Amherst College

The Olmsted Firm was involved in the improvement of Amherst College for a period of 50 years. Frederick Law Olmsted first prepared plans to improve the grounds of the school in 1870, with his then partner Calvert Vaux. In order to best manage the campus space, he proposed that the school buildings be centered around a common green area. In the next decade, he would return to this idea, adding that the buildings should be connected via a circulation system (plan 605-15A]. John Charles Olmsted, under the direction of F.L. Olmsted & Co., worked with McKim, Mead and White, to design a building for the Chemical and Physical Laboratories. Following this project, Amherst College “appointed an Honorary Commission on making plans for beautifying the grounds and locating new buildings of the college”. [Trustees of Amherst College_11-25-1903_LOC-OAR-B-00605_im.42] In 1906 Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., along with four other designers, submitted their preliminary report. They cited “the recognition of the upper plateau with its three old buildings as distinct from the more modern developments”, “the recognition of the main plateau of the Campus” and “the preservation of the open hillsides to the south and east” as points of major aesthetic interest [W. R. Mead & FLO Jr. to The President and Trustees of Amherst College_06-20-1906_LOC-OAR-B-00605_im.68]