Author: Max Ellinger

Friends of McMillan Park returned to the D.C. Court of Appeals in September to appeal a demolition permit that was issued in August of 2019 for most of the McMillan site. During the meeting, the group argued that the demolition permit was issued in violation of the Historic Preservation Act as the entire site is […]

Friends of Maryland’s Olmsted Parks and Landscapes (FMOPL) has created a small grant opportunity to support projects tied to the Olmsted 200 celebration within the state of Maryland. FMOPL is committed to advancing the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted and his championing of accessible public parks, sustainable landscapes, and livable communities. As a proud partner […]

On Tuesday, September 28, 2021, former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama visited historic Jackson Park (Project No. 01902) in Chicago, IL for the Obama Presidential Center’s (OPC) ceremonial groundbreaking.  This groundbreaking took place weeks after construction crews began demolishing the site— a plot of parkland along the South Side’s sublime Lake […]

Decades of budgetary restrictions, nonconforming changes, poor decisions, and theft have compromised the integrity of these parks,– now to be addressed in a “master plan” in Forest Hills.

Downing Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux as a memorial to Andrew Jackson Downing, their friend and mentor.

The current effort to restore the Carlton Street Footbridge (CSF) started in 1998 with a Request for Proposal (RFP) posting by Brookline, Mass.  It stated that “deferred maintenance over the past several decades has left the structure in a deteriorated and vulnerable state.” Brookline, home to some 60,000 people, borders Boston and shares the Muddy River […]

The mission of the Belle Isle Conservancy is to protect, preserve, restore and enhance the natural environment, historic structures, and unique character of Belle Isle as a public park for the enjoyment of all– now and forever. To carry out this mission, the Conservancy works alongside community stakeholders and partners at the State of Michigan […]

Recently, the National Association for Olmsted Parks and the Oak Spring Garden Foundation collaborated on an exhibit to celebrate and explore Frederick Law Olmsted’s contributions to modern American landscape architecture. In this Q&A, get to know the lead curator of the exhibit and how she hopes Olmsted’s legacy lives on.

Olmsted believed that the thoughtful design of parks and public spaces has positive social, environmental, economic, and health impacts on the people and communities around them.  Witnessing rapid growth and urbanization in America, Olmsted understood that the future of the natural world would be threatened without more public-spirited intervention. Olmsted’s foresight is best illustrated by […]

Olmsted 200’s third webinar in our Conversations with Olmsted series. In this series, we explore different aspects of OlmstThe third webinar in our Conversations with Olmsted series, which explores different aspects of Olmsted’s far-reaching influence on America’s physical landscape and social fabric. This installment is co-hosted with one of our founding partners, the American Public […]

One of the first planned communities in the U.S., Riverside, IL is said to be the realization of Frederick Law Olmsted’s vision of the ideal suburb

I have a master’s degree in English and a law degree, both from the University of Pennsylvania, and I drew upon both disciplines for my new book, “The Power of Scenery: Frederick Law Olmsted and the Origin of National Parks,” coming from Bison Books in November. The literary degree helped to shape the chapters about […]

F.L. Olmsted was greatly influenced by what he saw during his brief visit to Birkenhead. As well as the Park’s design, he was fundamentally challenged by the social and political concepts that it embodied.