Archives West Finding Aid

Olmsted brothers, comprised of John C. and Federick Law Olmsted, was a nationally recognized landscape architecture firm established in 1858 by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr. and based in Brookline, Massachusetts. Although the firm was involved in urban improvement schemes across America, one of its significant contributions was to the development of the University of Washington campus.

In the spring of 1903 the University of Washington Board of Regents asked John C. Olmsted to make a preliminary scheme of improvements to the University of Washington campus which would be "in harmony with the proposed park system of the city and which can be used to guide all important construction and planting on the University grounds for years to come."

The initial development plan presented by John Olmsted in 1904 would never be implemented fully, although aspects of his proposals were revised and used in later years. The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, however, held in Seattle in 1909, gave impetus to the Olmsted role in campus design. The decision to locate the Exposition on the lower part of the University of Washington grounds provided new opportunities to develop the campus. Olmsted Brothers was employed by the Board of Trustees to draw up proposals for the site, which the firm was familiar with from its previous studies.

Olmsted Brothers was employed by the University of Washington again in 1911 to develop plans for campus improvement. Following various disagreements with the Board of Regents and faculty members, however, the firm's involvement with the University came to an end in 1914.