Daily Archives: November 24, 2015


Thursday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Our National Parks and the “Fairsted School”: An Enduring Legacy

The Olmsted firm is famous for the design of hundreds of municipal parks and other landscapes. The achievements of Olmsted and his successors in scenic preservation are less well understood, but park design and scenic preservation were both aspects of the practice of landscape architecture Olmsted developed in the second half of the nineteenth century. This December 3 talk explores the role of the “Fairsted School” of landscape architecture and its influence on scenic preservation and the design of state and national park systems through the twentieth century. The program will begin with a 6 pm reception followed by the lecture at 7, at the Wheelock College Brookline Campus, 43 Hawes Street, corner of Hawes and Monmouth Streets in Brookline. Reservations are required. Call 617-566-1689, x 265, or reserve online at http://friendsoffairsted.org/programs/register/

Ethan Carr, PhD, FASLA, is a landscape historian and preservationist specializing in public landscapes. He has taught at the Harvard GSD, the University of Virginia, and at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he is a professor. He has written two award-winning books, Wilderness by Design (1998) and Mission 66: Modernism and the National Park Dilemma (2007), and is the volume editor of Volume 8 of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, The Early Boston Years, 1882-1890 (2013).

Limited street parking is available. Public parking is not allowed in the Wheelock parking lot. Venue is easily accessible by MBTA Green Line “C” (Hawes Street) or “D” (Longwood) trains.


Tuesday, December 1, 5:00 pm – State House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Open House

Governor Charles D. Baker and Lieutenant Governor Karyn E. Polito invite you to the State House on Tuesday, December 1, to celebrate the start of the holiday season with the annual State House Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony and Holiday Open House.  This year they will showcase Massachusetts agricultural businesses, to give guests a sense of what it means to have a true Massachusetts holiday.  The tree will be lit on the front lawn at 5 pm, followed by the open house.  There will be a visit from Santa Claus, carolers, and more.  Photo from www.masslive.com.