The Garden History and Design Committee seeks to educate GCA club members about styles and trends in landscape and garden design, and to demonstrate that American gardens are an integral part of the cultural and social life of the communities where these gardens exist. The committee hosts programs, seminars, workshops and garden visits throughout the year. In addition, committee members present papers on significant garden designers past and present. 

With roots tracing back to 1916, the committee is an amalgamation of the Historic Gardens Committee and the Slide Library of Notable American Parks and Gardens Committee, both of which contributed to the GCA's wealth of historic material concerning America’s gardens. 

In honor of the GCA's 75th Anniversary, The Garden Club of America donated to the Smithsonian Institution its historic collection of 3,000 glass slides along with 30,000 slides of gardens from colonial times to the present. The GCA Garden History and Design Committee encourages members to add to the collection which now numbers 60,000 images and makes up the core of the Archives of American Gardens.