Founder of the Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture, Gardening and Horticulture for Women, Judith Motley Low (1841-1933) created the first school intended solely to prepare women as professionals in a field dominated by men. So respected were its students that Ellen Shipman, named the dean of women landscape architects in House & Garden magazine in 1933, hired only Lowthorpe graduates. Many became pioneers in the profession of landscape architecture.

Low was the great granddaughter of Benjamin Bussey, who bequeathed his estate, Woodland Hill, to Harvard College for the creation of an institution for instruction in farming, horticulture and related fields. This became the Arnold Arboretum. Low, who knew the property well, is believed to have studied horticulture at the Arboretum’s Bussey Institute.

In 1901, she founded the Lowthorpe School on a 17-acre campus in Groton, Massachusetts in memory of her husband, Edward Gilchrist Low. Instruction emphasized private residential design rather than public gardens, as this field was considered more suitable for women. Intensive study in plant form, horticultural skills and planting design was also offered. A hands-on approach, along with classroom instruction offered by instructors drawn to the school by the founder’s Boston connections, provided a quality program.

The school incorporated eight years later and a board of directors, comprised of women, was chosen. Low presided as president. In 1915, the course curriculum expanded from two to three years and diplomas were awarded, with the official name changed to Lowthorpe School of Landscape Architecture for Women. In 1945, the school merged into the Rhode Island School of Design and became the basis of RISD’s Landscape Architecture Department.