Article

Olmsteds: Landscapes and Legacies

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, in partnership with the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT), hosted a three-day symposium as part of Olmsted 200, the national bicentennial commemoration of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, social reformer and founder of American landscape architecture. The symposium was held March 30, 2022 - April 2, 2022 in Boston, home to the Emerald Necklace, Olmsted’s last great public project. Adjacent to Boston is Brookline where the Olmsted firm’s home and office resided through 1980. For Olmsted, “nothing else compares in importance to us with the Boston work...I would have you decline any business that would stand in the way of doing the Best for Boston all the time." The symposium focused on the preservation of the legacies and landscapes of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. and subsequent Olmsted firms that practiced at Fairsted in Brookline, MA.

The symposium was made possible by generous financial contributions from the Friends of Fairsted, National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP), and community supporters.

Presentations and poster topics included:

Preservation case studies
Community engagement
Adaptive reuse
Adaption for climate change
Landscape documentation
Accessibility
Vegetation Management

Through events, education, and advocacy at the local and national levels, Olmsted 200 ensures that the legacies of the Olmsteds live on across the country by renewing public and policy commitments to the preservation and maintenance of our historic parks and places. Olmsted Now is the Greater Boston effort, an inclusive coalition that connects communities and organizations commemorating Greater Boston’s bicentennial of Brookline-based Olmsted with the “fierce urgency of now.”

Keynote Speakers

Bridging the Past and the Future: The Legacies of the Olmsteds

Edward Eigen and Reverend and Mariama White-Hammond, look briefly at the history of the Olmsted firm and the creation of the modern practice of landscape design.

Edward A. Eigen

Edward A. Eigen is Senior Lecturer in the History of Landscape and Architecture at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design. A historian of the long nineteenth century, in the European and Anglo-American contexts, his research and teaching focus on relationships in and between humanistic and scholarly traditions and the natural sciences and allied practices of knowledge production. With a background in art history, a professional training in design, and a doctorate in the history and theory of architecture from MIT, he is at home with and seeks to productively defamiliarize images, texts, and topographies of intricate description.

Reverend Mariama White-Hammond

Reverend Mariama White-Hammond is the Chief of Environment, Energy, and Open Space for the City of Boston. In this role, Rev. White-Hammond is responsible for leading the Cabinet in achieving its mission of enhancing environmental justice and quality of life in Boston by protecting air, water, climate, and land resources, as well as preserving and improving the integrity of Boston's architectural and historic resources.

Presentations

Tim Davis

The Olmsted Brothers 1918 Report on Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek Park: America’s First National Park General Management Plan
Peter Pollock

Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and the Improvement of Boulder, Colorado
Patricia M. O’Donnell and Gina Wouters

Bringing the Planting Fields Cultural Landscape Report to the Ground: Main Drive Renewal Project
Rhonda Buell Schier

Incorporating Contemporary Accessibility Features into a Historic Landscape
Gretchen Pineo

Creating a Campus: The 19th Century College Architecture of the Pioneer Valley
Robert McVaugh

Olmsted’s 1883 Plan for Colgate University and its Impacts on the Campus
Jennifer L. Thomas

The Insane Asylum Landscapes of Olmsted and Vaux
Jen Mergel

Olmsted Now: Greater Boston's Olmsted Bicentennial Focuses on His Justice Legacy
Karen Mauney-Brodek

“Once in a Lifetime” Opportunity to Restore Greenspace to Boston's Franklin Park
Dennis Montagna

Frederick Law Olmsted Jr’s Mountain Lake Sanctuary: The Creation and Legacy of a Didactic Landscape
Gregory De Vries and Melissa Westbrook

Finding Olmsted in the Restoration of the U.S. Capitol Grounds
Cortney Cain Gjesfjeld

The Cambridge American Cemetery honors the service and sacrifice of more than 8,500 Americans.
Natalie Perrin & Chrisanne Beckner

A Tale of Two Cities: Preserving the Olmsted Brothers Legacies in Seattle and Spokane, Washington
Martha Eberle & Scott Todd

Balancing Adaptation and Legacy: How the Washington National Cathedral is Protecting its Olmsted Woods in the Era of Climate Change