Mon, May 12
|MUSC Drug Discovery Building
HORT Lecture Series: John Henderson: Robert Marvin Believed Landscape Architecture Was More Than Planting Azaleas
Join us as John Henderson, grandson of legendary landscape architect Robert Marvin, brings his family’s legacy full circle in a special lecture honoring Marvin’s life and work. With deep roots in the Lowcountry, John will explore how his grandfather's visionary approach shaped some of South Carolina
Time & Location
May 12, 2025, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
MUSC Drug Discovery Building , 70 President St, Charleston, SC 29425, USA
About the event
Robert Marvin, Landscape Architect & Lowcountry Visionary
Join us for a special lecture by John Henderson, grandson of renowned landscape architect Robert Marvin, as he shares the story of a legacy rooted in the Lowcountry. Marvin believed that landscape architecture was more than planting azaleas—it was about creating places where people could truly belong.
Born in Colleton County in 1920, Marvin grew up on the vast Bonnie Doone Plantation, where his love for the Lowcountry’s marshes and forests took root early. Inspired by visiting landscape architects working on the plantation, he studied horticulture at Clemson and later earned a graduate degree in landscape architecture from the University of Georgia.
After serving as a captain in WWII, Marvin returned home and opened his landscape architecture practice in Walterboro in 1947—far from the urban centers where most of his peers set up shop. He believed in designing spaces that let people connect…