LoC Blog: Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted

Frederick Law Olmsted (1822–1903) is most famous as the creator in the late 1850s of New York City’s Central Park with Calvert Vaux. But Olmsted had an enormous and geographically widespread impact on America’s lasting ideas of what cityscapes should be.

The digitized collection of the Papers of Frederick Law Olmsted, newly available from the Library of Congress, consists of approximately 24,000 items (over 47,000 images) of Olmsted’s personal papers, most of which were digitized from 60 reels of previously produced microfilm. While the collection spans from 1777 to 1952, the bulk dates from 1838 to 1903. The collection contains primary materials stemming from both Olmsted’s private and professional life. These include diaries, letters, printed reports, drafted manuscripts, clippings and other documentation.