Welcome to the Friends of Fairsted
Images 1,3 and 5 courtesy of Frances Shedd Fisher, others courtesy of National Park Service.
News
Happy Birthday, Olmsted
April 2012 marks the 190th birthday of Frederick Law Olmsted and we aren't the only ones celebrating. The Arnold Arboretum is honoring its designer by showcasing The Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted.
New Information on Economic Impact of Brookline's National Park Sites
A new National Park Service (NPS) report shows that 20,751visitors in 2010 spent over $1.34 million as a result of visits to Brookline’s two NPS sites: Frederick Olmsted National Historic Site and John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site. For additional details, including a link to the full report, please see the official press release.
Liza Stearns wins 2011 NPS Freeman Tilden Award for Good Neighbors program
Education Specialist Liza Stearns of Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is the recipient of the National Park Service’s 2011 Freeman Tilden Award for excellence in interpretation. Stearns was honored for creating the “Good Neighbors: Landscape Design and Community Building” program for local third-grade students.
The curriculum-based Good Neighbors program introduces students to landscape concepts and the opportunity to design their own landscapes. In pre-visit classroom activities, students learn about Frederick Law Olmsted and consider how landscape architecture affects their lives. During a park visit, the youth are taught how to read the landscape, draw plant specimens, and compare different design zones. They see how the selection and arrangement of landscape elements contribute to the look, feel, and function of place and use that knowledge to create a 3D landscape model. They also visit either a landscape design firm or Olmsted’s Emerald Necklace.
The program has been officially incorporated into Brookline’s third-grade curriculum. It won the Boston Society of Landscape Architects’ 2011 Award of Excellence and was also featured in the August, 2011 edition of Landscape Architecture Magazine.
The Freeman Tilden Award is an annual award recognizing outstanding public contributions in interpretation and visitor services by a National Park Service employee. Freeman Tilden, who wrote The National Parks, What They Mean to You and Me and Interpreting Our Heritage, has had considerable influence on National Park Service Interpretation and education programs.
NAOP Looking for Help Identifying Mystery Olmsted Site
While preparing Volume 8 of the Olmsted Paper Project for publication, the National Association for Olmsted Parks (NAOP) has come across a reference to a previously unknown Olmsted design and are looking for help from the public in identifying the site. For more information about the mystery Olmsted design, take a look at this article. Volume 8 covers Olmsted's early years in Boston and Brookline; Friends of Fairsted is supporting its publication.
Congratulations to Frederick Law Olmsted NHS and its staff!
The Good Neighbors: Landscape Design and Community Building educational program has been recognized with an Award of Excellence in Communications by the Boston Society of Landscape Architects. Read more here.
Olmtsted Archives Now Open For Appointments
The Olmsted archives have completed their move back to Fairsted and are now available to researchers by appointment. For more information call 617-566-1689 or read this flyer from the National Park Service.
Olmsted Elm Taken Down
The Olmsted Elm, which was critically unstable, was cut down on Wednesday, March 30 in order to protect the public and Fairsted itself. More information about this sad neccesity, as well as future plans can be found in this briefing from the National Park Service. You can also visit the Elm's Facebook Fan Page to share your thoughts about the removal of the tree. Finally you can check out this timelapse video of the Elm's removal.
Renovation Project Nearly Complete
Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site is pleased to announce that the work to improve the site drainage, the security system, the electrical service and the fire detection and suppression systems is nearly complete. As of June 1, the site will began taking reservations for group tours. Please stay tuned for more details as the project wraps up.
What's Coming
Find out all about all our exciting upcoming events. More…
What's Come
2011 was a banner year for the Friends of Fairsted. Be sure to read our annual report to find out all about our great year. More…
How to Get Here
Olmsted NHS is accepting reservations for Ranger-led tours of the Olmsted Historic Design Office and Landscape. Tours are offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:00am, 11:00am and 2:00pm and Sunday at 11am, 1pm, and 3pm. All tours have a limit of 12 people so please make your reservations to assure a place on the tour you prefer. See the Olmsted NHS website for more information.
Get in Touch
Want to join the Friends of Fairsted? Feel free to fill out and print an application and mail it back to us with your contribution. More…