Celebrate its centennial in 2016. And the ideas of people like theodore roosevelt, john muir, george catlin, carter watkins, which is some of the names recognized for their contributions to creating americas best idea. National park service. Yet its the name olmstead that is often left off the despite the positive generational impacts of the olmsteds. And more recently we have been reminded of their contributions. The necessary of role necessary role of parks in public spaces during a devastating pandemic with a need to spotlight olmstead legacy. The commissioned a comprehensive study led ethan and ralph and laura meier three incredible authors to better understand these remarkable spanning from the monumental of the yosemite report and the organic act, which helped to create the National Park service to enduring conservation efforts to the expanse of design work within park service itself. This report produced a robust of research on the design and planning work of frederick olmsted, senior. His sons, john charles and Frederick Law Olmsted jr. There are Many Associates and the Olmsted Office in firm. As we kick off the bicentennial of olmsteds birth. We appreciate ethan and ralph for bringing this research to a broader audience. Considering olmsted 200 the National Effort commemorating the continued legacy olmsted values of democratic space accessible to all and our local coalition olmsted now partners participating in the themes of shared use, shared health and shared power. I cannot think of a more appropriate story than the olmstead two share and stuart and id like to introduce jonathan lippincott, associate director, library of american landscape history. Thanks, victor. Thank you. Thank you all for coming today. And again, thank you to friends of fair stead to the arnot arboretum for hosting this book launch. Im, as you mentioned, with the library of american landscape history is the leading publisher of books that advance the study and practice of american Landscape Architecture. Our books educate the public motivating stewardship of significant places and the environment and inspire designs that connect people with nature. Were actually also selling an anniversary, celebrating an anniversary this year. We were founded in 1992. And lila is the only Nonprofit Organization dedicated to publishing in the field of american Landscape Design in history. Were particularly excited to be publishing. And ethans new book on olmstead in yosemite. Im sure many of you are familiar with parts of this story. Olmstead design of central park and his ideas about yosemite. His work for the movement and for the union army and is helping to shape the concept of the urban and National Park in the United States. Whats remarkable to consider and what the authors reveal so beautifully is that he was working on all these various projects the same time during the 1860s, both park and yosemite embody the new of freedom that inspired the union during its greatest crisis, epitomized seeing the duty of the republic to enhance the lives and wellbeing of all of its citizens. Marking the bison of olmsteds birth. The birth book sets the historical record straight offers a fresh interpretation of how the American Park, urban and national came to figure so prominently our cultural identity. So to keep along, i will hand this off to lauren and thank you very much. Thanks. You can see me over the podium. My name . Lauren meyer. Im president of the friends of fair stead, the philanthropic partner of the National ParkService Protocol at Homestead National historic. Its my great pleasure. Introduce the afternoon speakers. But before i do, id like to just reiterate my thanks to the Arnold Arboretum for hosting for the library of landscape history, for publishing this wonderful book and the friends have had many opportunities in the past. Collaborate with both the arboretum and la lh on project that advance knowledge and appreciation of the olmstead legacy and this book talk will certainly do that where im looking forward to hearing more about a new perspective on the role of the homesteads in the postcivil war nation and the creation of our National Park system and. Finally, id like to just thank pat shirkey, whos chair of the Program Committee for friends, ted and to eastern national, who made it possible to have books for sale here today after the speakers are completed. Just a reminder well have a short q a session. And for anyone whos on the livestream, please go ahead and type your questions into the chat. And now its my pleasure to my dear friends dumont and ethan carr. Ralf dumont is a Landscape Architect and and adjunct professor in the at the university of vermont. Historic Preservation Program in his previous 37 year career with the National Park service. Ralf was a planner, resource manager and superintendent, a believer in expanding the National Park system in new directions. Ralf worked on the Development UrbanNational Parks, National Heritage areas and Partnership Based while ed and Scenic Rivers as superintendent of fredrick law Olmsted NationalHistoric Site. He organized the multiyear to conserve and open. The olmsted archives as the first super attendant of marsh Rockefeller National historical park. He guided the parks Early Development as a catalyst for creative approaches to conservation. Ralph, a Beatrix Farrand fellow at the universe of california, berkeley, where received a b. S. And a masters in Landscape Architecture and was a loeb fellow in advanced environmental at the Harvard University graduate school of design. He currently writes about history of National Parks and their impact on american society. He is coeditor and, contributing author of a thinking persons guide to americas National Parks and his column on national regularly appears in the journal parks. Stuart forum. Ethan is a professor of Landscape Architecture and director of the masters of Landscape Architecture program at the university of massachusetts in amherst. He is a landscape ape historian and preservationist specializing in public landscapes. Three of his Award Winning books, wilderness by design, published in 1998, mission 66, modernism, the National Park dilemma, published in 2007, and the greatest speech in history of Cape Cod National seashore, published 2019. Describe the 20th century history of planning and design in the United StatesNational Park system as a context for considering their future car was the lead editor of the early boston. 1882 to 1890. Volume of the papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, published in 2013. The book are going to hear about today. Olmsted and yosemite civil war abolition and the National Park idea, cowritten with ralph diamond, traces the origins of the American Park movement. His latest book, bostons Franklin Park bostons park olmsted recreation and the modern city forthcoming in 2023 rican sitters the history, this landmark urban park and the arboretum neighbor car consults with Landscape Architecture firms developing, plans and designs for historic parks of all types. And now its my pleasure to hands over to ethan. Were going to sing a duet of yeah, we win. Just a quick word of thanks given this audience. First of all lauren. We wouldnt be here without your help. And your your colleague reality and support. And in all that weve done and i like to we both like to thank recognize the frederick law Homestead NationalHistoric Site for the support of the resource study that ethan and i and lauren got the ball rolling with. And, you know, were so pleased to see alan banks and lee farrell cook here. Well. They were the project managers