Suggested Links

Olmsted Research Guide Online (ORGO)
Records from the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site (Fairsted) in Brookline, MA, and the Olmsted Associates Collection at the Library of Congress can be searched together in one database.

Parks Practices
The Parks Practices Web site has been developed by the City Parks Alliance (CPA) and National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP) partnership to assist local parks in meeting their current needs more effectively as they encounter the ever present challenges in preserving, maintaining, operating and funding their parks and in serving their increasingly diverse constituents. Park leaders have developed innovative approaches to address these issues, responding to a changing economic climate where public budgets for city parks have been reduced and the reliance on the public sector grows.

The site seeks to highlight the experience of CPA and NAOP members — both successes and failures, facilitate a sharing of lessons learned, and provide opportunities for interaction among city park leaders and citizen groups. It is hoped that through this effort there will be greater investment in city parks across the country and a renewed interest in their role as centers of our common heritage.

Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site - "Fairsted"
Olmsted moved his home to suburban Boston in 1883 and established at "Fairsted" the world's first full-scale professional office for the practice of landscape design. Over the course of the next century, his sons and successors expanded and perpetuated Olmsted's design ideals, philosophy and influence.

Visitors may tour the recently restored "Fairsted" historic landscape and a century-old design office that remains virtually unchanged from the days when the Olmsted firm's activity was at its height. Housed within the office complex are nearly 1,000,000 original design records detailing work on many of America's most treasured landscapes including the U. S. Capitol and White House Grounds; Great Smoky Mountains and Acadia National Parks; Yosemite Valley; New York's Central Park; and whole park systems in cities such as Seattle, Boston and Louisville.

The Olmsteds also played an influential role in the creation of the National Park Service. Writing from his desk in Brookline, F. L. Olmsted, Jr. crafted evocative words that served as the foundation for legislation establishing the Park Service in 1916: "To conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wildlife therein and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

City Parks Alliance
The City Parks Alliance is a national organization comprised of city parks leaders from across the country who work together to strengthen America's city parks.

Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation
Based at the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, the Center perpetuates the traditions of the Olmsted offices and Frederick Law Olmsted's lifelong commitment to people, parks and public spaces.

As part of the National Park Service mission to provide technical assistance to national parks and other historic property managers, the Olmsted Center applies expertise in horticulture, landscape architecture and history to the preservation of cultural landscapes.

Historic Landscape Initiative
The National Park Service (NPS) Historic Landscape Initiative promotes responsible preservation practices that protect our nation's irreplaceable legacy—designed landscapes such as parks and gardens, as well as vernacular historic landscapes such as farms and industrial sites.

Cultural Landscape Foundation
The Cultural Landscape Foundation is the only not-for-profit foundation in America dedicated to increasing the public’s awareness of the importance and irreplaceable legacy of cultural landscapes. Through education, technical assistance and outreach, the Cultural Landscape Foundation broadens the support and understanding for cultural landscapes nationwide in hopes of saving our priceless heritage for future generations.

National Park Service
The National Park Service preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the national park system for the enjoyment, education and inspiration of this and future generations. The Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

American Society of Landscape Architects

The National Trust for Historic Preservation
The National Trust for Historic Preservation mission is to provide leadership, education and advocacy to save America's diverse historic places and revitalize our communities.

Preservation Action
Preservation Action is historic preservation's grassroots' advocate in our nation's capitol. We listen and share what we hear on the Hill to establish an agenda for historic preservation that reflects the concerns of preservation advocates nationwide.