Constance Knowles (1886-1976), daughter of Clarence and Frances "Fanny" Judah Knowles, was born in Atlanta 20 October 1886. Her prominent father made his mark in the insurance business and later became the first president of the Piedmont Driving Club. Constance Knowles began her education at Mrs. Mitchell’s Kindergarten. Afterwards, she attended the Prather Home School for Girls and then traveled to New York City to attend Veltin’s School for Girls. She completed her education at art schools in Paris, France. On 6 November 1915, Constance married fellow Atlantan, Jesse Draper, a well-known real estate broker and civic leader. Mr. Draper was a founder of the Atlanta Boys Clubs and later a catalyst for the development of Atlanta’s airport into a major aviation hub. In 1922, J. Neel Reid designed a home for Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Draper on Cherokee Road in the Peachtree Heights Park neighborhood of Atlanta (Job #468).

Constance Knowles Draper was one of the founding members of the Peachtree Garden Club in 1923 and served as the first chairperson of its Board of Directors. Later, she served as a book committee member and co-editor for the club’s heralded publication, Garden History of Georgia, 1733-1933. She also helped compile and edit a small publication called Garden Schedule in 1926. Constance Knowles Draper was also active in the Egleston Hospital Grounds Committee, the Atlanta Flower Show Association, and the Garden Club of America, for which she acted as a Fenwick Medal Judge at the New York International Flower Show for many years. She was also a partner in the firm of Edith Harrison (later Edith Henderson), landscape architect.

In 1945, Constance Knowles Draper spearheaded the effort to establish the Neel Reid Scholarship in Landscape Architecture at the University of Georgia. In 1971, Jesse Draper endowed a chair of landscape architecture at the University of Georgia’s School of Environmental Design in honor of his wife. Constance Knowles Draper died in Atlanta 20 March 1976.