Our Story
Raleigh Hemerocallis Club: A Brief History
Compiled by Ken Cobb
In The Beginning
Long before there was a Raleigh Hemerocallis Club (RHC), there was an organization called the Midwest Hemerocallis Society, founded in July of 1946 in Shenandoah, Iowa. The successful Midwest Hemerocallis Society only existed until the summer of 1948 when it had become national in scope. Thus, the name was changed to The Hemerocallis Society and later incorporated as The American Hemerocallis Society (AHS).
In the early years, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were one of the Society’s original ten regions. Due to a widely dispersed membership, there were no local clubs. Through the efforts of hybridizer and NC State professor Baker Wynne of Raleigh, the North Carolina Hemerocallis Society (NCHS) was formed in Raleigh on June 19, 1954. A state society meeting was hosted in Raleigh by the NCHS in 1955 and the NCHS hosted a regional meeting in 1966, prior to formation of the local club. Annual meetings followed in other cities held by counter-parts in South Carolina or Georgia.
As the Georgia society grew more robust, it became necessary to restructure the region along geographic lines. Thus, in 1960 AHS Region 15 was formed, consisting of the two Carolinas. The sixties had begun with strong state societies and a weak regional organization. The seventies would see the immediate decline of the state societies and the emergence of many local clubs within a unified region.
Club Formation
In his short tenure as Regional President, before accepting an appointment to the AHS Board of Directors, Jim Cooper stressed the need for developing local clubs. Jim chaired an organizational meeting of the Raleigh Hemerocallis Club (RHC) with twenty-one persons showing up on May 12, 1970, at the North Carolina State University Faculty Club. The RHC officers were installed on June 11, 1970 with Henry K. Witherspoon named as president. By the end of that first year, the club had 41 members. It was reported in 1978 that it had grown to 114 and that 29 of those charter members were still active. Among other founding club members still remembered by some in the current club were Harvey and Edith Horne, Mildred Umstead, Myrtha Wilson, and Dr. John Lambert. Of the founders, only Edith is still living.
Club Highlights
RHC is the oldest club in North Carolina, and oldest continually operating club in either state still operating under its original name and in its original city. RHC has hosted eight Region 15 summer meetings, one being a national convention in 1976. The club has also hosted two AHS Fall Board Meetings, 1993 and 2006, and three fall regional meetings.
RHC hosted its first accredited flower show combined with a regional meeting in June of 1972 at the N.C. State Faculty Club. In the late 1970’s, RHC helped develop what is thought to have become the first public AHS Daylily Display Garden in Region 15, the Raleigh Municipal Hemerocallis Garden at Jaycee Park on Wade Avenue. The club continues to advise the city, and has supervised work days in the city gardens dating back to 1979.
Over the years, RHC has made financial donations for city parks and Raulston Arboretum interns plus horticulture scholarships to NC State.
Arguably RHC is first in the region in terms of service and honors won. Club members have served AHS Region 15 as: Regional President (7), Regional Second Vice President (6), Regional Publicity Director (3), Newsletter Editor (5), and Secretary/Treasurer (2). Members have served at the national level as: AHS Director (5), AHS Vice President (2), AHS President (2), and Registrar (1). All of the directors served on the AHS Executive Committee. In addition, many national committee chairmanships currently are or have been held by individuals active in the club. Some have also served as members of regional or national committees.
RHC members have garnered their share of national and regional awards as well. Honors presented to individuals or couples include: the Bertrand Farr Silver Medal, highest achievement for hybridizing (1), Helen Field Fischer Gold Medal for service (2), Moldovan Medal for Mentoring (1), AHS Regional Service Medals (7), Carolina Service Award (8), and the Region 15 Pruitt Mentoring Award (3). There have been three national awards for AHS Best Regional Newsletter editing and one for Best Use of Pictures and Graphics. Numerous awards have been won for individual newsletter articles as well as for AHS and regional photo contests.
Initially, the club year ran from April through August, five meetings, expanding to eight in 1977 and eventually nine today – February through October. Educational programs have been and continue to be presented by many well-known hybridizers as well as by others on related horticultural topics such as companion plants, pest control, and flower photography.
RHC is now nearing fifty years of service to the Raleigh area through educational programs, public flower shows, support of public gardens, scholarships/internships, and promotion of the awareness of the daylily.
