Olmsted 2022: A Project for 2015

Travels to Yosemite to present Olmsted Statement on the 150th Anniversary

The Yosemite National Park has invited Gerry Wright, co-founder of Olmsted 2022, to read with youth the Olmsted Statement on the preservation of Yosemite as a scenic area to be forever in the trust of the government for all people. Gerry will also present the one person play, “Frederick Law Olmsted: Passages in the Life of an Unpractical Man.” Gerry has performed this play over 100 times at various locations, from the Olmsted National Historic Site in Brookline, MA to Olmsted Parks Conservancy in Louisville, KY, from a conference for business professionals in Volgoda, Russia to New York City’s 150^th year anniversary of the legislation for Central Park.

Gerry Wright, along with Betsy Shure Gross, co-founder of Olmsted 2022 and former National NAOP Co-Chair, are committed to spreading Olmsted’s philosophy, principles, practices and passionate vision as he played critical roles in the dynamics of slavery as a writer, Executive Secretary of the U.S. Sanitary Commission in the Civil War, and as the landscape architect for New York City’s Central Park, Boston’s Emerald Necklace, the US Capitol grounds, along with multiple plans for colleges, communities and private estates. Olmsted was a key pioneer in the movement to preserve land as national parkland, both at Yosemite and Niagara Falls.

Beginning in Boston, Massachusetts, Gerry’s travel will take him across the country, visiting city, state, and national parks, along with many other works of Olmsted, including college/university campuses, private estates, and unique projects, such as the Chicago World’s Fair. The plan for travel includes meeting people from all walks of life who have become involved with the Olmsted World, along with reaching new people who may become grasped by the power of the life and works of FLO and how they are exquisitely related to the challenges of today’s world. This broad base of individuals and agencies includes public officials elected and selected who are responsible for public lands, as well as staff and volunteers of agencies committed to the challenging issues of conservation and the power in Natural Wonders which Olmsted believed were keys for health and well being.

Collaborating organizations with Olmsted 2022 and the National Park Service include: the Frederick Law Olmsted National Historic Site, Emerald Necklace Conservancy, National Association for Olmsted Parks and Friends of Fairsted. These organizations all have the purpose to make Olmsted’s life and works relevant for people today. “Passages to Yosemite” is a project dedicated to sharing Olmsted’s philosophy, principles and practices in an entertaining experience filled with history that has an educational impact for living in today’s world.