Boston Flora

Tag: Frederick Law Olmsted

  • Sunday, May 3, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – A Walk with Mr. Olmsted Through the Historic Back Bay Fens

    See the Back Bay Fens through the eyes of the man who designed and built it.  Join Frederick Law Olmsted, as portrayed by Gerry Wright, along with an Emerald Necklace docent, as they lead a walk through the historic landscape on Sunday, May 3.  Learn how Mr. Olmsted transformed an area described by a 19th century city engineer as “The foulest marsh and muddy flats to be found anywhere in Massachusetts” into the first link in his chain of parks we know today as the Emerald Necklace.  Hear the story of a remarkable life from the man himself. Meet at 1 pm at the Shattuck Visitor Center, 125 The Fenway.  Free and open to the public, presented by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy.

  • Saturday, May 9, 7:00 am – 9:00 am – Walnut Hills Cemetery Bird Walk

    Celebrate International Migratory Bird Day with a National Park Service bird walk suitable for beginners and novices at Brookline’s Walnut Hills Cemetery. This public cemetery is also the burial place of architect H.H. Richardson, landscape architect John Charles Olmsted, and Arnold Arboretum founding director Charles Sprague Sargent. Time permitting, we will try and visit these grave sites as well as a burial plot that was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm. Bring binoculars and a field guide and be prepared for occasional uneven terrain. Meets inside the cemetery entrance, 96 Grove Street, Brookline. (Co-sponsored by the Brookline Bird Club)  For more information visit http://www.nps.gov/frla/planyourvisit/walks-and-talks.htm.

  • Thursday, February 26, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted and the Massachusetts Legacy

    Alan Banks of the National Park Service will be at the Massachusetts Horticultural Society on Thursday, February 26, from 7 – 8:30, to present on the firm Frederick Law Olmsted founded over a century ago which was involved in over 1,200 landscape architecture projects throughout Massachusetts, ranging from expansive 500-acre public parks to intimate private gardens. One of its greatest achievements is a six-mile “emerald necklace” of ponds, parks, and parkways that winds its way through Boston. This one-hour slide lecture will sample this rich landscape legacy and explore the ideas that shaped some of the most treasured lands in Massachusetts – including the work of the firm for the Baltzell family at Elm Bank.

    Alan S. Banks oversees the historical interpretation of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts. During the last 23 years he has researched and developed a variety of landscape walking tours, slide lectures and presentations on the Olmsteds and their work across the country. In 2010, he was an invited speaker at the Appalachian Institute at Biltmore Estate in North Carolina and later that year he traveled to Milwaukee to speak on Olmsted-designed, Lake Park. Last year he was the keynote speaker at the regional meeting of the American Society of Landscape Architects in Atlanta. He also recently was seen on Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks, a documentary screened on PBS across the country featuring Kevin Kline and Kerry Washington.

    Lecture Fee: Mass Hort Members $10, Non-Members $15. The lecture will take place in the Parkman Room of the Elm Bank Education Building, Washington Street in Wellesley. Register online at http://www.masshort.org/eventdetail/140/422|427|430|433/frederick-law-olmsted-the-massachusetts-legacy?filter_reset=1.

  • Saturday, January 31, 2:00 pm – 4:00 pm – A Legacy in Blue: Recapturing an Iconic Newport Garden

    On Saturday, January 31, landscape historian Arleyn Levee and Sarah Vance, Director of The Blue Garden, will discuss The Blue Garden, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. from 1911 – 1913, with a monochromatic concentration of purples and blues.  The lecture takes place at Tower Hill Botanic Garden, 11 French Drive in Boylston, and is free with admission to the garden.  The lecture takes place from 2 – 3, and a reception follows from 3 – 4 with complimentary refreshments and a cash bar.  For directions and more information visit www.towerhillbg.org.

  • Wednesday, December 3, 6:00 pm – Arthur Shurcliff: From Boston to Colonial Williamsburg

    Join historian and author Elizabeth Hope Cushing on Wednesday, December 3, at 6 pm in the Hunnewell Building at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, as she speaks of landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.