Compiled by Ken Cobb
In The Beginning
Long before there was a Raleigh Hemerocallis Club (RHC), there was an organization called the Midwest Hemerocallis Society, founded in July of 1946 in Shenandoah, Iowa. The successful Midwest Hemerocallis Society only existed until the summer of 1948 when it had become national in scope. Thus, the name was changed to The Hemerocallis Society and later incorporated as The American Hemerocallis Society (AHS).
In the early years, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia were one of the Society’s original ten regions. Due to a widely dispersed membership, there were no local clubs. Through the efforts of hybridizer and NC State professor Baker Wynne of Raleigh, the North Carolina Hemerocallis Society (NCHS) was formed in Raleigh on June 19, 1954. A state society meeting was hosted in Raleigh by the NCHS in 1955 and the NCHS hosted a regional meeting in 1966, prior to formation of the local club. Annual meetings followed in other cities held by counter-parts in South Carolina or Georgia.
As the Georgia society grew more robust, it became necessary to restructure the region along geographic lines. Thus, in 1960 AHS Region 15 was formed, consisting of the two Carolinas. The sixties had begun with strong state societies and a weak regional organization. The seventies would see the immediate decline of the state societies and the emergence of many local clubs within a unified region.
Club Formation
In his short tenure as Regional President, before accepting an appointment to the AHS Board of Directors, Jim Cooper stressed the need for developing local clubs. Jim chaired an organizational meeting of the Raleigh Hemerocallis Club (RHC) with twenty-one persons showing up on May 12, 1970, at the North Carolina State University Faculty Club. The RHC officers were installed on June 11, 1970 with Henry K. Witherspoon named as president. By the end of that first year, the club had 41 members. It was reported in 1978 that it had grown to 114 and that 29 of those charter members were still active. Among other founding club members still remembered by some in the current club were Harvey and Edith Horne, Mildred Umstead, Myrtha Wilson, and Dr. John Lambert. Of the founders, only Edith is still living.
Club Highlights
RHC is the oldest club in North Carolina, and oldest continually operating club in either state still operating under its original name and in its original city. RHC has hosted eight Region 15 summer meetings, one being a national convention in 1976. The club has also hosted two AHS Fall Board Meetings, 1993 and 2006, and three fall regional meetings.
RHC hosted its first accredited flower show combined with a regional meeting in June of 1972 at the N.C. State Faculty Club. In the late 1970’s, RHC helped develop what is thought to have become the first public AHS Daylily Display Garden in Region 15, the Raleigh Municipal Hemerocallis Garden at Jaycee Park on Wade Avenue. The club continues to advise the city, and has supervised work days in the city gardens dating back to 1979.
Over the years, RHC has made financial donations for city parks and Raulston Arboretum interns plus horticulture scholarships to NC State.
Arguably RHC is first in the region in terms of service and honors won. Club members have served AHS Region 15 as: Regional President (7), Regional Second Vice President (6), Regional Publicity Director (3), Newsletter Editor (5), and Secretary/Treasurer (2). Members have served at the national level as: AHS Director (5), AHS Vice President (2), AHS President (2), and Registrar (1). All of the directors served on the AHS Executive Committee. In addition, many national committee chairmanships currently are or have been held by individuals active in the club. Some have also served as members of regional or national committees.
RHC members have garnered their share of national and regional awards as well. Honors presented to individuals or couples include: the Bertrand Farr Silver Medal, highest achievement for hybridizing (1), Helen Field Fischer Gold Medal for service (2), Moldovan Medal for Mentoring (1), AHS Regional Service Medals (7), Carolina Service Award (8), and the Region 15 Pruitt Mentoring Award (3). There have been three national awards for AHS Best Regional Newsletter editing and one for Best Use of Pictures and Graphics. Numerous awards have been won for individual newsletter articles as well as for AHS and regional photo contests.
Initially, the club year ran from April through August, five meetings, expanding to eight in 1977 and eventually nine today – February through October. Educational programs have been and continue to be presented by many well-known hybridizers as well as by others on related horticultural topics such as companion plants, pest control, and flower photography.
RHC is now nearing fifty years of service to the Raleigh area through educational programs, public flower shows, support of public gardens, scholarships/internships, and promotion of the awareness of the daylily.