A new documentary film by the Garden Conservancy, Earth, I Thank You: The Garden and Legacy of Anne Spencer, will be shown in two events accompanied by poetry this August on the East End.
The film explores the historic home garden in Virginia of Harlem Renaissance poet, civil rights advocate, and gardener Anne Spencer.
Screenings will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at the Landcraft Garden Foundation in Mattituck and on Saturday, Aug. 29 at The Church in Sag Harbor.
The 37-minute documentary celebrates the cultural and historical significance of the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum in Lynchburg, Va.
It recently had its world premiere at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and its New York Premiere at The Frick Collection.
“It is rare for a historic house and garden to survive intact—especially one belonging to an African American,” according to the Garden Conservancy. “Spencer’s beloved garden was an oasis where she wrote much of her poetry, drawing inspiration and insights from the natural beauty surrounding her.”
The garden was also a vibrant gathering place, welcoming luminaries and civil rights leaders including Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, Thurgood Marshall, George Washington Carver, and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Earth, I Thank You traces the evolution of the property from a personal retreat to a nationally significant cultural landscape. The home and garden are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the Virginia Landmarks Register, ensuring their preservation for future generations.
“She writes that this garden was half her world, and it really was half her world,” says her granddaughter, Shaun Spencer-Hester, the Executive Director of the Anne Spencer House, in the film. “She couldn’t vote. She was a black woman who was very vocal here in this city. It was a place that she used to come to write, and to garden, but also to escape — to get away from the things that were going on outside of this garden gate.”
“Through documentary film, we can preserve the ephemeral nature of a garden, and capture the sensory experience of visiting these living works of art. We can also capture the remarkable voices of the garden’s creators and stewards,” said James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of the Garden Conservancy. “Anne Spencer’s garden is extraordinarily important in helping us share a broad and diverse range of American gardening stories. We hope this film inspires further understanding of Spencer’s exceptional legacy, and the value of preserving such a significant space.”
The Landcraft Garden Foundation event will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1 at 6:30 p.m. James Brayton Hall, President and CEO of the Garden Conservancy, will introduce the film, which will be followed with select readings from Anne Spencer’s work by State Poet of New York Kimiko Hahn and Suffolk County Poet Laureate Chip Williford.
RSVP to this free event via Eventbrite here.
On Saturday, Aug. 29, at 3 p.m., The Church in Sag Harbor’s presentation will include appearances by Brent Leggs, the President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and the poet Kevin Young, 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize recipient and National Book Critics Circle Awardee, both of whom are featured in the film and who will reflect on the legacy and contributions of Anne Spencer as well as gardens in African American culture.
The program at The Church is presented in tandem with the summer exhibition This Land: Considering the American Landscape. Reflecting upon the 250th anniversary of the United States, the exhibition explores the people and histories that have shaped the American experience and our understanding of the land itself.
Tickets are $25 for general admission and $20 for members. For more information, visit The Church.
The trailer for the film can be viewed at gardenconservancy.org/films.
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