The courtyard between Henry, Foulke, Laughlin, and 1901 halls will be named for Beatrix Jones Farrand, whose work as Princeton’s landscape architect from 1912 to 1943 continues to flourish on campus today.
The only woman among the founders of the American Society of Landscape Architects, Farrand was first hired to design landscaping for the Graduate College. She also designed plantings for Prospect Gardens, Blair Walk, Hamilton and Holder courtyards, and the courtyard that will now bear her name. Her designs were known for simplicity and ease of maintenance, and she generally chose plants that would bloom in the spring or fall — such as forsythias and Japanese flowering cherry trees — to be enjoyed by students.
Farrand’s legacy endures not only through her designs, but through “continuing application of guidelines she developed that have shaped Princeton’s landscape through successive generations,” history professor Angela Creager said in a Feb. 5 statement. Creager chairs a committee charged with recommending names for campus spaces to honor a more diverse group of people.