for the National Park service. Nothing would have come together without. Their enthusiasm, encouragement and, support each step of the way. So thank you all. Im going to start talking, so ill simply say yes. Thank you all on my part as well. All right. Homestead and yosemite. Ralph and i are clearly here to talk. Our new book, a timely reinterred of the National Park idea. Idea, i think wed all agree. Do we need to adjust way for mike. Mikes on a little bit, up a little. Okay. I think ralph and i would agree its a timely reinterpretation of the National Park idea. Where did the idea for the National System come from . Did it arise spontaneously during campfire in 1870 on the yellowstone plateau. Thats sort of been the official story for many years. And doesnt it have something to do with Teddy Roosevelt or john muir . And why are we talking about wasnt he a park designer and National Parks dont arent usually dont usually come to mind is designed. He central park the Arnold Arboretum etc. What does that have to do with National Parks . Well, these are questions that ralph and i have been plagued with our entire professional lives. And so we decided to write this book and hope i dont know, maybe i dont know if this is the last word or not, ralph. But but but hopefully, hopefully the term National Park idea is in our title is a bit misleading because were really here to talk about the public park idea as it took shape specifically in the United States in the mid19th century, including urban and National Parks and as i hope we show in the book, there was a broader idea of public parks that was the source of the National Park idea. And even if we want even if we want to consider that a separate idea at all, theyre obviously linked. So our goal is to put Yosemite Valley the Historical Context of the great issues, the day which we all know, civil war, abolition, reconstruction. And by doing that, answer the question of what olmstead actually does have to do with valley and the origin of the National Park idea and what olmstead was doing. Yosemite valley does have something to do with what he was doing at central park at the same time. And his antislavery act, his activism he was doing at the same time and his in the civil war and more generally with his ideas, his theory as an important public, intellectual and social theorists of the day. Yosemite was the first park, the first National Park. It was created by congress through federal legislation. 1864 that granted the area to california for park purposes. So the first National Park was state park, at least for a while. If thats confusing, im sorry it gets worse. We havent even talked about hot springs or the Washington Mall or any the other places that claim to be the first National Park. But yosemite really was in 1864 and lincoln signed legislation while central park was still under construction. And what they both shared at that time and really from the beginning was that they both express and hopes and aspirations a remade American Republic. That sounds odd to us today. Maybe, but it didnt sound odd in the mid19th century. A lot of people were going to a war on this topic and. What was a remade American Republic . One without enslaved people above all, one that preserved the union allowed it to assume a better form a republic that if still a very imperfect, at least move toward the realization of the goals and ideals that it had been founded on in 1776. In other words, the bedrock ideology of the republican that got lincoln elected. To oh, sorry. I was supposed to switch lives earlier. There they are. So this quest, this quotation, a letter by sarah shaw to olmstead, was really the starting point for the book. Shaw was an abolitionist, a social reformer, a philanthropist. Need i add a bust . A bostonian that might be redundant after. That description. She was all of those things. And she was a and correspondent of olmstead with some personal and business connection. She was also the mother of robert gould shaw, who died two years later after this letter was written with over 100 black soldiers of the 54th massachusetts regiment. These were people with convictions. Shaw captured a remarkable moment in this letter and identification of an unprecedented public park, which central park was at least in the United States. The abolition of, slavery and the remaking of the republic at this critical time, as the nation was sliding into war and central park by 1861 was largely completed, shaw visited it or not largely, but a lot of it had been completed, and she had visited it with millions of others and was complimenting olmstead what it was such a worthy project for the future. Okay, here we are. So it was during this tumultuous before, during and after the civil war that the idea of the public park, both municipal and national, became established as a new Public Institution in the United States, both in the nations largest city and in the remote Sierra Nevada of california. And by 1864, when Congress Makes the u. S. Grant both of these parks embodied many of the values and the aspirations that people like olmstead and sarah shaw and many others had for this remade republic in contrast to what it had been before. They were literally physical manifestations of what a more enlightened and unified government could do, and instead remarkably, as a consistent thread through all this. And it is sort of remarkable. I mean, on both coasts, serendipitous is the word that comes to mind. But yes, he is a consistent thread throughout, this story of the establishment of this new public the public park on both sides of the continent. Yes. And very dramatically different, i realize very dramatic, totally different circumstances settings, etc. Theyre very different places. But in our book, what were interested in looking at and what they both have in common without ignoring the differences. So what do they have in common. I mean, we could probably go on about that for some time. But first, their purpose as it was described and understood then, which we should remember, might not be exactly how we might describe and characterize them right now. But they were both acquired and developed the general public to enjoy the benefits and experiences of landscape that not otherwise would be readily available to them. Those benefits were considered real. They improved individual, and Public Health, physical and, emotional. And it was a duty of a responsible government to make sure everyone could have these benefits because they necessary to human health, physical and emotional and because otherwise privileged few only would enjoy them, even monopolise them. To detriment of everyone else. This is very rhetoric that that is being put forward for both of these places. Of course, the people who are being despised or evicted in order to make these places public parks were not. And this is another shared characteristic of these places dispossession, justified. As with all public works, really, at least they require the exercise of Eminent Domain by what we call a Public Interest doctrine. So who is the of the Public Interest . Doctrine will not everyone . Clearly not then, and arguably not now either. But the assertion a Public Benefit and in fact, necessity for societal wellbeing was being asserted. And thats thats what justified the dispossession as it was for water projects, roads, bridges and so on. Was Public Health infrastructure in words, among many other things. So the purpose is something they have in common. Second, these places had common meanings. They both emerged out of the tumult of the mid19th century to embody some of most import