Along the Blackstone: Frederick Law Olmsted
Sundays @ 3 PM and Mondays @ 9:30 AM
This episode explores the world of Frederick Law Olmsted and the need & role of parks in a changing American social landscape. Planning for landscape in America, prior to the arrival of Frederick Law Olmsted, was an unknown profession. The social dynamics surrounding the concept of parks, who would use them and for what purposes was indeed contested issues at the turn of the 20th Century. Boisterous games or refined cultural enlightenment? The working class or the wealthy class? Frederick Law Olmsted brought a great sense of “the long term perspective” to his work. He was a man who saw a landscape in terms of what it could look like in the future. Also on this episode take a trip to visit Olmsted’s workshop in Brookline, MA, now a National Park Site.