In recognition of the 200th anniversary of Frederick Law Olmsted Sr.’s birth in 2022, the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and Preservation Connecticut (PCT) are seeking consultants to document the Olmsted heritage in Connecticut.
One of Connecticut’s most famous citizens, Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. was the father of American landscape architecture and the founder of a firm which was a national leader in the profession for more than a century. Connecticut played an influential role in this history, as the place of Olmsted’s birth, early inspiration, education, societal network, and burial; and the state accounts for nearly 300 of the Olmsted firm’s commissions. Yet despite Connecticut’s importance to the Olmsted legacy, and the huge amount of information available about Olmsted and his firm, there is little specifically about the state’s place in Olmsted heritage.
The project, funded through the Connecticut Community Investment Act, has two principal tasks. The first will be to research and write a statewide historical context for the Olmsted firm that directly addresses Connecticut’s contributions to Olmsted Sr., the Olmsted firm, and the development of landscape architecture. The second task will be in-person fieldwork and digital analysis to establish a more complete record of what historic Olmsted landscapes remain in Connecticut and to what extent they remain intact.
SHPO and PCT hope this project will increase awareness of landscapes as valuable historic resources. Building on publicity generated by the bicentennial, the project can use Olmsted’s works and writings to call attention to the importance of landscapes for health, quality of life, and the workings of democracy — all essential Olmsted themes — and to make the case for preserving and enhancing not only landscapes associated with the Olmsted firm, but also historic landscapes in general.
A Request for Proposals was issued on April 1, 2021, and Proposals are due April 29. To view the Request, visit https://preservationct.org/rfp. For further information, email Christopher Wigren at cwigren@preservationct.org.