Oral History Initiative
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.
In a myriad of ways and with unique results, the Pioneers Oral History Initiative will serve as the online resource that will preserve and transmit knowledge across generations. In the process, the project will open up new avenues for research and understanding.
Project Background
Oral history can be defined many ways. When documenting America's legacy of historically significant designed landscapes, we may define oral history as the primary resource created in an interview with a designer (e.g. landscape architect), steward (e.g. owner, gardener), or educator. The interviewee is someone who has participated in the development or construction of a significant work(s) of landscape architecture, has managed landscape resources, or has educated generations of landscape architects through their research, writing, and teaching.
The Cultural Landscape Foundation (TCLF) launched the Pioneers oral history initiative in 2003. The goal of the oral historiesis to document, collect, and preserve the unique, first-hand perspectives of renowned landscape practitioners, and to make them available for future generations of stewards, designers, and researchers. The results: recorded spoken memories, personal reflections, commentaries, recollections, interpretations, and narrative accounts of events and experiences that are forever documented, and that will ever-contribute to and enrich the historic record.
Why is the Pioneers Oral History Initiative Important?
In addition to advancing historical research, Pioneers 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.