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Historical Society Hosts Lecture on Frederick Law Olmsted

khakum-wood-aerial-view
Greenwich’s Khakum Wood was designed and constructed by the Olmsted Brothers and architect and historian I.N. Phelps Stokes. Stokes’ Khakum Wood home, which was torn down in 1944 after his death, is pictured here.

Learn the fascinating story of Frederick Law Olmsted, America’s father of landscape architecture, at a Greenwich Historical Society program titled “On the Paths of a Genius: Frederick Law Olmsted in Connecticut” on Thursday, May 17. Born in Hartford in 1822, Olmsted designed Central Park and Prospect Park in New York City plus other major parks in Boston, Washington, D.C.,  and many other cities. Among his Connecticut designs are Seaside and Beardsley parks in Bridgeport, Walnut Hill in New Britain and the Institute of Living campus in Hartford.

Even closer to home, Olmsted Brothers Landscape Design, in partnership with architect I.N. Phelps Stokes, designed and constructed Greenwich’s Khakum Wood.

Learn how the landscape architect’s formative years in his native state influenced his brilliantly executed and far-seeing designs, how this master park maker was able to create a sense of nature in the densest urban areas and why his designs endure more than a century later.

Lecturer David K. Leff is an essayist, a Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and former deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. He is the author of five nonfiction books, three volumes of poetry and a novel in verse. In 2016-2017 the National Park Service appointed him poet-in-residence for the New England National Scenic Trail (NET). His talk is entitled “On the Paths of a Genius: Frederick Law Olmsted in Connecticut.”

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for wine and light refreshments. The 45-minute program begins at 7 p.m. and is followed by a 15-minute Q&A session. Held at the Vanderbilt Education Center, 39 Strickland Rd. Members: $15; nonmembers: $20. Reservations are required, at greenwichhistory.org or 203-869-6899, ext. 10. This lecture is presented in memory of David R. Wierdsma.

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