Category: Equity & Inclusion

With renewed trails, trees, and inclusive signage, Olmsted City and the City of Utica are reimagining a historic park for the 21st century.

Nearly 175 years ago, Frederick Law Olmsted’s passion for parks as democratic spaces was ignited by a trip to Birkenhead Park in England.

The Olmsted Network’s guide to the U.S. Capitol Grounds makes its way to Congress just in time for the upcoming presidential inauguration.

Tony Horwitz’s collection of Olmsted books was recently donated to the University of Virginia’s Center for Cultural Landscapes.

Thanks to an AARP Community Challenge Grant, Olmsted Network partner Maplewood Memorial Park in NJ will receive a new walkway and new entryway plantings—updates that will better pedestrian access and bring the park closer to its original designs.

Alliance forms to revitalize the historic Carter Barron Amphitheater in Washington, D.C.'s Rock Creek Park.

A multi-pronged campaign to establish public spaces as essential infrastructure for democratic exchange and community health is recognized by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects.

Originally published circa 2008, this blog by John Stauffer of Harvard University explores Frederick Law Olmsted’s trips to the South to research the institution of slavery.

It takes many hands to build a parks system that meets everyone's needs.

Among those who study the work of Olmsted, there is a growing consensus that Olmsted’s experiences in the South had a profound impact on his later career as a landscape architect who would design some of the nation’s most beloved parks.

Frederick Law Olmsted sought to build “communitiveness” and healing through landscape design. As we mark the first anniversary of the pandemic, we need parks now more than ever.

Olmsted’s parks give us an opportunity to enjoy natural beauty together -- and regain community and connection.

In addition to writing about the scourge of slavery, Olmsted was a fierce advocate for abolition and an early supporter of equal rights for Blacks in America.

After spending nearly two years steeped in the Olmsted story working at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, I recall what former supervisory park ranger and current Friends of Fairsted member Alan Banks told me soon after I joined the staff. He said something along these lines: “When you start learning about Olmsted and […]