Pamela Cunningham Copeland

Mount Cuba

In 1937 the Copelands built Mount Cuba, at 3120 Barley Mill Rd., Greenville, New Castle County, Delaware, not far from Wilmington. It was designed by architects Victorine du Pont Homsey and Samuel Eldon Homsey. The house, in neo-Georgian style with extensive gardens, was furnished with eighteenth century American furniture and wood paneling. Copeland was well known for her collections of American furniture and Chinese export porcelain.

Horticultural career

Copeland became interested in native plants from the Piedmont region of the United States. In the 1940s, she created a small wildflower garden at Mount Cuba, which was later expanded. The Center was endowed in 2003 as a foundation for preserving and propagating native plants from the Piedmont region.

Copeland competed for many years in the Philadelphia Flower Show, repeatedly winning the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Horticultural Sweepstakes Trophy for points in the Horticultural Classes (e.g. 1987, 1988). In 1991, she was awarded the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society's Distinguished Achievement Award, being recognized as "a leader in the native plant naturalistic garden movement and an active proponent of conservation efforts and proper stewardship of our natural resources."

In 1987, Copeland received the Achievement Award Medal of the Garden Club of America "for her establishment of the Mount Cuba Center, for her vision in preserving rare and endangered plants, and for her understanding of horticulture and conservation". Among other awards, she also received the Edith Wharton Women of Achievement Award for Garden Design in 1997.

Conservation and preservation Copeland was involved in land conservation and historic preservation at a number of important sites, including the Red Clay Reservation in Hockessin, Delaware, Winterthur, Gunston Hall Plantation and the White House in Washington, D.C. She and her husband donated lands and money in the 1950s to create the Red Clay Reservation, preserving open lands that would otherwise have been developed. Other honors and awards included the Philanthropist of the Year Award in 1988 In 1986, Copeland received the Henry Francis du Pont Award from Winterthur Museum for her "contributions of national significance to the knowledge, preservation, and enjoyment of American decorative arts, architecture, landscape design, and gardens."

Published works Copeland co-authored The Five George Masons: Patriots and Planters of Virginia and Maryland in 1975 (University of Virginia Press) with Richard K. MacMaster. A new edition of the book was published in 2016. Copeland also wrote a memoir of growing up in Litchfield, Recollections of Pamela Cunningham Copeland(1996).

Copeland received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Washington College in 1977.

Porcelain collection Copeland collected Chinese export porcelain for nearly sixty years, collecting over 200 delicate figures and containers featuring animals, birds, and people.

Copeland died at her home, Mount Cuba, Greenville, Delaware on January 25, 2001.