The Monumental Power of Shared Genius
Nurtured for 200 Years, Frederick Law Olmsted’s Vision Still Shines
Frederick Law Olmsted was one of the most influential voices of his time. If he had only been known as the co-designer of Central Park, he would probably still earn his share of praise on this, his 200th birthday.
But Olmsted had a gift even greater than his impressive ability to design parks. What he saw, before almost anybody else, was the need for public parks to be welcoming to all citizens — places where people from all walks of life could congregate and relax surrounded by nature and away from the burdens of their workday lives and bustling city streets.
In 1865, he wrote, “It is the main duty of government, if it is not the sole duty of government, to provide means of protection for all its citizens in the pursuit of happiness against all the obstacles, otherwise insurmountable, which the selfishness of individuals or combinations of individuals is liable to interpose to that pursuit.” (1)
Nature as its own reward
Olmsted believed in the restorative power of scenery. It was a theme he often cited in his plans, beginning with the proposal for his first project, Central Park in 1858, when he said,
“It is one great purpose of the Park to supply to the hundreds of thousands of tired workers, who have no opportunity to spend their summers in the country, a specimen of God’s handiwork that shall be to them, inexpensively, what a month or two in the White Mountains or the Adirondacks is, at great cost, to those in easier circumstances.”
Olmsted believed in creating public spaces that maximized the presence of nature and the opportunity for contemplation and minimized the presence of statues, fountains and other manmade structures by carefully planning sight lines. As with many of Olmsted’s observations and practices, his theories of landscape design proved so prescient, they are held dearly today.
Olmsted’s Enduring Gifts
It is literally impossible to quantify Frederick Law Olmsted’s role in creating beautiful landscapes that define cities and towns throughout America and Canada. There are several reasons this is so. The greatest reason for confusion is that when “F.L.O.” (as he became known to scholars) stepped aside in 1895 due to the onset of dementia, his projects were carried forth by his sons and others, who operated under a number of different firm names (always including the name “Olmsted”) until settling on “Olmsted Brothers, Landscape Architects” — a name the firm would hold from 1898–1961 (the firm disbanded in 1979).
Olmsted, Sr. insisted that his sons learn the principles of landscape design not simply by working at his elbow, but by observing existing parks and grounds in Europe and America to gain an appreciation for beauty and the decisions that were made in planning the landscapes. He often quizzed them on what they had seen and why they believed that certain plants were better choices in creating long-term effects.
To say that his sons were ably prepared to carry on the work is an understatement. A conservative estimate of projects worked on by F.L.O. and sons compiled by Olmsted historian Charles E. Beveridge notes that the firm consulted on over 6,000 projects and drew up at least one plan for over 4,000 including parks, parkways, recreation areas, college campuses, libraries, suburban communities and private estates in America, England and Canada. (The Olmsted Research Guide Online (ORGO) provides a master list search of Olmsted projects. You can search by keyword, such as a park’s name or by geographic location here.)
But there was so much more to F.L.O.
One of the most astounding abilities Olmsted had was looking to the future. Preparing his sons to take over the firm was one example. But two more deserve consideration because of their long-term benefits to all Americans.
Early Advocate for National Parks
Six years before Yellowstone became the first National Park, Abraham Lincoln signed an Act of Congress protecting Yosemite Valley and Mariposa Grove from public development by ceding them to the state of California. The man charged with developing a plan to manage the newly created park was a man who had spent the preceding two years in the area — Frederick Law Olmsted.
As Olmsted was drafting the “Mariposa Report”, as it became known, he commented to a colleague that someday the area would see over three million visitors per year and the plan for the park should be designed accordingly.
Once again, Olmsted advocated for leaving most of the park to nature’s glory and building roads with scenic pullouts, so the carriage riders could stop and safely take in the views. His report was so prescient that it was used to inform what became the mission statement of the National Park Service when it was established over forty years later — “to preserve unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations.”
The Most Important Hire in the History of American Forestry
In 1888, the then sixty-six-year-old Olmsted Sr. was hired by George Washington Vanderbilt to develop a plan for his 100,000 acres of land in the North Carolina mountains. While building architect Richard Morris Hunt began creating the largest privately held house in America — a gargantuan 250 room chateau, Olmsted was looking over a clear-cut landscape with chagrin. He immediately began convincing Vanderbilt that establishing a managed forest — the first of its kind in America — would be his best choice. Olmsted developed the plan for the forest, but saw the need to hire someone to take on the day-to-day management. In 1892, he urged Vanderbilt to hire a young forester named Gifford Pinchot to manage the Biltmore Forest.
Pinchot was eager to ply his trade — after graduating from Yale in 1889, he had gone to France to learn forestry. After just over a year of training, he was hell-bent on becoming America’s first forester. In 1905, he would become the first head of the newly established U.S. Forest Service, an agency dedicated to managing public lands in the interest of all citizens.
Olmsted 200 — a Year-long Celebration
Olmsted’s 200th birthday is April 26, 2022, but the celebration lasts all year. The National Association for Olmsted Parks is honoring Frederick Law Olmsted’s living legacy with nationwide events. Check out their calendar and learn more about Olmsted on their website. If you can’t make an event, why not head to a local park (Olmsted designed or not) and enjoy the restorative power of scenery? After the past few years, we could really use some!
(1) The Yosemite Valley and the Mariposa Big Trees. Frederick Law Olmsted, 1865.
About the Author
Jeffrey H Ryan’s new book, This Land Was Saved for You and Me: How Gifford Pinchot, Frederick Law Olmsted and a Band of Foresters Saved America’s Public Lands is available for pre-order.
