon.
Three matted photographs consist of various angles of a garden designed for Mr. and Mrs. Herman Blessing, Jr. of Portland, Oregon.
Use of the Collection
Restrictions on Access Collection is open to the public.
Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room.
Restrictions on Use Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Preferred Citation [Identification of item Walter H. and Florence Holmes Gerke Landscape Architecture Drawings, Coll. 144, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.