Genius of Place
It was Frederick Law Olmsted鈥檚 biggest break. But when the job was first offered to him it looked a lot more like a last resort.
In 1857, at the age of 35, Olmsted 鈥� who had already failed twice as a 鈥渟cientific farmer鈥� and then went on to lose thousands of dollars as a publisher 鈥� was offered a salary of $1,500 to clear stones and drain swamps in the middle of New York City. At the moment, Olmsted鈥檚 shoes were in tatters and he had no money for rent. 鈥淲hat else can I do for a living?鈥� he moaned as he accepted the title of superintendent of a brand-new work in progress: New York鈥檚 Central Park.
Olmsted was 鈥渁 late bloomer nonpareil,鈥� writes Justin Martin in his thorough, admiring biography Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted. Martin does an excellent job of tracing the development of this multitalented genius and 鈥� by the book鈥檚 end 鈥� makes a powerful case for Olmsted as a reformer who not only created some of the world鈥檚 most beautiful parkland but also helped to shape our lives and public spaces as we know them today.
As a dreamy young man who loved to read, beautify farmland, and travel 鈥� and whose father could afford to send him to visit Europe鈥檚 most wonderful gardens 鈥� Olmsted had turned himself into a landscape architect without knowing what he was doing. (The field did not exist at the time.) But suddenly, in Central Park, he was in exactly the right place at the right time. Paired with the talented and like-minded architect Calvert Vaux, Olmsted submitted a plan for the development of Central Park that, by comparison, left the ideas of his closest rival looking 鈥渃ommonplace and tasteless.鈥�
The ideal of Olmsted鈥檚 life was that green spaces should nourish the city dweller鈥檚 innate hunger for natural beauty. Where his contemporaries cherished no higher vision for Central Park than a tedious set of statues and parade grounds, he dreamed of glorious vistas that would 鈥渟upply the hundreds of thousands of tired workers, who have no opportunity to spend their summers in the country, a specimen of God鈥檚 handiwork.鈥�
Olmsted鈥檚 success in creating a showcase of natural beauty in Central Park was so overwhelming that suddenly his talents were wanted all over America. Among many other achievements, Olmsted went on to design more than 30 major parks in US cities. He worked on the US Capitol grounds and several prestigious US college campuses, including Stanford University. He was also an early environmentalist who was instrumental in advocating for the preservation of sites of great natural beauty like Yosemite and Niagara Falls.
His son, Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., continued his father鈥檚 work on into the next century, helping to establish US national parks, shape the future growth of numerous US cities, and create the profession of landscape architecture. 鈥淔rom 1857 onward, there isn鈥檛 a single US landscape architect that doesn鈥檛 owe a debt to Olmsted,鈥� writes Martin.
And it鈥檚 not just public parks that bear his mark. A man of great and restless intellectual energy, Olmsted also worked as a journalist, traveling the pre-Civil War US South and cataloging the abuses of slavery so effectively that Malcolm X would one day cite Olmsted鈥檚 writing as key to his development. During the Civil War Olmsted headed up a medical rescue unit that helped to lay the groundwork for the Red Cross. Later in life he also managed a California gold mine.
Along with Olmsted鈥檚 many gifts came numerous quirks and contradictions. He suffered from anxiety and depression and, for a time, even hysterical blindness. An early accident left him lame and for the rest of his life he walked with a cane.
But Olmsted dreamed of making the world a better place for the average man and little came between him and his goal. He was 鈥渢he most remarkable specimen of human nature with whom I have ever been brought into close relations,鈥� wrote a colleague who worked with him during the Civil War. 鈥淭alent and energy most rare.... He works like a dog all day and sits up nearly all night, doesn鈥檛 go home to his family for five days together, works with steady, feverish intensity until four in the morning, sleeps on a sofa in his clothes, and breakfasts on strong coffee and pickles!!!鈥�
Olmsted died at the age of 81 鈥� ironically, in a Massachusetts asylum of his own design 鈥� nursing a great fear that he had left no legacy behind him.
Too bad Olmsted can鈥檛 take a stroll through today鈥檚 Central Park, suggests Martin. The sight of a huge, diverse populace flooding the park, each enjoying the beautiful space in his or her own way 鈥� exactly as can be seen in contemporary Central Park every single day 鈥� would represent the fulfillment of his dreams.
鈥淚 think Olmsted would be proud,鈥� Martin concludes.
Marjorie Kehe is the Monitor鈥檚 books editor.
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