Julia Lester Dillon

Julia Lester Dillon (1871–1959) was an American teacher from Georgia, who because of the death of her husband and her hearing loss, trained in landscape architecture. She was one of the first women to write extensively about gardening in the south and ran a regularly featured column which appeared in several newspapers and magazines. She designed spaces to enhance post offices for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and created the Memorial Park in Sumter, South Carolina. Based on her experience, she then served as Sumter Superintendent of Parks and Trees for twenty years. Dillon remained in Sumter after retiring. She continued writing until 1954, despite losing both her hearing and her sight. Julia Lester Dillon died in Sumter on March 24, 1959. She is buried in Magnolia Cemetery in Augusta, Georgia. She was inscribed upon the Georgia Women of Achievement roster in 2003.

Biography Julia Lester was born on March 9, 1871, in Warren County, Georgia, to Martha (née Pemble) and Benjamin D. Lester and grew up in Augusta, Georgia. In 1866, she graduated from Tubman High School of Augusta and went on to further her education at Peabody College, where she earned her teaching credentials in 1890. That same year, she began teaching and was working at the Davidson Grammar School Lester married William Bennett Dillon, who was principal of Central Grammar School, in 1892 but was widowed by 1894. Forced to be self-supporting, Dillon returned to teaching and taught for several years at Houghton Grammar School; then in Louisiana between 1905 and 1906; and later at a women's night school, D'Antignac School, for several years. Because of hearing loss, possibly due to diphtheria, she looked for other sources of income, including writing and becoming a stenographer for Dr. T. E. Oertel for a time. and was considered one of the experts in her field. Her 1922 book, The Blossom Circle of the Year in Southern Gardens, became widely known as well as The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Upon completion of the city park, Dillon was offered a full-time position as the city landscape architect, Dillon's retirement in 1948.

She died on March 24, 1959, in Augusta, Georgia, and was buried at the Magnolia Cemetery beside her husband. 1917 Thomasville Georgia Post Office landscape 1920–1924 Memorial Park, Sumter, South Carolina

Selected works