Next In Their Footsteps event set for October 15

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, Fort Clatsop has announced the next In Their Footsteps free speaker series event. America’s Master Park Maker: Frederick Law Olmsted will be shared by Laurence Cotton on Sunday, October 15, at 1:00 p.m. This unique program will include a screening of the 60 minute movie, Frederick Law Olmsted: Designing America, a co-production of WNED-TV, Buffalo/Toronto and Florentine Films/Hott Productions Inc. Laurence Cotton spearheaded this 2014 PBS special, and served as principal researcher and consulting producer.

Frederick Law Olmsted, along with his two sons and the Olmsted Bros. landscape architecture firm, designed over 700 public parks across the U.S. and Canada, as well as numerous academic campuses and private estates. From Central Park to the White House Grounds to Seattle’s Volunteer Park, the Olmsted family left a huge imprint across North America, including our National Park System. Here in the Pacific Northwest, John Charles Olmsted master-planned the entire park systems of Portland, Seattle, and Spokane and contributed to the designs of numerous college and university campuses.

Historian Laurence Cotton is a writer, film producer, and storyteller who has contributed to the production of many historical and biographical films for regional and national public television. Cotton currently serves as “Riverlorian” - historian/naturalist and guide on board the American Empress stern-wheeler that plies the Columbia and Snake Rivers for history-oriented cruises. He was one of the planners for the regional commemoration of the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial and served on the National Council of Conservation Advisors to the National Bicentennial Council.

In Their Footsteps is a monthly Sunday forum sponsored by the Lewis & Clark National Park Association and the park. These programs are held in the Netul River Room of Fort Clatsop’s visitor center and are free of charge.

For more information, call the park at (503) 861-2471, or check out http://www.nps.gov/lewi, or Lewis and Clark National Historical Park on Facebook.