Atlanta Pen Women’s Garden a Local Treasure

By Melissa Gordon Rhine and Judy Cutchins, Atlanta Branch

 

Stone Mountain is an extraordinary granite mountain reaching 800 feet above the ground just a few miles east of Atlanta. The famous mountain is surrounded by miles of trails and lovely lakes and forests. In 1960, just two years after the state of Georgia bought Stone Mountain Park, Atlanta Pen Women went to work on acquiring a bit of that beautiful forest for their own nature sanctuary. A committee was established by the branch to communicate the idea to the newly formed Stone Mountain Memorial Association.

The association then offered the Atlanta Branch of Pen Women the unique opportunity to select a wooded site within the park to become our very own nature garden. Today, our nature area within the park is a treasure — a place affectionately known as the “Pen Women Garden.”

The garden is nestled in a clearing, off a trail that twists around the mountain. You reach it by crossing a bridge over a gentle brook that runs through it.

The first thing you notice are the stepping stones, each engraved with a Pen Woman’s name and the symbols of a piano or a paintbrush, a book or a camera, representing her areas of creative work. There are no dates on the stones, giving them a timeless quality. What strikes you, as you walk along the path of stones, is the value of creative endeavor each woman must have experienced throughout her lifetime. Her creativity was her rock.

Surrounded by trees, ivy, and moss, the Atlanta Pen Women meet in the garden at different times throughout the year, sharing a few hours of solace together, painting, writing, and sharing a meal.

The quiet magic is in the natural environment, inspiring all who come. Just bring a chair, some paint, an easel, pencils, a sketch pad, or a guitar.

When the Pen Women aren’t there, some of the many hikers discover this special place by chance. Some return with cameras, catching photographs. All are welcome to “step in” and enjoy.