Honoring Excellence

Creation of the AHS’s National Award Program, which is now called the Great American Gardeners Awards. Four awards were given in this inaugural year: Horticultural Writing, Professional Award, Teaching Award, and Scientific Award. In 1958, the first Liberty Hyde Bailey Medal is awarded to John Wister by the AHC. This award was integrated into the AHS’s Great American Gardeners Awards program and is now considered the Society’s most prestigious honor, given for lifetime achievements in horticulture.