On April 7th, we visited Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site. After learning about the fascinating history of landscape architecture on a tour, we spoke with the site’s archivist, Anthony Reed, about the work involved with the preservation of the Olmsted firm’s records.
Personally, this was my favorite part of the day, as we learned a lot about the future of archival work. For example, it was fascinating and rather surprising to hear how the site’s ongoing digitization project has prompted so many researchers to switch from physically visiting the site to remotely accessing the necessary documents. It was also interesting to learn in greater depth about the upkeep of the physical archives, such as how some documents are stored in rolls and others in bins, how the site’s cataloguing system was inherited from the Olmsted firm, and why it is so essential to maintain a consistent temperature in the storage areas. Our time here naturally built off of our previous experience at the museum collections Northeast Museum Services Center; in effect, the program has allowed us to closely explore the preservation process from multiple angles.
Later on, through the Good Neighbors program with SCA intern Piper Sallquist and Park Ranger Brianne Cassetta, we learned how to apply knowledge of one’s community to the design of public spaces (an activity very much in the spirit of Olmsted). The park-building exercise’s focus on serving the needs of the public was quite relevant to the idea of the fellowship as a whole, and the actual design process was also unexpectedly quite fun: deciding where to place rivers or paths or plants took a lot of consideration and creativity. At the end of the activity, Piper and Brianne put together all of our individually-designed parks to reveal one enormous park that encompassed the resources desired by all the different parts of the community. This last activity was a perfect way to summarize what we’d learned!
