Thank you for supporting Community of Gardens, a digital archive created by Smithsonian Gardens in connection with the Archives of American Gardens to preserve our diverse garden heritage.

Gardens often go undocumented and are subsequently underrepresented in the historical record. Your participation in this project will contribute to the preservation of American garden history and allow historians and the general public to gain insight into the role of gardens in everyday American life, at home and abroad.

You agree that any submission you make to Community of Gardens is subject to the following terms and conditions:

At the time of your submission you must be 18 years of age or older.

Only submit what you have permission to submit.  Your submission must be created by you, wholly original, except if:

  • the materials you are submitting are in the public domain
  • when submitting an oral history, before submitting the interview, you have shared this agreement with the interviewee and obtained his or her agreement to them
  • you are a parent or guardian submitting on behalf of your child
  • you are an educator submitting your student work (provided that you have obtained parental permission for the submission as described below)
  • you have received permission from the person or entity that owns the intellectual property in the images, audio files, or videos you are submitting.

You retain ownership in your submission, but by making a submission you give the Smithsonian, and those authorized by the Smithsonian, your irrevocable perpetual permission to disseminate, modify, and use your submission, in whole or in part, in all media now known or later developed, for any educational, promotional, archival, or other standard museum purposes, without compensation to you.  This permission includes but is not limited to publication on the Community of Gardens website, other Smithsonian communication channels (websites, social media, print and online publications or newsletters), fundraising, educational programming, and exhibitions. 

You further give the public permission to use the content you submit for personal, educational, or non-commercial uses in any media now known or later developed, without compensation to you. 

Do not submit anything that is commercial, advertising, marketing, off-topic, partisan-political, contains personal attacks or expletives, or is otherwise abusive, threatening, unlawful, harassing, discriminatory, libelous, obscene, false, pornographic, or that infringes the rights of any third party, or violates the rules at www.si.edu/termsofuse, which are incorporated here by reference.

By making a submission you waive any privacy expectations you may have with regard to your submission.  If the Smithsonian selects your submission for inclusion in its project, the Smithsonian will make the submission (in whole or part) available to the general public. The public may use and share your submission in various ways, including via social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Tumblr, and Pinterest, all of which operate independently of the Smithsonian (i.e., have their own policies and terms), and commentary with which you disagree may become associated with your submission.

If your submission relates to a private garden, do not share on the map any address information that is more specific than neighborhood, city, and state. 

If you are a teacher submitting a class project or other student work, you are and remain responsible for:  (i) obtaining parental permissions from all minors who participated in the project; (ii) ensuring that your submission does not exceed the scope of those permissions; and (iii) promptly conveying to the Smithsonian any revocation requests that a parent may make.

If selected for inclusion in the project, the Smithsonian will identify your name online by your first name and last initial.  However, any personal information (including contact information) that the Smithsonian collects from this site will be subject to the Smithsonian’s Privacy Statement: http://www.si.edu/Privacy.

Once you make a submission, the Smithsonian reviews it for compliance with these rules and suitability for its project.  The Smithsonian may, but is not obliged to, edit submission for grammar, spelling and/or insignificant profanity.  The Smithsonian is under no obligation to keep, post, or use any submission in whole or in part.

You are solely responsible for your submission, and the consequences of making a submission.  The Smithsonian shall not be responsible or liable for any breach of this agreement by you, or claims by any third party that your submission violates a third party’s rights, or claims by you that a third party is misusing your submission.  You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Smithsonian against any claims asserted by third parties arising out of alleged breaches by you of this agreement.

All submissions are voluntary on your part.

This project is in beta and will continue to evolve.  Any changes to the terms and conditions for participation will be posted on the project website. 

If you have questions about any aspect of these terms and conditions, you may contact the Community of Gardens team at communityofgardens@si.edu or 202-633-5840.