FRIENDS OF FAIRSTED LECTURE SERIES 2018-2019
DECEMBER 2018 LECTURE
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir
An Evening with Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
The Friends of Fairsted are pleased to welcome Elizabeth Barlow Rogers to Boston for a presentation about her recent book, Saving Central Park: A History and a Memoir. A prolific author and indefatigable advocate for landscape studies and preservation, Barlow will discuss the book and her heroic leadership of the restoration and care of Central Park. The Wall Street Journal describes “Saving Central Park” as not only the story of the recovery of 800 acres of parkland; but also the story of the rebirth of an idea—Olmsted’s idea that public parks are vital to the American city, not only as recreational retreats but also as democratic public spaces.
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers is currently the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies and the author of nine previous books, including The Forests and Wetlands of New York City, Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History, Romantic Gardens: Nature, Art, and Landscape Design, and most recently Green Metropolis: The Extraordinary Landscapes of New York City as Nature History and Design. She has long been involved in and influential in historic landscape preservation and was the first person to hold the title of Central Park Administrator. She was instrumental in founding the Central Park Conservancy and is the winner of many awards in the field of landscape studies and restoration. A native of San Antonio, Texas, she has made New York her home since 1964.
The Friends of Fairsted are grateful to Boston University/Wheelock College for their generosity in hosting our lectures.
PAST LECTURES
2018–2019
December 2018: Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers
2017-2018
April 2018:
What Is a Park For? Olmsted, Obama, and the Meanings of Urban Landscape
Carlo Rotella
December 2017:
Beyond Drawings: The Olmsted Archives as Muse and Vision
Lucinda Brockway
2016–2017
March 2017:
Lewis Mumford’s Green Urbanism
Aaron Sachs
December 2016:
From the Granite Garden to West Philadelphia (with a nod to the Fens): Restoring Nature & Communities
Anne Whiston Spirn
2015–2016
April 2016:
Parks: Cornerstone of Civic Revitalization
Rolf Diamant
December 2015:
The “Fairsted School”: An Enduring Legacy
Ethan Carr
2014–2015
March 2015:
Visible|Invisible
Gary Hilderbrand
December 2014:
Dwelling in Landscape
Daniel Bluestone
2013–2014
March 2014:
The Shaping of Regions: The New York Regional Plan and the Origins of Planning in America
Robert Yaro
November 2013:
From Buffalo to Boston: Olmsted’s Evolving Vision of Urban Park Systems
Francis R. Kowsky