Many people probably know Frederick Law Olmsted as a designer of Central Park in New York City, the U.S. Capitol in Washington D.C., and other large public park projects, but those outside of landscape professions may not know about his legacy as the father of American landscape architecture, a conservationist, and a key contributor to the development of the National Park system. Behind all of his work was his desire to create and protect public landscapes that all people could have access to and enjoy.
Upon arriving in Boston two months ago, I began exploring the parks in my neighborhood, Jamaica Plain, without realizing that they were designed by Olmsted.
I soon discovered that the parks are part of a chain of parks called the Emerald Necklace, which include Franklin Park, the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Pond, Olmsted Park, the Riverway, Back Bay Fens, Commonwealth Avenue Mall, Public Garden and Boston Common. Olmsted worked on the Emerald Necklace from 1878 to 1896 to provide picturesque urban parks as retreats for all people to enjoy, especially those who did not have the means to travel outside the city to spend time in nature. If you are in Boston and interested in exploring the parks, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy provides a great map and guide, ongoing programs and tours, and special events at the parks celebrating their 20th anniversary.
- Olmsted 1894 plan for the Emerald Necklace chain of parks in Boston
The Designing the Parks Olmsted Center interns recently had the opportunity to tour one of the Emerald Necklace parks: the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Michael Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections, was kind enough to show us around and share his knowledge of the history of the Olmsted-designed arboretum, its extensive living collection of over 15,000 plants, and how the collection and the landscape are managed. Unlike many arboreta, the Arnold Arboretum is not only concerned with preserving specific provenance and taxonomic data for individual plants, but it is also a National Historic Landmark that works to preserve the historic layout and character of the landscape. Ultimately, it is also a public park meant to be enjoyed by everyone, and is open free of charge, every day of the year.
I couldn’t help but think about my plant records management project during the tour. It was a great opportunity to take on the perspective of a visitor to a historic landscape and to consider what different kinds of visitors might hope to experience and how interactive plant maps could contribute to the experience. I am currently importing plant records into IrisBG for Fairsted at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the former home and office of Olmsted not far from the Emerald Necklace, and linking coordinates to integrate with a map of the site. Once these records and those of the other sites are entered in IrisBG, I am looking forward to brainstorming ways that the interactive plant maps can be used by the National Historic Sites to illustrate the history and significant characteristics of the landscapes, and hopefully provide another way for visitors to experience the site.
Designing the Parks 