In Photos: A Walk Through Fredrick Law Olmstead's Enduring Gift, American Parks

On the bicentennial of his birthday in April — aptly the season of spring blooms and rebirth — it is worth remembering Olmsted’s enduring imprint on the nation. In plots of earth and green, Olmsted saw something more: freedom, human connection, public health.

A New York Times photographer captured every season in Olmsted-designed spaces, from the woodlands of Prospect Park in Brooklyn to the slopes of Cherokee Park in Louisville, Ky., to the campus of Stanford University to a green island in Detroit.

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