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Resource Center

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Photo Credit: David DesRochers

 
 

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Here is a collection of resources to learn more about Frederick Law Olmstead, landscape architecture, and other information about the New Jersey Park system.

 
 
 
 
 

Videos

 

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America

In this Olmsted Legacy film, you will learn about Frederick Law Olmsted and the landscape architect firm responsible for the Rahway River Parkway, hired by Union County Park Commission. The film explores the enormous contributions of Olmsted to the American landscape, as well as his marked failures and loss.

 
 

This 55 minute documentary can also be viewed on the PBS website

 
 
 

Recommended Reading

 
 
Featured
F.L.O. A Biography of Frederick L.Olmsted
F.L.O. A Biography of Frederick L.Olmsted

— Professor Laura Wood Roper

In this definitive biography of the 'father of landscape architecture, ' Laura Wood Roper captures the full range of Olmsted's contributions to American thought and institutions as well as to its landscape.

A Clearing in the Distance
A Clearing in the Distance

— Witold Rybczynski

We know Olmsted through the physical legacy of his stunning landscapes—among them, New York's Central Park, California's Stanford University campus, and Boston's Back Bay Fens. But Olmsted's contemporaries knew a man of even more extraordinarily diverse talents. Born in 1822, he traveled to China on a merchant ship at the age of twenty-one. He cofounded The Nation magazine and was an early voice against slavery. He managed California's largest gold mine and, during the Civil War, served as the executive secretary to the United States Sanitary Commission, the precursor of the Red Cross.

Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted
Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted

— Justin Martin

Frederick Law Olmsted is arguably the most important historical figure that the average American knows the least about. Best remembered for his landscape architecture, from New York's Central Park to Boston's Emerald Necklace to Stanford University's campus, Olmsted was also an influential journalist, early voice for the environment, and abolitionist credited with helping dissuade England from joining the South in the Civil War. This momentous career was shadowed by a tragic personal life, also fully portrayed here.Most of all, he was a social reformer. He didn't simply create places that were beautiful in the abstract. An awesome and timeless intent stands behind Olmsted's designs, allowing his work to survive to the present day. With our urgent need to revitalize cities and a widespread yearning for green space, his work is more relevant now than it was during his lifetime. Justin Martin restores Olmsted to his rightful place in the pantheon of great Americans.

Olmsted Parks in New Jersey
Olmsted Parks in New Jersey

— Jeanne Kolva

A historic overview of the parks the Olmsted companies created in New Jersey primarily for the county park commissions in Essex, Union, and Passaic counties. Son and stepson of the creator of New York's Central Park, Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and John Charles Olmsted, continued with their father's naturalistic style of landscape architecture, with 20th-century modifications, into the 1960s. Illustrated with more than 200 historic and contemporary photographs, vintage postcards, and Olmsted sketches and plans, this survey chronologically details the development of each park or reservation as it was transformed from former farmland, swamp, forest, or a previous park. Included are the gems of Branch Brook Park in Newark, Cadwalader Park in Trenton, Warinanco Park in Roselle, and Brookdale Park in Montclair and Bloomfield. Discover the Olmsted legacy in some of the most magnificent public parks in New Jersey.

 
 
 

Children's Books

 
Featured
A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park
A Green Place to Be: The Creation of Central Park

— Ashley Benham Yazdani

In 1858, New York City was growing so fast that new roads and tall buildings threatened to swallow up the remaining open space. The people needed a green place to be — a park with ponds to row on and paths for wandering through trees and over bridges. When a citywide contest solicited plans for creating a park out of barren swampland, Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted put their heads together to create the winning design, and the hard work of making their plans a reality began.

Parks for the People: How Frederick Law Olmsted Designed America
Parks for the People: How Frederick Law Olmsted Designed America

— Elizabeth Partridge

Nobody could get Frederick Law Olmsted to sit still. He was filled with energy, adventure, and dreams of changing the world. As a boy, he found refuge in the peace and calm of nature, and later as an adult, he dreamed of designing and creating access to parks for a growing and changing America. When New York City held a contest for the best park design for what would become Central Park, Olmsted won and became the father of landscape architecture. He went on to design parks across America, including Yosemite National Park and even the grounds for the United States Capitol.

 

Other Resources

 

Union County Parks History
Learn about the Union County Parks from the Initial Planning Stages in 1921 by the Olmsted Brothers
https://ucnj.org/parks-recreation/history/

 

NJ Keep It Green
NJ Keep It Green (KIG) is an active coalition of more than 150 statewide, local, and regional organizations committed to land conservation, agriculture, historic preservation, environmental protection, urban parks, hunting and fishing, and other forms of outdoor recreation, working together to sustain and properly guide funding for the preservation and stewardship of New Jersey’s waterways, wildlife habitat, natural areas, farmland, forests, parks, and historic sites for our quality of life and future generations
https://www.njkeepitgreen.org/

 

Preservation NJ
Preservation New Jersey promotes the economic vitality, sustainability, and heritage of New Jersey’s diverse communities through advocacy and education.
https://www.preservationnj.org/

 

Olmstead200
April 26, 2022, marks the 200th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted, author, journalist, public official, city planner, and father of American landscape architecture. Olmsted and his successor firms designed thousands of landscape projects across the country, transforming American life and culture. His vision of public parks for all people — and their ability to strengthen communities and promote public well-being — are now more important than ever.Through events, education, and advocacy at the local and national levels, Olmsted 200 ensures that Olmsted’s legacy lives on by renewing public and policy commitments to the preservation and maintenance of our historic parks and places.
https://olmsted200.org/

 

Smithsonian Institution Archives of American Gardens
The Archives of American Gardens, part of the Smithsonian Gardens, includes a collection of approximately 60,000 photographic images and records that document historic and contemporary gardens throughout the United States.
https://www.si.edu/siasc/american_gardens

 

The Olmsted Archives at Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site
The Olmsted Archives is one of the most widely researched collections in the National Park System, containing close to 1,000,000 original documents related to the work of the Olmsted firm.

 

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
Based at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Center perpetuates the traditions of the Olmsted offices and Frederick Law Olmsted's lifelong commitment to people, parks, and public spaces. As part of the National Park Service's mission to provide technical assistance to national parks and other historic property managers, the Olmsted Center applies expertise in horticulture, landscape architecture, and history to the preservation of cultural landscapes.

 

The National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation's mission is to provide leadership, education, and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize our communities.