Who Have Influenced Planning—Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.
“ I think he is the greatest of parks men in the world, indeed the greatest of all time; for who among contemporaries or in the past has so wisely, soundly and with vast professional skill, so profoundly influenced plans and programs for local, state and national parks as Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.” This was said by Horace M. Albright at the Redwood National Park’s Olmsted Grove dedication ceremony. The outstanding leadership of Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. in Advancing Landscape architecture is honor and recognition among the professions. Mr. Olmsted was the preeminent practitioner and spokesman for landscape architecture and comprehensive planning. He was interested in the interrelation of people and their environment and put his lifetime commitment to national park. He worked on project in Acadia, the Everglades and Yosemite National Park. The Olmsted point in Yosemite and Olmsted Island at Great Falls of the Potomac River in Maryland was named after him to honor the work that he had done to the community. Mr. Olmsted was best known for wild life conservation
Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. was born on July 24, 1870 on Staten Island, New York. He was the son of Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., who was the father of American landscape architecture, and Mary Cleveland Perkins. He worked as an apprentice of his father after graduating from Roxbury Latin School in 1890. He was worked on two important projects: World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893 and the largest privately owned home in the United States. He earned his bachelor’s degree with Magna Cum Laude at Harvard University in 1894. After graduating, he was a partner in his father’s landscape architecture firm in Brookline, Massachusetts.
In 1900, Mr. Olmsted returned to teach at Harvard University and established the school first formal training program in Landscape architecture. In 1901, He appointed by President Theodore Roosevelt as a member of McMillan Commission. Mr. Olmsted was worked with several greatest American architects, landscape architects, and urban planners to “restore and develop the century-old plans for Major L’Enfant for Washington DC and to fit them to the conditions of today.” In 1910, He approached by the American Civic Association for advice on the creation of a new bureau of national parks. He discovered the metropolitan park systems and greenways across the country in 1920. He was the founding member and later president of the American Society of landscape Architects. He received the Pugsley Gold Medal in 1953. In his later year, He was worked on several projects, such as the original terrace-style master plan layout of Cornell University, the Bok Tower Gardens and Forest Hills Gardens in New York, and Lake Wales, Florida. He was died on December 25, 1957 in Hartford, Connecticut.
In conclusion, Mr. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. had influenced the development of the National park systems in United State. He put his lifetime on improving the environment and usage of national parks. He was an effective speaker, because he had brought Wildlife conservation into a new generation with simple words which had preserved in the National Park Service Organic Act in 1916. “To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations.”
Reference:
Diamant, Rolf. National Park Service: Biography (Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr.). December 1, 2000. http://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/sontag/olmsted.htm>
Wikipedia. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. February 6, 2009.