Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Item
Title
D35486-1
Date(s)
- 1948-09-27 (Creation)
Extent
Name of creator
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
Bill Herdman, gardener at Stadium High School, with beautiful bouquet of flowers including dahlias in a photograph dated September 27, 1948. Mr. Herdman was wearing his signature outfit of "newsboy" cap, vest, tie, rolled-up sleeves and trousers. An article about Mr. Herdman in the Tacoma Daily Ledger's October 11, 1931 edition, 17 years before, also showed Mr. Herdman in similar clothing. William (Bill) Herdman was an Englishman who learned his gardening craft on English estates and also in gardens near Newscastle. He came to Tacoma about 1910 and had been the official gardener for the Tacoma school system since 1913. He first started at Lincoln High School and then Stadium High with six intermediate schools in between. Mr. Herdman was also responsible for the district's playfields, baseball diamonds and football gridirons. A bachelor, he lived in the caretaker's home in back of Stadium High since he began working for the schools. Dahlias and gladiolas were his favorite blooms. (scan of original negative, no print on file) (TDL 10-11-1931, A-16; Tacoma Sunday Times, 12-5-1948, p. 41)
Herdman, William; Gardening--Tacoma; Stadium High School (Tacoma)--1940-1950; Public schools--Tacoma--1940-1950; Flowers--Tacoma--1940-1950;