WUNC’s “The State of Things” focuses on J. C. Raulston

Renowned garden writer Bobby Ward will join Molly Renda, NCSU Libraries Exhibits Program Librarian, as guests on WUNC’s (91.5) radio show “The State of Things” on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 12:00 p.m. to talk about the legacy of innovative horticulturist, NC State professor and arboretum namesake J. C. Raulston.

The Libraries’ D. H. Hill Jr. Library Gallery currently hosts the exhibit “Plan–and Plant for a Better World” J. C. Raulston and The North Carolina State University Arboretum, which runs through Dec. 31. The exhibit celebrates Raulston’s unique contributions to NC State, his students, and the many colleagues, nursery owners, landscape designers, and gardeners who learned and benefited from his passionate work. Based on Ward’s biography of Raulston, Chlorophyll in His Veins, the exhibit tells Raulston’s story from his Oklahoma childhood through two decades at the university during which he developed what would become the JC Raulston Arboretum.

An indefatigable mentor, Raulston had an enormous impact on the nursery industry in the U.S., from the late 1970s until his tragic death in an automobile accident in 1996 at the age of 56. The visually dynamic exhibit draws upon Raulston’s rich archive of travel notebooks, lecture notes, ephemera, and correspondence, as well as a collection of over 88,000 color slides. The NCSU Libraries, which houses Raulston’s letters in its Special Collections Research Center, has produced an 80-page, full-color catalog to accompany the exhibit. The award-winning catalog is available for purchase.

Funding for “Plan–and Plant for a Better World” J. C. Raulston and The North Carolina State University Arboretum is generously supported by the Goodnight Educational Foundation Library Endowment for Special Collections and the Francis E. and Julie G. McVay Library Endowment for Archives and Manuscript Collections.