Pioneer Information
A native of Ohio, Ralph Griswold graduated from Cornell University with a B.S. in landscape art and a master of landscape design, and joined the office of Bryant Fleming in Buffalo, New York. A recipient of the Rome Prize in 1920, Griswold spent three years at the American Academy in Rome; upon his return, he joined the firm of A.D. Taylor in Cleveland. In 1927, he moved to Pittsburgh where he collaborated with Clarence Stein and Henry Wright on Chatham Village. He served the superintendent of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Parks as the first landscape architect employed by the city. He lobbied heavily for the revitalization of the city’s parks, raising private funds and public awareness. Independently, Griswold assembled a team to develop plans for a modern park for the city, Point State Park, the icon of the Pittsburgh Renaissance. Abroad, Griswold worked on designs for the American Academy in Rome, at the Agora in Athens, and in Anzio at the largest World War II cemetery in Europe. As a scholar, he was associated with Dumbarton Oaks and Colonial Williamsburg, also serving as the consultant for numerous historic preservation projects for the Garden Club of Virginia, including the Pavilion Gardens at the University of Virginia.
