W e want a ground to which people may easily go after their day's work is done, and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing and feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets, where they shall, in effect, find the city put far away from them.... We want, especially, the greatest possible contrast with the restraining and confining conditions which compel us to walk circumspectly, watchfully, jealously, which compel us to look closely upon others without sympathy.¹ When landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted delivered his lecture Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1870, Boston was an overcrowded, noisy, and dirty city. Concerned with the health and happiness of Bostonians restricted to these unhealthy surroundings, the city hired Olmsted to design a park system. The series of parks he designed over the next several years is known as the Emerald Necklace. Each unique "jewel" in the Emerald Necklacefrom lovely waterways to botanical gardens to peaceful meadows to tree museumsplays a vital role in linking the citizens of Boston together through nature. ¹Frederick Law Olmsted, Public Parks and the Enlargement of Towns, 1870.
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About This Lesson Getting Started: Inquiry Question Setting the Stage: Historical Context Locating the Site: Maps Determining the Facts: Readings Visual Evidence: Images
Putting It All Together: Activities |
How the National Register
This lesson is based on the Olmsted Park System in Boston, one of the thousands of properties listed in the National Register of Historic Places. |
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