    In 1928, the landscape architect and preservationist Arthur A. Shurcliff (1870–1957) began what became one of the most important examples of the American Colonial Revival landscape—Colonial Williamsburg. But before this, Shurcliff honed his skills in Boston. An 1894 engineering graduate of MIT with an interest in landscape design, Shurcliff, on the advice of Frederick Law Olmsted and with the aid of his mentor, Charles Eliot, pieced together courses at Harvard College, the Lawrence Scientific School, and the Bussey Institute. He then spent eight years working in the Olmsted office, acquiring a broad and sophisticated knowledge of the profession. Opening his own practice in 1904, Shurcliff emphasized his expertise in town planning, preparing plans for towns surrounding Boston. He designed recreational spaces that Bostonians still enjoy today, including significant aspects of the Franklin Park Zoo and the Charles River Esplanade. Historian Elizabeth Hope Cushing will speak of Shurcliff’s early work in Boston and how this led to Colonial Williamsburg, his largest and most significant contribution to American landscape architecture.  Fee Free, but registration requested. You may register on line at https://my.arboretum.harvard.edu/Info.aspx?DayPlanner=1381&DayPlannerDate=12/3/2014. Seating is limited. A reception will follow the lecture.

    The Esplanade Association is please to be a co-sponsor of this event along with the Library of American Landscape History, Boston Society of Landscape Architects, Friends of Fairsted, the and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.

  • Sunday, November 16, 1:00 pm – 2:30 pm – Franklin Park: From “A” to “Z”

    On Sunday, November 16 at 1 pm, explore the portion of Franklin Park that designer Frederick Law Olmsted called the Ante-Park (“A”), which today is largely defined by the Franklin Park Zoo (“Z”). The walk will include stops at the Valley Gates, the Playstead Overlook, White Stadium, and the old Bear Dens. This tour includes an OPTIONAL extension into Franklin Park Zoo to explore the early Zoo designed by one-time Olmsted firm apprentice Arthur Shurcliff.  Meets at “Giraffe” rear entrance to the Franklin Park Zoo, just off the Jewish War Veterans Drive (also known as Circuit Drive).  The National Park Service ranger led Walk and Talk is free and open to the public. For more information, please call 617-566-1689.

  • Saturday and Sunday, October 4 – 5 – Gibson House New York Row House Tour

    Saturday and Sunday, October 4 – 5 – Gibson House New York Row House Tour

    Registration is now open for the Gibson House Museum’s 1859 Weekend in Manhattan and Brooklyn: Bricks & Brownstones: Row Houses in Manhattan and Brooklyn, the Evolution of the New York Row House: 1835-1900.
    The focus of this tour will be the development of the New York row house during the Victorian Era (1837-1901). Proceeds from this tour will benefit the Back Bay of Boston’s own Victorian row house the Gibson House Museum. It is recommended that tour participants stay at the Grand Union Hotel, 34 East 32nd Street in Manhattan’s Murray Hill neighborhood. This hotel is a good value and has a convenient breakfast café from which to launch the tours.

    Saturday, October 4th: Our day of touring begins at 9 a.m. We will visit the Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace, pictured below, which provides a fascinating opportunity to tour what is probably the first complete recreation of a Victorian residential building. Built during the 1850s and torn down in 1916, the decision was made after T.R.’s death in 1919 to re-create his parents’ Italianate brownstone residence in the Murray Hill section of New York City. The President’s family was very much involved in this 1923 recreation and returned numerous furnishings that belonged to the Roosevelt family (Reservations are now in place for tour up to 15 people — admission is free)

    From T.R’s house in Manhattan we’ll take cabs to the Brooklyn Museum. Following lunch in the museum’s café we will have a guided tour the museum’s period rooms (Tour is booked for 1:30-2:30 tour of period rooms with emphasis on Victoriana—Adult admission $15, Seniors—62 and older:$13—guided tour included in price of admission ). The Brooklyn Museum was a leader in the installation of Victorian era interiors-as early as the late 1930s the Turkish smoking room from John D. Rockefeller’s house in the East 50s of Manhattan was purchased and made available for viewing at the museum. After lunch we will visit Grand Army Plaza, Frederick Law Olmsted’s Prospect Park as well as the late nineteenth century mansions of Prospect Park West and adjacent side streets. Following a reception at an 1888 Romanesque Revival/Dutch row house designed by C.P.H. Gilbert we will have dinner at the moderately — priced Two Boots (the cuisine of the boot shaped Louisiana and Italy) in Park Slope (Park Slope tour lead by Ed Gordon).

