Park Maker

Life of Frederick Law Olmsted

Elizabeth Stevenson

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN:
  9781351308663
• Topic: Art
• Subtopic: Architecture Essays & Monographs

On April 28, 1858, municipal officials announced the winner of the design contest for a great new park for the people of New York City--Plan no. 33, "Greensward" by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Though the appropriated ground for what was to become Central Park was nothing more than a barren expanse occupied by squatters, in a matter of a few years, Olmsted turned the wasteland into a landscape of coherence, elegance, and beauty. It not only surpassed the design ingenuity of its existing European counterparts but gained the designer national acclaim in a profession that still lacked a name.

Olmsted was an American visionary. He foresaw the day when New York and many other growing cities of the mid-nineteenth century would be plagued by what we presently term "urban sprawl." And he was convinced of the critical importance of adapting land for the recreational and contemplative needs of city dwellers before the last remnants of natural terrain were engulfed by "monotonous, straight streets and piles of erect, angular buildings." As a result of his early efforts to revolutionize the design of public parks, many cities today are able to preserve the recreational space and greenery within their urban limits. In addition, his thoughts and words on wilderness areas still echo across a century of preservation in the wild.

This lively and insightful account of his prodigious life features many of his outstanding landscape projects, including the Biltmore Estate, Prospect Park (Brooklyn), the capitol grounds in Washington, DC, the Boston Park System, the Chicago parks and the Chicago World Fair, as well as measures to preserve the natural settings at Niagara Falls, Yosemite, and the Adirondacks. It traces his early years and describes events that were to form his artistic, intellectual, and deeply humanistic sensibilities. And it restores this lost American hero to his prominent place in history. In addition to being the acknowledged father of American landscape architecture, Frederick Law Olmsted helped shape the political and philosophical climate of America in his own time and today.

Elizabeth Stevenson is the author of the Bancroft Award-winning Henry Adams: A Biography; The Glass Lark, a biography of Lafcadio Hearn; and Babbitts and Bohemians: From the Great War to the Great Depression, all available from Transaction.

Index

Adams, C. F., Jr.: Olmsted’s design work for, 352, 376;

involved Olmsted in politics, 338;

mentioned, 40

Adams, Henry: and Schurz dinner, 334;

his Esther and Trinity Church, 331;

and Marian meet Olmsted, 352;

his generation, 40

Akerly Farm, Staten Island, 32, 41. see also See also Southside, Tosomock

Allison, Samuel Perkins, southern gentleman, 97–100 passim

Ames, Oliver, and North Easton project, 352, 363

Arnold Arboretum (Harvard Arboretum), 333, 347, 348, 363

Asboth, Alexander (engineer), 187, 188

Ashburner, William: and wife as camping companions, 261;

on Yosemite Board, 263;

and Yosemite Report, 288

Atlanta, Ga.: Olmsted in, 390, 406, 416, 419–420;

post-Civil War mood, 407;

mentioned, 186

Barnes, Henry, Olmsted’s friend, 310, 311

Barton, Frederick A., Olmsted’s instructor in engineering, 11

Beardsley Park, Bridgeport, 364

Bear Valley, California: characterized, 252;

mentioned, 260–368

Being and doing, Olmsted’s terms, 97

Belle Isle Park, Detroit, Mich.: engineered project, 364;

mentioned, 375

Bellows, Dr. Henry W.: relations with Olmsted, 189–190, 243–246;

offered Olmsted war job, 194;

pres., U.S. Sanitary Commission, 196;

advised Lincoln, 214;

visited California, 264;

mentioned, 227

Belshazzar, Olmsted’s horse, 107, 111

Benkard and Hutton, French importers, Olmsted employed by, 13, 21

Berkeley, Calif.: Olmsted’s design for college and community, 266–267, 302;

Olmsted’s influence on university, 315;

site re-seen by Olmsted, 381

Biltmore Estate and House: Olmsted’s association with, 388–390, 403, 404, 415, 418;

scene of Olmsted’s decline, 422;

as a memory, 427

Birkenhead Park, England: important for Olmsted, 54–55, 156;

Olmsted’s description published, 68

Bloor, A. J.: in U.S. Sanitary Commission, 254;

on Calvert Vaux, 306

Bowles, Samuel, Olmsted’s friend, 308, 316–317

Brace, Charles Loring: Olmsted’s friend, 24, 25, 26, 48, 96, 119, 132, 144, 165, 176, 224, 255, 309;

his character, 25–26, 40;

Olmsted’s confidant, 28, 84, 97, 324, 357, 378–379, 400–40...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Dedication
• Transaction Books by Elizabeth Stevenson
• Introduction to the Transaction Edition Olmsted Today
• PREFACE
• Acknowledgments
• I A Boy in the Connecticut Woods
• II Idler
• III Sailor
• IV Company and Solitude
• V Scientific farmer
• VI A Walk in England
• VII A Visit to Newburgh
• VIII Journeying South
• IX New York Streets and Texas Trails
• X The Back Country
• XI Yeoman
• XII Editor and Publisher
• XIII Greensward
• XIV The Boss of Central Park
• XV Secretary of the Sanitary Commission
• XVI The Chief of the Hospital Ships
• XVII The End of Olmsted’s War
• XVIII Mariposa
• XIX Between Two Worlds
• XX A Wider Work
• XXI A Humane Life
• XXII Buffetings and Accomplishments
• XXIII Interlude
• XXIV Recovery
• XXV A Liberal Profession
• XXVI North, South, and West
• XXVII A Pisgah View
• XXVIII The End before the End
• Notes
• Selective Bibliography
• Index