Sarah Gildersleeve Fife (28 Sep 1885 – 20 May 1949) was a prominent force among women bibliophiles in the first half of the 20th century and a leader in gardening and horticulture, advocating the use of plantings around army bases and military hospitals.
[2] She married Robert Herndon Fife, professor of Germanic languages and literature at Columbia University.
In 1944, Fife helped found the Hroswitha Club of women book collectors in New York City and served as its first president.
The club was named for Hrotsvitha, a 10th-century German secular canoness, as well as a dramatist and poet who lived and worked in the Abbey of Gandersheim, in modern-day Lower Saxony.
As an affiliate of the Garden Club of America, she reported on their activities which included the establishment of a reference library.
This amount matched that donated by the California State Park Board Fund, making the purchase possible.
The Horticultural Society was a member of the non-profit corporation Hortus, the entity chosen for planning and administering the Gardens on Parade exhibit at the Fair.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions to the activities of the club and to American Gardening and Horticulture, the Sarah Gildersleeve Fife Award was created (see below).