    On Sunday, October 5th we will gather in the Grand Union’s lobby at 9:30 a.m. to take cabs to Brooklyn Heights. Once the domain of descendants of wealthy Dutch families, the Heights, overtime, has been the home of well- known preachers (Henry Ward Beecher) poets (Walt Whitman), engineers (the Roeblings who built the Brooklyn Bridge) and above all writers — from Hart Crane through Carson McCullers to Truman Capote and Norman Mailer. Highlights of the tour include a look at “the City of Church’s” churches including houses of worship by Minard LeFevre, James Renwick, Richard Upjohn and others. We will stroll along the elevated walkway overlooking Brooklyn Heights known as the Promenade and enjoy brunch at a Heights restaurant. (Brooklyn Heights tour lead by Ed Gordon) After brunch we will return to Manhattan to tour the Seabury — Treadwell House (a.k.a. Old Merchant’s House). This 1832 red brick row house’s Greek Revival interiors contain fine examples of antebellum furniture that belonged to the Treadwell family who lived here from the mid-1830s to the mid-1930s (reservations have been made for a 3 p.m. appointment).

    Tour Registration: $175 ($100 donation to GHM and $75 per person to cover museum admissions and cab rides). Transportation to and from NYC as well as hotel and meals are not included). Limited to 15 people. For more information call 617.267.6338 or email info@thegibsonhouse.org.

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  • Monday, May 19, 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm – A Landscape Critic in the Gilded Age

    Mariana Griswold van Rensselaer (1851 – 1934) was one of the premier figures in landscape writing and design at the turn of the twentieth century, at a moment when the amateur pursuit of gardening and the increasingly professionalized landscape design field were beginning to diverge.  Her close relationship with Frederick Law Olmsted influenced her ideas on landscape gardening, and her interest in botany and geology shaped the ideas upon which her philosophy and art criticism were based.  Author Judith Major presents the first in-depth study of the versatile critic and author, revealing Van Rensselaer’s vital role in this moment in the history of landscape architecture.  The talk will take place Monday, May 19, at 7 pm at the Hunnewell Building, Arnold Arboretum, 125 Arborway.  Presented by The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and the Friends of Fairsted, the fee is $10 for members of the sponsoring organizations, $15 for nonmembers.  Registration required at www.arboretum.harvard.edu.

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  • Wednesday, April 23, 8:00 pm – Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America

    The Emerald Necklace Conservancy will host the Boston premiere of the new film Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America, on Wednesday, April 23 at 8 pm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  Tickets are $11 general admission, $9 MFA members and Emerald Necklace Conservancy donors.

    The new, one-hour documentary chronicling the career and lasting influence of America’s premiere landscape architect who designed Boston’s Emerald Necklace, New York’s Central Park, Biltmore in Asheville, NC among other public and private spaces throughout the United States. The film’s producer, Lawrence Hott will be in attendance for a brief Q & A with the audience.   The film’s co-producer is Diane Garey, and is a co-production of WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and Florentine Films/Hott Productions, Inc.  Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America has been made possible by major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the Human Endeavor, and The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, with funding provided by HSBC, The Tiffany & Company Foundation and The C.E. & S. Foundation. Additional support provided from The Peter C. Cornell Trust and Mass Humanities.

    Tickets can be purchased at any MFA ticket desk, by calling 1-800-440-6975, or online.

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  • Wednesday, May 14 – Save the Date – 11th Annual Party in the Park

    The 11th Anniversary of the Party in the Park, the Justine Mee Liff Fund Luncheon to preserve the legacy of Frederick Law Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace, will be held Wednesday, May 14, 2014 in a new location: Pinebank Promontory on Jamaica Pond. The reception will begin at 11 am, and the luncheon will start at 12:30.  For more information, call 617-522-2700.  You may also buy tickets online at www.emeraldnecklace.org/party-in-the-park.

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