Frederick Lawn Olmsted

"What architect so noble...as he who, with far-reaching conception of beauty, in designing power, sketches the outlines, writes the colors, becomes the builder and directs the shadows of a picture so great that Nature shall be employed upon it for generations, before the work he arranged for her shall realize his intentions."- Frederick Law Olmsted

In his diaries, Olmsted happily declared himself to be a "wholly unpractical man." Recognized as one of the greatest planners of all time due to his tremendous impact, Frederick Law Olmstead is acknowledged as the founder of American landscape architecture and the nation's foremost park maker. Olmsted was perhaps most famous for co-designing many well-known urban parks with his senior partner Calvert Vaux. These parks included Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City.

Throughout his life Olmstead had a wide range of jobs including a journalist, social critic, a clerk, a sailor in the China trade, a farmer, public administrator, and landscape designer. It is widely believed that Olmstead's rollercoaster career was due to his bipolar disorder. (FrederickLawOlmsted.com)

Frederick Law Olmsted born on April 26, 1822 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father was a successful merchant who instilled Frederick and his brother John with a lively interest in nature, people, and most importantly places. After Frederick's mother, Charlotte Law Olmsted, died when he was only four years old, his father quickly remarried in 1827 to Mary Ann Bull, who shared his father's same passion for nature. (FrederickLawOlmsted.com)

Olmsted was accepted to enter Yale College; however, a sumac poisoning weakened his eyes forcing him to give up college plans. After the poisoning, Olmsted had private tutoring in topographical and civil engineering by famous planner Frederick A. Barton in Andover, Massachusetts. Olmsted described his early adulthood as "for the most part given over to a decently vagabond life, generally pursued under the guise of an angler, a fowler, or a dabbler on the shallowest shores of the deep sea". Due to his bipolar disorder Olmstead had to deal with his boredom regularly, which caused him to change jobs quite often. Olmsted worked several jobs, helping him build his wide range of interests and unique skills, which highlights an apprentice seaman aboard the ship Ronaldson, bound for China. (Martin)

After his return to the United States, Olmsted began attending classes at Yale while visiting his brother. While socializing in the states, Olmsted grew an interest in horticulture and farming. This interest led to the purchase of a farm in Connecticut, with the help of his father John. (Martin)

In 1848, after his first attempt at maintaining a farm failed, Olmsted purchased a farm in the south shore of Staten Island, New York eventually making his home on the farm. The move was in hopes of achieving success on a better piece of land, yet Olmsted's interests were not confined to the soil. The short attention span of Olmstead once again led him to drop the farm and take a tour in writing. (Martin)

In 1850, Olmsted left during the farming season for a walking tour of England, writing Walks and Talks of an American Farmer while there. After his six month journey and continuing his writing career, Olmsted was quickly sent to the American south aboard steamboat, stagecoach and horseback. Then writing for the New York Daily Times, he observed the socio-economics of southern plantation agriculture (Martin).

Ahead of his time, his insights into social justice included descriptions of slavery, offering sympathy to blacks and poor whites as victims of the same system for sustaining life in early America. Several books were published from his twelve months of observation in the southern states.

Olmsted's inclination to write continued throughout his career. Authoring several books and many articles for "The Nation" magazine, which he was the co-founder of. Olmsted also developed a reputation as social critic throughout his life, which began from the days of farming in Connecticut. Olmsted remarkably advocated for international copyright law, equal rights for all citizens, women's suffrage, better training for Army officers and rights and safety of merchant seamen. (Martin)

Altogether Olmsted's works included 60,000 literary works contributing literary movement as the father of Landscape Architecture. Included in his writing were reports to the California legislature, calling for the preservation of Yosemite and Big Tree Falls. It is widely believed that Olmsted's report led to the foundation of the park service and created the systematic interpretation of an elected government's duty to preserve public lands. The report published in 1865 led to the creation of state and national park after legislative approval. (Martin)

In 1857, Charles Elliot, a commissioner on the Central Park board, encouraged Olmsted to apply for the position of Central Park superintendent. Without a college diploma, he became the superintendent of New York's Park thanks in large part to the support of Elliot. Olmsted's mentor and friend, fascinating landscape architect, Andrew Jackson Downing first proposed the development of New York's Central Park in his role as publisher of The Horticulturist magazine. Downing unfortunately died in a boating accident

...