Frederick Law Olmsted and His Legacy on the North Shore

In honor of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.’s bicentennial (1822–1903), landscape historian Pamela Hartford will present a lecture on the founding father of American urban parks.

The Olmsted name is associated with over 75 landscape design projects in 20 communities on the North Shore, but only a handful were the work of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr. (1822–1903), the designer of Central Park. Ms. Hartford will share the surprising trajectory which prepared Olmsted for his significant career, and showcase his unique landscape aesthetic through his local projects, including several rarely seen private commissions.

Pamela Hartford is a landscape historian trained in architecture, historic preservation, and landscape design. She provides historic research for cultural landscape reports and National Register nominations, and creates rehabilitation master plans for non-profit and municipally owned landscapes. She contributed to Warren Manning, Landscape Architect and Environmental Planner (University of Georgia Press/Library of American Landscape History, 2017). She has lectured often during 2022, the Olmsted 200 celebration year. Next year her article, “Topography, Taxonomy and Trees Over Time: A Perfect Equation for Frederick Law Olmsted” will be published in Arnoldia Magazine of the Arnold Arboretum. A resident of Salem, Ms. Hartford is a member of the Friends of the Olmsted Landscape at Moraine Farm.

$10 Members; $15 Non-members

This is a hybrid program. Please specify if you are attending in person when you sign up.