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Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America

  • Wednesday, September 28, 2022
  • 7:00 PM - 8:30 PM
  • Online via Zoom

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The OLLI Distinguished Speakers Series presents
Laurence Cotton on

Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America

Wednesday, September 28 at 7 p.m. EDT

Online via Zoom 

April 26, 2022, marked the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederick Law Olmsted, the master designer of public parks and a founder of the field landscape architecture. Join historian and filmmaker Laurence Cotton (originator of and consulting producer to the PBS special “Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America” as he does a deep dive into the remarkable life and career of the Renaissance-man Olmsted--writer, philosopher, social reformer, advocate for the preservation of natural scenery, and creator of some of the most beautiful public and private parks and gardens in all of North America. Laurence will also give a visual tour of representative masterful landscapes designed by Olmsted, Senior, as well as his two sons and the Olmsted Brothers landscape architecture firm, as the footprint of their works literally stretch across the entire continent of North America. Additionally, Laurence will offer an additional tour of select Olmsted landscapes in the Connecticut River Valley (where he attended college), the Berkshires, (where he has family ties), and the Hudson River Valley.


Laurence Cotton, currently based in Portland, Oregon, a city that benefits from an Olmsted-master planned park system, originally hails from Boston, renowned for its Olmsted landscapes and the home base for generations of landscape design practitioners working for the Olmsted Brothers firm. A practicing public historian, and writer/producer of historical films for PBS, Mr. Cotton was trained as a cultural anthropologist and brings that lens to bear on much of his work. He has worked with the tribal populations throughout the Columbia River watershed and has also worked on open space acquisition and the designs of parks and trails in Pacific Northwest. He also brings training as an interpretive naturalist, and he is a birder and a photographer.

Admission is $10 for OLLI at BCC and Berkshire Museum members, and $15 for the general public.  Admission is free for Berkshire Community College students, youth 17 and under, and those holding WIC, EBT/SNAP, or ConnectorCare cards.

Pre-registration is required. Register safely and securely online or call 413.236.2190 (M-F 9am-4pm) to register by phone with a credit card.

In Partnership with the Berkshire Museum



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