Category: Research & Writings

Field Notes
New Research Grant Opportunity: Call for Entries
The 2025 Charles E. Beveridge Research Grant supports research and projects highlighting the Olmsted firm’s legacy utilizing the Olmsted Archives at Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site.

Field Notes
Evolving Landscapes: Author Interview
In his new book, Design Through Time, author Mark Hough explores how landscapes evolve through generations of stewardship.

Landscape Architecture & Design
The Open Gate: Barbara Walker
The 1903 Olmsted Brothers plan for Portland, OR, was stuffed in a drawer and forgotten until Barbara Walker found it more than sixty years later. Now, the 40 Mile Loop stretches across 140 miles.

Research & Writings
Q&A with Author Marcy Cottrell Houle
A conversation with the author of Forest Park: Exploring Portland’s Natural Sanctuary

Research & Writings
That Artist of Landscape Gardening: Andrew Jackson Downing
Andrew Jackson Downing, a young nurseryman from Newburgh, NY, was America’s leading landscape gardening artist and introduced the nation to the Beautiful and Picturesque.

Field Notes
The Olmsted Brothers’ Western Frontier: Semi-Arid Design for California
In a new webinar, Cal Poly professor Christine Edstom O’Hara discusses Olmsted Brothers’ design for Palos Verdes.

Field Notes
Wheatena’s Contribution to the Rahway River Parkway
The gift that keeps on giving: how the Wheatena Corporation's gift of four acres of parkland to Rahway, New Jersey, in 1922 was the seed that grew into the Rahway River Parkway and, ultimately, the Union County Park System.

Personal Reflections
Retracing Olmsted’s Footsteps
Olmsted Network President & CEO Dede Petri recounts the trip of a lifetime, retracing Frederick Law Olmsted's footsteps in England with John Phibbs, Gilly Kitching and 12 intrepid Olmsted pilgrims. Olmsted’s first book and delightful travelogue, Walks and Talks of an American Farmer in England, provides the backdrop for these observations.

Research & Writings
Open Access: The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted
The Olmsted Network and the University of Virginia Press are pleased to announce that The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted are now open access and available online through ROTUNDA: Digital Imprint of the University of Virginia Press.

Olmsted & the Olmsted Firm
The Olmsteds and the Development of the National Park System
Rolf Diamant— the co-author of "Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea"— explores the Olmsted family's ties to the National Park Service.

Charles E. Beveridge
Editing the Olmsted Papers Project
In this republished article, Charles Beveridge focuses on efforts by the editors of the Olmsted Papers to assist in the revival and preservation of Olmsted's legacy.

Research & Writings
Olmsted in Seattle
In this program, Jennifer Ott examines the enduring work of John Charles Olmsted in Seattle, WA.

Olmsted & the Olmsted Firm
Arnold Arboretum Celebrates 150!
Arnold Arboretum celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2022. They celebrated this milestone with a wide array of public activities and events.

Research & Writings
Dean Fritz Steiner Explores the Olmsteds & Land Grant College Design
In a brand new study, spurred by Olmsted 200, University of Pennsylvania's Fritz Steiner explores the Olmsteds' connections to campus design.

Olmsted 200
Library of Congress Presents December Crowdsourcing Transcription Challenge
The Library of Congress needs help with a special transcription project.