FALL 2025 JOINT PUBLIC PROGRAM
Friends of Fairsted and the Library of American Landscape History
Tuesday, November 4, 2025
Film Premiere
Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea
6:30pm
Coolidge Corner Theater
290 Harvard Street, Brookline, MA
Lecture is free. Registration is required.
Join us for a powerful evening of film and conversation exploring the role of public parks in shaping the American experience—and how racial injustice has too often limited their promise.
The program will feature the premiere of Olmsted and Yosemite alongside two other acclaimed Library of American Landscape History films:
- Landscapes of Exclusion: State Parks and Jim Crow in the American South
- Boston’s Franklin Park: Olmsted, Recreation, and the Modern City
Following the screenings, hear from three of the nation’s leading park historians—Ethan Carr, Rolf Diamant, and William O’Brien—in a discussion cosponsored by the Friends of Fairsted and the Library of American Landscape History.
Together, these films illuminate the enduring importance of public parks at the local, state, and national levels, highlighting their power to inspire and embody the ideals of a democratic society.
Please consider making a generous donation to help support the Friends of Fairsted free public programs.
Make a contribution to support the Friends of Fairsted Lecture Series.
For additional information about this lecture and other Friends of Fairsted events and programs.
PAST LECTURES
2023–2024
June 2024:
A Path Forward: Identifying Accessibility Challenge and Solutions for Historic Landscapes
Alexa Vaughn, Laurie Matthews, and Monica Rhodes
November 2023:
The Olmsted in All of Us
Charles A. Birnbaum
2022–2023
February 2023:
Before Central Park: A Conversation on Seneca Village
Sara Cedar Miller and Carla L. Peterson
2021–2022
March 2022:
Olmsted and Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea
Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr
Dec 2021:
Beauty, Efficiency, and Economy: A Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Jr.
Elizabeth Hope Cushing
2020–2021
April 2021:
Ecologies of Memory
Sara Zewde
December 2020:
The Olmsted Brothers’ Planning in California: A Prescient Approach to Ecological Design
Christine E. O’Hara
2019–2020
November 2019:
Climate Change and Urban Landscapes: Extending Olmsted’s Legacy
Chris Reed
2018–2019
December 2018:
Saving Central Park: A History and A Memoir
Elizabeth Barlow Rogers