Rhea R. McCandliss 1967 Speech
A reflection on our past, a glimpse into the future.
Submitted by: Derrick Stowell, AHTA Immediate Past President
In October 1967, Rhea R. McCandliss gave a talk at the professional staff meeting of Menninger Memorial Hospital located at the time in Topeka, KS. Rhea was instrumental in the development of the horticultural therapy profession. She was instrumental in the founding of the National Council for Therapy and Rehabilitation through Horticulture in 1973, now called the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA). She also conducted a valuable national study of hospitals using horticulture as therapy 1968 (Relf, 2019). Over the years the AHTA has collected publications and writings of those in the profession. I recently read McCandliss’ essay, I felt that the words spoken in 1967 are still important for our profession today. One statement in this speech clarified the difference between simply gardening and horticultural therapy: