Elizabeth Barlow Rogers

Elizabeth Barlow Rogers (born 1936) is a landscape designer, landscape preservationist and writer. Her most notable project is the revitalization of Central Park in New York City.[1][2] After serving as Central Park administrator, Rogers became the first president of the Central Park Conservancy, a private not-for-profit corporation that she helped found in 1980 to bring citizen support to the restoration and renewed management of Central Park.[3]

For other people named Elizabeth Rogers, see Elizabeth Rogers (disambiguation).

Early life

Rogers was born in San Antonio, Texas to C. L. and Elizabeth Browning. She grew up with two brothers in Alamo Heights. [4][5]A graduate of Wellesley College, where she majored in art history, she later received a Masters in city planning from Yale University. [3] She moved permanently to New York in 1964.

Career

In 1979, Rogers was appointed the first administrator for Central Park by then-Mayor Ed Koch. At the time, the 843-acre (341 ha) public space was strewn with trash and long neglected with virtually no funding allocated to improving its condition. [2] Working with then NYC Parks commissioner Gordon J. Davis, Rogers conceived of a master plan to reinstate the Greensward Plan design by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, while also keeping in mind the public purpose of the greensward and practical considerations. Rogers' aim was "the renewal of the physical beauty of the park as originally envisioned by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, yet integrated with contemporary social and recreational uses."[6]

Rogers recruited friends and volunteers to assist her in reclaiming discrete sections of the park. One of these colleagues was Lynden Miller. In 1982, Rogers asked Miller to tackle Central Park's Conservatory Garden.[7][8][9]

She founded a program in Garden History and Landscape Studies at the Bard Graduate Center, New York, in 2001, and directed it until 2005.

Barlow Rogers is the president of the Foundation for Landscape Studies.

Awards

Her alma mater honored her with an Alumni Achievement Award in 1989.

In 2005, the American Society of Landscape Architects presented her with its LaGasse Medal for her achievements.

A discreet bronze plaque on a boulder on the slope above the Diana Ross Playground honors her service to Central Park.

Personal life

Rogers' first marriage ended in divorce. She has two children. She is currently married to Ted Rogers.[2]

Selected works
  • The Forests and Wetlands of New York City (New York: Little, Brown, 1971). Recipient of the John Burroughs Medal.
  • Frederick Law Olmsted's New York (New York: Whitney Museum/Praeger, 1972).
  • The Central Park Book (Central Park Task Force, 1977).
  • Rebuilding Central Park: A Management and Restoration Plan (MIT Press, 1987).
  • Landscape Design: A Cultural and Architectural History (New York: Abrams, 2001).
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References
  1. Bruce Weinstein. "How Humility Brought The Greatest Park In The World Back From The Dead". Forbes. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  2. Ben McLannahan (June 5, 2015). "Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, the saviour of New York's Central Park". Financial Times. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
  3. Phillip Lopate (April 2016). "Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Central Park's Unyielding Protector, As the scholar, activist, and first administrator of Central Park publishes her latest book, Green Metropolis, Phillip Lopate follows her elegant trail". Vanity Fair. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  4. "Browning Ranch". Browning Ranch. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  5. Nancy Cooke-Monroe. "Central Park Conservancy Founder Betsy Rogers Traces Love for Nature to San Antonio Roots". The Rivard Report. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  6. Elizabeth Hawes (September 5, 1982). "Whose Park is it Anyway?". New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
  7. "Garden designer Lynden Miller says a healthy city needs beautiful parks". Grist. November 13, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2020.
  8. Sarah Lyall (June 11, 1987). "Garden in Central Park Is Reborn After Neglect". New York Times.
  9. Kaufman, Joanne (2009-10-20). "She Creates Urban Edens". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
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