Olmsted and America's Urban Parks

In early 19th-century America, big cities were rapidly filling up with mills and sweatshops, with open spaces giving way to ever larger office buildings and tenements that offered little escape from poverty, disease, and squalor. In Europe, parks and open areas were generally reserved for the wealthy or royalty, off limits to commoners. Frederick Law Olmsted had a different vision for a young, growing America. Co-directed by Rebecca Messner, George DeGolian, and Michael White, this PBS-aired documentary examines the life and legacy of Olmsted, a visionary best known for spearheading the creation of New York City's Central Park, a "people's garden" designed to provide an escape from the "bustle and jar" of the city. Olmsted envisioned a large, rocky, swampy area then occupied by squatters being replaced by what would become Central Park. Olmsted tried to counteract the monotonous regularity of city streets by introducing scenic variety, open meadows, and winding paths through the park. Fighting exhaustion and periodic bouts of depression, Olmsted overcame city penny pinching and patronage, employing hundreds of workers and moving millions of cubic feet of soil in the process. The documentary also explores other works, ranging from Brooklyn's Prospect Park to sites in Buffalo, New York, Chicago, and Boston (famed for its "Emerald Necklace" system of interconnected parks that grew and strengthened neighborhoods), as well as the massive Biltmore Estate, still a major North Carolina tourist attraction. Although Olmsted eventually succumbed to dementia and depression—dying in 1903—his descendants continued his firm until 1979. Kevin Kline provides the voice of Olmsted in this excellent documentary that salutes a pioneer who helped change the face of America. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Rees)