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In 1987 PHS rolled out a new program, initially called “Center City Green” and later known as Public Landscapes. Its purpose: to develop and serve as an advocate for highly visible green spaces within the city of Philadelphia. One of the early projects of this newly formed department was to create a “Ribbon of Gold” – mass plantings of yellow perennials – across the city.

“Tying the city in a Ribbon of Gold, plantings of black-eyed susans and other yellow flowering perennials throughout Philadelphia, was one of the winning entries in the competition City Visions, sponsored by Certainteed Corporation and the Foundation for Architecture in 1986 “ (1988 PHS Yearbook:27)  Over the next few years, Ribbon of Gold plantings appeared at 18^th & Glenwood adjacent to the Amtrak line near the North Philadelphia station; at a traffic triangle near 47^th & Gray’s Ferry in West Philadelphia; along the 26^th Street gateway from the airport to Center City; in several blocks of Spring Garden Street medians; and in terraces of the Eastern State Penitentiary. The image below is the cover photo for our 1989 Yearbook. See more Ribbon of Gold project images here in our online digital archive.

                                                                   ---  answered by Janet Evans, PHS McLean Library Associate Director