The Civil War and Prospect Park | Virtual Program | Friday, July 30

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July 30, 2021 12:00 pm EDT

Did you know that Prospect Park has a piece of Gettysburg’s famed Little Round Top? And one of the oldest statues of Abraham Lincoln in America? While memorials to the Civil War are prominent features of the park, the war itself also shaped its design. ​Co-designer Frederick Law Olmsted spent the war directing the US Sanitary Commission, which provided medical care to the Union Army, and that experience influenced his ideas on public space and public health. On this virtual tour, we will explore the park’s many Civil War connections, from Grand Army Plaza to the Parade Ground.

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Battle of Brooklyn: Revolutionary War Sites of Prospect Park | Wednesday, August 25

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August 25, 2021 12:00 pm EDT

To celebrate Brooklyn Battle Week, take a virtual walk through Prospect Park and follow the battle lines of the largest engagement of the Revolutionary War. We will see see where American forces tried unsuccessfully to stop the British advance at Battle Pass, follow the path some used to escape to join the main battle in Gowanus, and visit the many Revolutionary War monuments in the park, including Daniel Chester French’s sculpture to the Marquis de Lafayette and Stanford White’s memorial to the 1st Maryland Regiment.

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Exploring Staten Island’s Olmsted-Beil House | Episode 226

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Join us for a special panel discussion and virtual tour of Staten Island’s landmark Olmsted-Beil House, an historic farmhouse and museum where landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted began his monumental career. While Central Park, Prospect Park, and countless other parks across America display Olmsted’s genius, beginning in 1848, this farmstead is where he developed his professional interest in landscape design. Here he learned horticulture, experimented with different plants and landscape forms, and wrote about his travels to public parks in Europe. On this program, we will explore the property grounds with historian and Friends of the Olmsted-Beil House board member Patricia Salmon, and we will be joined by Justin Martin, author of Olmsted biography Genius of Place.

This program is offered in partnership with the Friends of the Olmsted-Beil House as part of the ongoing celebrations for Frederick Law Olmsted’s 200th birthday year, Olmsted 200.

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Spring Planting in Prospect Park | Episode 213

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On this virtual walk, we will join Prospect Park Alliance’s gardeners for a tour of their work doing spring plantings around the Lakeside section of the park, including on the intensive green roof garden atop the LeFrak Center skating rink. Corbin Laedlein, Lakeside Lead EcoZone Gardener for the Alliance, will walk us through the landscape and discuss how they choose different plants for ecological, aesthetic, habitat purposes.

Plants mentioned in the program included: Rhus aromatica, Fothergilla gardenii, Cornus florida, Achillea millefolium, Pycnanthemum muticum, Monarda fistulosa, Cirsium arvense, Amelanchier canadensis, Betula nigra, Chionanthus virginicus, Artemisia vulgaris, Elymus virginicus, Penstemon digitalis, Phragmites, Galium mollugo, Ampelopsis glandulosa, Celastrus orbiculatus, Convolvulus, Cyperus esculentus, Lemnoideae, Typha

This program is presented as part of Jane’s Walk 2021 with the Municipal Art Society of New York.

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Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks: Documentary and Discussion

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April 26 is Frederick Law Olmsted’s birthday, and for his 199th, the National Association of Olmsted Parks is kicking off a yearlong celebration as we approach his bicentennial in 2022. The first event is a panel discussion of Rebecca Messner’s 2011 documentary Olmsted and America’s Urban Parks (which prominently features Prospect Park) with TIME Magazine’s Justin Worland; Dr. Thaisa Way, Professor of Landscape Architecture at the University of Washington; Happy Haynes, Executive Director of Denver Parks and Recreation; and Justin DiBerardinis, Director of Philadelphia’s FDR Park. When you sign up for the free panel discussion, you will receive a link to watch the documentary for free at your convenience on April 24 or 25.

To learn more about the bicentennial campaign honoring and exploring Frederick Law Olmsted, please visit www.olmsted200.org, and we will be posting special events related to Olmsted’s life and work in New York in the coming weeks.

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Great Trees of New York with Allison C. Meier | Episode 210

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Celebrate Earth Day with some of New York City’s oldest and most beautiful trees. Six years ago, writer Allison C. Meier set out to visit and learn about each of NYC Parks’ official “Great Trees,” and she turned her exploration of these august arbors into her recently-published The Great Trees of New York Map. Join our conversation with Allison as we discuss some of her favorite trees, how to find them, and why they are such an important part of the city’s historic and ecological landscape. We will even join the conversation live from some of the Great Trees of Prospect Park.

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Animal Art Adventure at Prospect Park Zoo | BCAP at Home

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Join this free family program with Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

Join us for a virtual visit to Prospect Park Zoo to see and learn about animal-inspired art and buildings! This virtual program will be hosted by our friends at Turnstile Tours in partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society, Prospect Park Alliance, and Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

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Hidden Secrets of Prospect Park’s Water System | BCAP at Home

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Prospect Park Well House A one-story brick structure with windows and an ornamental portico painted in pastel colors and brown with trees in the background

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Join this free family program with Brooklyn Public Library’s Brooklyn Cultural Adventures Program.

Brooklyn’s biggest lake is in Prospect Park – but where does all of the water in the lake come from? Join this live virtual visit to Prospect Park, where we will explore not just the lake, but all of the waterfalls, streams, and ponds that run through the park, and the pipes that run underneath it! We’ll learn how the water system works, and how it has changed throughout history. We’ll also go behind the scenes inside the Wellhouse; Prospect Park Alliance recently transformed this historic building, which once housed machinery for pumping water into the lakes and streams, into the first composting toilets in an NYC park. We’ll explore how this environmentally-friendly system works and get to see the bugs and worms that help break down waste from the bathrooms!

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Downhill Skiing in America: Schussing Through History | Episode 187

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Hit the slopes with us as we explore the history of downhill skiing in the United States. We will look at the introduction of modern skiing by Norwegian immigrants, the evolution of Alpine skiing disciplines and equipment, and the explosion of the sport’s popularity after World War II, thanks to veterans of the famed 10th Mountain Division. We will also look at local connections – though New Yorkers routinely flock to northern resorts, multiple New York City parks once hosted ski hills (including Prospect Park), and today you can ski indoors at the nearby Meadowlands. We will even have guests joining live from slopes at Vermont’s Smugglers Notch and Quechee Ski Area, near where the country’s first ski lift started spinning in 1934.

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Winter Birding with the Brooklyn Bird Club | Episode 186

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While winter can seem like a slow time for birdwatching, many migratory species can be seen in New York only at this time of year. Join us for a discussion with experts from the Brooklyn Bird Club, where they will share some of the notable species currently found in the city, how to identify them, and tips for where to to find them. We will also have a birder joining us live from the field showing some of these spots in Prospect Park.

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