Powerful storytelling about the role of parks in shaping the American experience
and the destructive effect of racial injustice on these public spaces.
Join us for an evening of film and conversation with three of America’s leading park historians—Ethan Carr, Rolf Diamant, and William O’Brien—cosponsored by Friends of Fairsted and Library of American Landscape History.
(Premiere) OLMSTED AND YOSEMITE: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea, directed by Ian Forster, based on the LALH book by Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr. An exploration of Frederick Law Olmsted’s pivotal role in defining the national park in America.
LANDSCAPES OF EXCLUSION: State Parks and Jim Crow in the American South, directed by Ian Forster, based on the award-winning LALH book by William E. O’Brien. A look at the profound inequality in the number, size, and quality of the few state parks available to Black visitors across the Jim Crow South.
BOSTON’S FRANKLIN PARK: Olmsted, Recreation, and the Modern City, directed by Ian Forster, based on the award-winning LALH book by Ethan Carr. An exploration of the history of Boston’s great, long-neglected urban park, and a frank discussion of the crossroads it now faces.
Together, these LALH films champion the enduring importance of public parks in the American story—urban, state, and national—highlighting their power to inspire as well as reflect the ideals of a democratic society.
This event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required.