Joel T. Fry, longtime curator at Bartram’s Garden, archaeologist, historian, and writer, has died at 66
"When he spoke it was like a waterfall of information and insight," a friend said. "In spite of his intellectual expertise and rigor, Joel ever remained the most humble and gracious person."
Joel T. Fry, 66, of Philadelphia, longtime gardener, curator, and historian at Bartram’s Garden, archaeologist, writer, and lecturer, died Tuesday, March 21, of lung cancer at Pennsylvania Hospital.
Mr. Fry became curator and historian at Bartram’s Garden in 1992 and spent the next 30 years researching, writing about, and sharing the botanical history of that National Historic Landmark on the western bank of the Schuylkill in Southwest Philadelphia.
As researcher and historian, he painstakingly cataloged more than 2,000 plants in Bartram’s Garden dating to 1783, uncovered more than 10,000 relics of old flower pots in an archaeological dig, and updated the garden’s voluminous historical records. As tour guide, he introduced countless visitors to the natural wonders of Bartram’s Garden and other nearby historical sites.
He lectured at community centers and garden clubs, mentored students on field trips and summer internships, and championed the inclusion of traditional ecological knowledge into modern thinking and the expansion of research into local Black history.
Friendly and openly passionate about the natural world, Mr. Fry had deep connections with deep thinkers in Philadelphia and around the world. Colleagues said he and fellow scholars at such places as the Society for the History of Natural History in London, Painshill Park Trust in Surrey, England, and the Yale Center for British Art in Connecticut spent time “leapfrogging between topics for hours with seemingly no limit to Joel’s insight, learning, or interests.”
In a tribute, friends said: “Dozens of gardeners, historians, archaeologists, scientists, and colleagues … relied on Joel as an inexhaustible source of scholarly expertise, dry wit, and constant inspiration.”
He was the featured speaker at the 2018 opening of the Peter Collinson Heritage Garden at Mill Hill School in London and worked closely with colleagues at the Bartram Trail Conference, Penn’s McNeil Center for Early American Studies, and the Center for Art in Wood.
He oversaw the special collections library at Bartram’s, edited and contributed to books about the garden, and published many essays and articles. He even advised best-selling authors when their story plots required believable horticultural details.
Born Feb. 22, 1957, Joel Timothy Fry grew up in Berwyn and graduated from Conestoga High School in 1975. His father grew up on a local farm, and Mr. Fry spent many weekends wandering through its fields and gardens.
His abiding interest in ecology and research was piqued during his teenage years when he took a course on archaeological training at what is now the Penn Museum. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in anthropology and master’s degree in American civilization and historical archaeology at the University of Pennsylvania.
He worked for a time as an archaeological and historical consultant and became familiar with Bartram’s Garden in the 1980s when he used its grounds for a class on archaeological technique.
A voracious reader, Mr. Fry liked to recommend his favorite books to friends. He enjoyed music and movies, and could talk at length about the history and ecology of daffodils. Friends noted his “limitless curiosity” and called him “beloved and revered.”
In recently describing his ideal garden to a friend, Mr. Fry suggested plenty of conifers and lilies. “Plant two of everything,” he advised, “because one will die.”
“Those of us who had the pleasure of working with Joel knew him to be a generous committed scholar,” staff at the Philadelphia Archaeological Forum said in a Facebook tribute. “He will be missed.”
Mr. Fry is survived by two brothers, a sister, and other relatives.
Memorial services are to be held later.