Frederick Law Olmsted papers, 1777-1952 (bulk 1838-1903).
- 24,000 items. 73 1 containers plus oversize. 60 microfilm reels. 23 linear feet.
- Arranged in eight series. Series 1: Journals, 1777-1888; Series 2: Correspondence, 1838-1928; Series 3: Subject File, 1857-1952; Series 4: Speeches and Writings File, 1839-1903; Series 5: Miscellany, 1837-1952; Series 6: 1975 Addition, 1821-1924; Series 7: 1996 Addition, 1880-1881; and Series 8: Oversize, 1886.
Open to research. Restrictions may apply to unprocessed material.
Correspondence, letterbooks, journals, drafts of articles and books, speeches and lectures, biographical and genealogical data, business papers, legal and financial papers, scrapbooks, printed material, maps, drawings, and other papers encompassing Olmsted's career and private life. The papers focus on Olmsted's career as a landscape architect, specifically as a designer of parks and the grounds of private estates and public buildings and as a city and regional planner. Includes material pertaining to his designs chiefly of Central Park in New York, N.Y., of the area surrounding Niagara Falls, N.Y., of the U.S. Capitol grounds, Washington, D.C., and of the grounds of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, Ill., 1893. Material pertains, in part, to work undertaken by Olmsted and the firms of Olmsted and Vaux (1858), Frederick Law Olmsted (1858-1884), F.L. and J.C. Olmsted (1884-1889), F.L. Olmsted and Company (1889-1893), Olmsted, Olmsted, and Eliot (1893-1897), F.L. and J.C. Olmsted (1897-1898), and Olmsted Brothers (1898-1961). Also documents Olmsted's writings, his investigation of slavery in the South (1850s), his role as general secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission during the Civil War, and his work as superintendent of John C. Frémont's gold mining estates in Mariposa, Calif. Olmsted family papers include a journal and other papers of Gideon Olmsted documenting his adventures as a privateer during the Revolutionary war; journals kept by Frederick Law Olmsted's father, John, recording activities of the Olmsted family as well as local and national events; and correspondence of John Olmsted (father), John Hull Olmsted (brother), Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. (son), and John Charles Olmsted (nephew). Correspondents include Henry W. Bellows, Samuel Bowles, Charles Loring Brace, Daniel Hudson Burnham, H.W.S. Cleveland, George William Curtis, Charles A. Dana, Edwin Lawrence Godkin, A.H. Green, Edward Everett Hale, William James, Clarence King, Frederick John Kingsbury, Frederick Newman Knapp, Charles Follen McKim, Charles Eliot Norton, Whitelaw Reid, H.H. Richardson, Charles N. Riotte, Carl Schurz, George Templeton Strong, George Washington Vanderbilt, Calvert Vaux, Henry Villard, George E. Waring, Jr., and Katherine Prescott Wormeley.
Microfilm produced from originals in the Manuscript Division. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1975 (no. 16,498) and 1977 (no. 16,922).
Landscape architect.
Collection material in English.
Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms001019
MSS35121 lcmd
mm 77035121
Bellows, Henry W. 1814-1882 --Correspondence. Bowles, Samuel, 1826-1878 --Correspondence. Brace, Charles Loring, 1826-1890 --Correspondence. Burnham, Daniel Hudson, 1846-1912 --Correspondence. Cleveland, H. W. S. 1814-1900 --Correspondence. Curtis, George William, 1824-1892 --Correspondence. Dana, Charles A. 1819-1897 --Correspondence. Frémont, John Charles, 1813-1890. Godkin, Edwin Lawrence, 1831-1902 --Correspondence. Green, A. H. 1820-1903 --Correspondence. Hale, Edward Everett, 1822-1909 --Correspondence. James, William, 1842-1910 --Correspondence. King, Clarence, 1842-1901 --Correspondence. Kingsbury, Frederick John, 1823-1910 --Correspondence. Knapp, Frederick Newman, 1821-1889 --Correspondence. McKim, Charles Follen, 1847-1909 --Correspondence. Norton, Charles Eliot, 1827-1908 --Correspondence. Olmsted family. Olmsted, Frederick Law, 1870-1957 --Correspondence. Olmsted, John Charles, 1852-1920 --Correspondence. Olmsted, John Hull, 1825-1857 --Correspondence. Reid, Whitelaw, 1837-1912 --Correspondence. Richardson, H. H. 1838-1886 --Correspondence. Riotte, Carl Nicolaus, 1814-1887 --Correspondence. Schurz, Carl, 1829-1906 --Correspondence. Strong, George Templeton, 1820-1875 --Correspondence. Vanderbilt, George Washington, 1862-1914 --Correspondence. Vaux, Calvert, 1824-1895 --Correspondence. Villard, Henry, 1835-1900 --Correspondence. Waring, George E. 1833-1898 --Correspondence. Wormeley, Katherine Prescott--Correspondence.
Olmsted and Vaux (Firm) Frederick Law Olmsted (Firm) F.L. and J.C. Olmsted (Firm : 1884-1889) F.L. Olmsted and Company. Olmsted, Olmsted, and Eliot. F.L. and J.C. Olmsted (Firm : 1897-1898) Olmsted Brothers. United States Capitol (Washington, D.C.) United States Sanitary Commission.
City planning. Exhibitions--Illinois--Chicago. Landscape architecture. Landscape architecture--New York (State)--New York. Landscape architecture--Niagara Falls (N.Y. and Ont.) Landscape architecture--Washington (D.C.) Gold mines and mining--California--Mariposa. Parks--Design and construction. Privateering--History--18th century. Regional planning. Slavery--Southern States.
California--Gold discoveries. Central Park (New York, N.Y.)--History. Mariposa (Calif.)--History. Niagara Falls (N.Y. and Ont.)--History. United States--History--Naval operations.--Revolution, 1775-1783 United States--History--Health aspects.--Civil War, 1861-1865