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Before he was known as a landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted was best known for a series of articles he wrote for \u201cThe New York Daily Times\u201d (now \u201cThe New York Times\u201d) and later books he published about his travels in the southern United States between late 1852 and the summer of 1854.\u00a0 He was keen observer and reported quite accurately and in great detail on the economic and social structures, especially the practice of slavery.<\/p>\n
\u201cOlmsted South: Old South Critic, New South Planner\u201d is a collection of scholarly essays written in the 1970s that in part analyze the change in Olmsted\u2019s attitude during his travels.\u00a0 By the end, he is convinced that slavery is disastrous not only for the enslaved but for the entire society.\u00a0 This would later influence his work as a landscape architect: \u201cUnderlying his plans for each park, parkway, campus, and suburb was an understanding of the past expressed in the natural history of the site as well as in the growth and development of American society\u201d (quoted from the Foreword of \u201cOlmsted South\u201d by Albert Fein).<\/p>\n
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Excerpted from Brian Thompson’s article in the Summer 2022 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Before he was known as a landscape architect, Frederick Law Olmsted was best known for a series of articles he wrote for \u201cThe New York Daily Times\u201d (now \u201cThe New York Times\u201d) and later books he published about his travels in the southern United States between late 1852 and the summer of 1854.\u00a0 He was keen observer and reported quite accurately and in great detail on the economic and social structures, especially the practice of slavery. \u201cOlmsted South: Old South…<\/p>\n