Abby Epplett, Historian

Did you know that the year 2022 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of American landscape designer Frederick Law Olmsted? Olmsted 200 is celebrated through the country at notable sites, including his home and office in Brookline, Massachusetts. Now part of the National Park Service as Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, I finally made the long-awaited visit to the house museum.

Finishing up the trip where I visited Franklin Park Zoo and Pierce House , I took a walk in Dorchester Park . Frederick Law Olmsted originally planned this park to become part of the Emerald Necklace , a chain of green spaces throughout Boston. His sons, John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. , joined his apprentice Charles Eliot to design and built this landscape in 1891. All three had long worked under the oldest Olmsted. Eliot had designed multiple landscapes, including Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC . Later, the trio would become the architecture firm Olmsted, Olmsted and Eliot . They influenced the founding of The Trustees , a Massachusetts non-profit organization dedicated to preserving over one hundred attractions covering 47,000 acres. While this early project is a feat in itself, Dorchester Park never attained the same status of later works. Despite a similar naturalistic style, paved walking trails, small sports venues, and jurisdiction falling unde...

Managed by the Emerald Necklace Conservancy  since 2001, this series of gardens was design by American landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted over a period of eighteen years, from 1878 to 1896. Other well-known public gardens designed by Olmsted include Central Park in Manhattan, New York and the U.S. Capitol Grounds in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Olmstead designed landscapes for privately owned homes, including Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina for the Vanderbilt family, and his own estate in Brookline, Massachusetts, which is now part of the National Park Service .

My August adventures were not limited to my five-day trip on Cape Cod. Towards the end of the month, I visited Newport, RI to hike the famous Cliff Walk and view The Great Elephant Migration art exhibit, which roamed through Newport from July 4 to September 2, 2024. Both walk and elephants were within the Newport Historic District, which was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1968 . The day was bright and sunny but not to hot, a perfect time to get exercise and enjoy environmentally-focused sculpture.

A few weeks ago in April 2023, I visited the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, MA. While I have often visited Franklin Park in the past to run in cross country races, I had never gone inside the historic zoo, which first opened in 1912 and is among the oldest urban zoos in the United States. Now part of Zoo New England , a collaboration with Stone Zoo in Stoneham, MA that was formerly called Commonwealth Zoological Corporation , this seventy-nine acre property sits at the northeast point of the largest park in the Greater Boston area. The entire park is part of the Emerald Necklace designed by American landscape architect  Frederick Law Olmsted . Formerly called as West Roxbury Park for a local neighborhood now known as Jamaica Plain , the park is currently named after American politician and inventor Benjamin Franklin , who was born in Boston. The zoo itself was designed by former Olmsted employee Arthur A. Shurtleff , greatly changing Olmsted’s idea of a natural wildernes...

Are you a fan of visiting multiple historic houses or museums in one day? Waltham, Massachusetts is an excellent city for this kind of adventure. With a rich history and a walkable downtown, not to mention plenty of free and inexpensive parking, a trip to this bustling Boston suburb is well worth the trip. I visited Stonehurst, Lyman Estate & Greenhouses, and Gore Place on my whirlwind tour of Waltham.

Last Sunday, I took a day trip to see places of history and culture in southeastern Massachusetts. My third stop was D.W. Field Park , located across the street from Fuller Craft Museum. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 2000 , the park currently encompasses 800 acres with seven miles of paved roads, multiple ponds, a sixty-five foot tall Central Memorial Tower, and an eighteen hole municipal golf course. The park has been described as the “Jewel of Brockton”.

On the same day that I visited Frederick Law Olmsted NHS , I perused a pair of parks in Brookline, MA.

Last night — on September 11, 2023 at 6:00 p.m. — I watched a book talk on The Lioness of Boston written by Emily Franklin and published by Godine . This webinar was hosted by American Ancestors in partnership with the Boston Public Library and GBH Forum Network. Franklin has published over twenty novels and poetry books, but The Lioness of Boston , based on the life of Isabella Stewart Gardner, is her first historical fiction novel. Other speakers during the talk included Margaret M. Talcott , Director Of Literary Programs & Partnerships at American Ancestors; Kristin Motte , Adult Programs Librarian at the Boston Public Library; and Claire Messud , an author of six novels. Frederique Rigoulot , a journalist at GBH, moderated the chat and Q&A. Franklin described her first exposure to Isabella Stewart Gardner and her legacy. As a high school student in Boston, Franklin visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and wrote a paper about two paintings: Rembrandt’s...

I recently finished reading A Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate written by Will McLean Greeley and published by RIT Press in January 2023. I previously watched a talk hosted by the United States Capitol Historical Society where Greeley discussed his new book , and he sent me a digital copy to review. While I have read and reviewed several great history books in the past months — Path Lit by Lightning and Slaves for Peanuts were two favorites — this book generated a wider range of emotional responses, including laughter, sadness, and triumph. A Connecticut Yankee follows the life of underrecognized Senator McLean (R-CT) who survived an underprivileged childhood to become a wealthy lawyer and career politician. He worked during the Progressive Era in the United States from the 1880s after Reconstruction through the early 1920s during World War I. McLean’s proudest achievement was the passing of the Migratory Bird Trea...

In December 2022, I visited Eustis Estate, a mid 19 th century Queen Anne Revival mansion and a Historic New England (HNE) property in Milton, MA. Open to the public since 2017, the house and surrounded area are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offer a different experience than other HNE buildings. Visitors have the option to freely roam the house and grounds or join a guided tour. Additionally, Eustis Estate hosts chamber music concerts and acts as a venue for weddings and other private events.

On Thursday, May 25 at 7:00 p.m., I watched the Zoom webinar Revolutionary Design: Modern Architecture in New England hosted by Jane Oneail of Culturally Curious . This organization is based in Manchester, NH and focuses on history throughout New England. Each program is sponsored by a New England organization, with this webinar funded by Manchester City Library . Oneail focused her talk on five buildings, each constructed by a different architect.

October 14 was Day 2 of Historic New Summit 2022 held at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts. Like Day 1 of the event , the theme was “Recovering New England’s Voices”. According to Historic New England’s Carissa Demore, “We are all recording our memoirs on the places where we spend time,” and I am glad for the opportunity to record memories at the Summit. Below are highlights from the event. A Civic Gateway: Revisioning the Otis House Nader Tehrani of Boston-based architecture firm NADAAA presented innovative ideas for restoring and renovating Otis House, a museum and historic document collections space operated by Historic New England (HNE). The building is located between the main campus of Mass General Hospital and Government Center. Constructed as a private home in 1796 after a design created by Charles Bulfinch , the house is connected to row houses with floors at different levels from the original structure. Tehrani hopes to improve accessibility t...