Kate Sessions (1857-1940) was a pioneering figure in the field of horticulture, known as the “Mother of Balboa Park.”
Kate Sessions (1857-1940) was a pioneering figure in the field of horticulture, known as the “Mother of Balboa Park.”
While motherhood can take many forms, to mother is to usher forth new generations through care, work and imagination. For the entire month of December, we’re celebrating mothers — including those who raised children who went on to lead the civil rights movement and school desegregation efforts, such as Alberta King and Louise Little, as well as mothers of movements like Lorena Borjas who started the Latinx trans movement. All of the women featured this month were dedicated to the survival of children in their work and to imagining better futures for the next generation.
History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.
Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.
Womanica was created by Liz Kaplan and Jenny Kaplan, executive produced by Jenny Kaplan, and produced by Liz Smith, Grace Lynch, Maddy Foley, Brittany Martinez, Edie Allard, Lindsey Kratochwill, Adesuwa Agbonile, Carmen Borca-Carrillo, Taylor Williamson, Ale Tejeda, Sara Schleede, Abbey Delk, and Alex Jhamb Burns. Special thanks to Shira Atkins.
Original theme music composed by Miles Moran.
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Hello! From Wonder Media Network, I'm Anna Malaika Tubbs, the author of The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of MLK, Malcom X and James Baldwin Shaped A Nation. My work focuses on motherhood, through the lens of feminism, intersectionality, and inclusivity, and I’ll be your guest host for this month of Womanica.
This month, we’re talking about mothers: women who ushered forth new generations and new futures through their care, work, and imagination.
Today we are talking about a pioneering figure in the field of horticulture. Best known for the land she cultivated in San Diego, let’s meet the “Mother of Balboa Park”, Kate Sessions.
Kate Olivia Sessions was born in Nob Hill, San Francisco on November 8, 1857.When she was around ten years old, her family moved to a farm near Oakland.
On the farm, she enjoyed an idyllic, pastoral upbringing. She helped her mother in the garden and became interested in collecting and preserving wildflowers. Shortly following her graduation from high school, Kate embarked on a two month trip around the Sandwich Islands – now known as Hawaii.
When she returned from her trip, she enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in the science department. And in 1881, she became one of the program’s first female graduates. Following graduation, Kate considered several careers. The most available path for women at the time was to go into teaching. So Kate began her career as a teacher – first in Oakland and then later in San Diego.
. In San Diego, Kate met a couple who owned a nearby farm and flower shop. They were looking for a business partner and Kate willingly took the opportunity to shift fields. While the partnership lasted only a few years, Kate continued operating their nursery and floral shop.
Eventually, Kate left the flower shop with ideas of her own and broke into the male-dominated field of horticulture. For the next fifty years, she was the owner of her own plant nursery business, which became her entire life. She never married.
At one point, Kate entered into a partnership with the city of San Diego. In exchange for running her nursery in City Park – now Balboa Park – Kate provided horticulture services to the city. The agreement included developing an experimental garden, planting 100 trees each year in the park and providing 300 additional trees to be planted elsewhere throughout San Diego.
During Kate’s ten year lease in the park, she planted hundreds of trees, earning her the designation, “Mother of Balboa Park.” She meticulously introduced new climate appropriate plants to the region, she championed planting native species and campaigned for better civic beautification.
When she wasn’t planting trees, Kate was busy studying and writing about plants. She was a founding member of the San Diego Floral Association and a regular contributor to her local paper where she published a column on gardening. She taught school children about horticulture and organized the city’s first celebration of Arbor Day.
Though Kate concentrated much of her work to the city of San Diego, she also contributed to the larger horticulture community. Kate was a test grower for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and corresponded with plant scientists across the globe. Some of these relationships resulted in a 1925 trip throughout Europe and a return trip to Hawaii. Kate also earned the title “Dean of California Horticulturists” and was asked to help break ground for the Horticulture Building in San Francisco for the Golden Gate International Exhibition.
In 1939, Kate fell while working in her garden and broke her hip. She came down with a bad case of pneumonia and on March 24, 1940, she passed away. Her memory lives on in the horticulture community and particularly in San Diego. Decades after her death, a bronze statue of her was erected at one of the entrances to Balboa Park.
All month, we’re talking about mothers. For more information, find us on Facebook and Instagram @womanicapodcast.
Special thanks to co-creators Jenny and Liz Kaplan, for having me as a guest host.
Talk to you tomorrow!