Gardner was born in Manchester, New Hampshire and attended school in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago.
[1] After an interval as a teacher, she returned to the same university to study art history, and received a master's degree in 1918.
[2] In 1919, she became the head of the photograph and lantern-slides department at the Ryerson Library of the Art Institute of Chicago.
In 1922, she made the choice to resign her position at the library to spare more time for teaching.
Frequently revised, it remains a standard textbook at American schools and universities.