Practical idealism: Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. and the modern American city planning movemen

Although some considerable work has been completed on the careers of other planning pioneers, the individual who was widely recognized by his peers as the leader of the movement during the early years of comprehensive city planning in this country has not received similar attention. Perhaps overshadowed by the renewed interest in his famous father during the past twenty years or so, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. has nonetheless been virtually overlooked by planning historians even though a brief glance at his record indicates a very significant contribution to the field as an active practitioner and leader of early planning organizations.;Going beyond a substantive appraisal of his career, this dissertation examines the evolutionary nature of the younger Olmsted's planning philosophy, primarily as it was described by his rhetoric and including the manner in which it was informed by his landscape architectural training, during his close involvement with the city planning movement and the early development of the planning profession in this country. As one of the primary forces behind the formation of what is today recognized as the original professional organization for city planners, the American City Planning Institute, and in serving as its first leader, Olmsted ironically raised concerns about the creation of a planning profession for reasons which continue to trouble it today. His pioneering role in this regard is given further study, especially focusing on the manner in which it was informed by his broad and complex conception of the nascent field and his explicit views concerning the definition of city planning as a profession, and on the ironic degree of ambivalence that he maintained as a leader in the professional development of both his fields, landscape architecture and city planning, towards professionalization in general.