Oral History Project

In addition to advancing historical research, the Pioneers of American Landscape Design® initiative fosters a richer, deeper appreciation for often invisible, typically little-known, and, in some instances, threatened works of landscape architecture.

Pioneers Oral Histories help identify designed landscapes that require special care or consideration in their management and maintenance decisions. In addition, these interviews often help identify a designer's involvement when it cannot be determined by more traditional methods of historical research. Oral histories allow us to capture and preserve important aspects of the human experience that would otherwise go undocumented.

  • Stuart O. Dawson

    As a Founding Principal at Sasaki for more than fifty years, his career encompassed hundreds of projects for university campuses, museums, resorts, and corporate headquarters.

  • Cornelia Hahn Oberlander

    Recognized as a national treasure in Canada, Cornelia Hahn Oberlander has been creating innovative landscapes for more than sixty years.

  • James van Sweden

    James van Sweden has been a leader in landscape architecture for more than 35 years. In a series of interviews he shares his philosophy about an enduring design legacy.

  • Lawrence Halprin

    Creating landscapes for over 60 years, Halprin designed spaces which brought his knowledge and love of nature, movement, and social ideas into urban spaces.

  • M. Paul Friedberg

    As a practitioner and educator, M. Paul Friedberg awakened his profession to urban landscape design with the construction of Riis Park Plaza in New York City in 1965.

  • Edward L. Daugherty

    With a career spanning fifty years, Edward L. Daugherty designed some of the South’s most influential landscapes of the modern era. Hear him talk about his time at Harvard, career, and design philosophy.

  • Carol R. Johnson

    View the inaugural documentary in the Pioneers Oral History series and hear Carol R. Johnson talk about her life, career, design philosophy, and what it means to be a pioneering woman in the field of landscape architecture.