Series begins on women's garden work - by Jeanette Hardy, Staff Write

Catherine Brown - a native of Baton Rouge and a graduate of the landscape architecture school at Louisiana State University - was not particularly well-known around New Orleans during her lifetime. But her brother Mark Brown lived on Garden Lane and during visits to his home she was inevitably drawn next door to wander through the gardens at Longue Vue.

When Catherine Brown, a nationally respected urban designer, died in April after a two-year struggle with cancer, a memorial service was held on the grounds at Longue Vue. Her husband and work partner, William Morrish, established an annual endowed lecture at Longue Vue in her name.

Brown and Morrish spent most of their married life in Minneapolis, where they established the University of Minnesota's Design Center for the American Urban Landscape. Morrish saw the lecture series as a way to gather his wife's friends together each year and to further scholarship on matters that were important to her.

The first of these gatherings takes place at the Longue Vue's Playhouse at 7 p.m. February 24. It features landscape architect Diana Balmori, founder and principal of Balmori Associates design firm in New Haven, CT, and a lecturer at Yale University. The title of her talk, "The Life and Work of a Modern Woman Landscape Architect," is a subject close to the heart of Brown as well as Balmori.

"Catherine was one of the first people to do any research on women's contributions to landscape architecture," said landscape historian Suzanne Turner of Baton Rouge, a friend of Brown's since childhood. "Her husband thought that a lecture series that would be meaningful to her should focus on women."

Turner said Longue Vue was the right setting for the series not only because Brown loved to be there, but also because the gardens were the work of three women - Ellen Biddle Shipman, Edith Stern, and Caroline Dormon.

Longue Vue director, Grace Gary, said contributions for the endowment have come from people all over the United States. "It is amazing to see how many people must have loved her," Gary said. She said the talks will be a good way to gather academics and garden enthusiasts and address their common interests.

For more information, call Longue Vue House and Gardens, 504-488-5488.