Frederick Law Olmsted, regarded as the father of American landscape architecture, pioneered a naturalistic approach to public parks and designed prominent landscapes including Central Park in New York, Boston's Emerald Necklace, and the Capitol grounds in Washington D.C. A Connecticut native born in Hartford in 1822 and buried there in Old North Cemetery in 1903, he was also a conservationist, author, social reformer, and participant in the anti-slavery movement. Beardsley Park was designed in 1884 by Frederick Law Olmsted, Sr., and his stepson John Charles Olmsted, with the broader design later completed by Olmsted's sons in the early 20th century. Created on land donated by James Walker Beardsley to provide respite for local workers from the city's industrial conditions, the park used scenic features along the Pequonnock River, including large trees, hilltop views, boulder outcroppings, sloping meadows, and riverfront parkland, to create an attractive public space for passive and active recreation while also providing green space to absorb floodwater and protect nearby development. In the 1920s, a zoo was added to the park, and horticulturalist Oliver Crosby Bullard, who had worked with Frederick Law Olmsted on several projects nationwide, became its first superintendent.