Person Record

• Email to a Friend
• Send Us Feedback

Email Form

All fields are required.

Send an Email to

Your Email Address

Email Subject

Message

Feedback Form

Please help us by providing feedback.

Name (required)

Phone

Alternate Phone

Email Address (required)

Comments (required)

Images

‹

›

1 of 1977 Retrieved from the Wisconsin Historical Society

Image Request Form

Please fill out this form to request an image and click the Submit Request button when done. The organization will contact you to confirm the details of your request.

Name (required)

Address

Phone (required)

Alternate Phone

Email Address (required)

Preferred Format

*Purpose: Provide information about how this image will be used: Description, title of publication, author, publisher, date of publication, number of copies produced, etc. (required)

Record Link
Media Link

View Image Metadata

Metadata

Imagefile	People\Nolen_John.jpg
Name	Nolen, John
Birth Date	6/14/1869
Birthplace	Philadelphia, PA
Deceased	2/18/1937
Place of Death	Cambridge, MA
Spouse	Barbara Schatte Nolen
Children	John "Jack" Nolen Jr. Barbara Nolen Strong Edward Schatte Nolen
Occupation	Landscape Architect
Role	Infrastructure
Education	Girard School for Orphaned Boys - graduated 1884 University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Economics - graduated Ph.B. in 1893 Harvard School of Landscape Architecture - graduated with an MA in 1905
Places of Residence	Philadelphia, PA Cambridge, MA Madison, WI
Notes	John Nolen was born on June 14, 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After being orphaned as a child, he was placed in the Girard School for Orphaned Boys. He graduated in 1884, finding work as a grocery clerk and secretary to the Girard Estate Trust Fund. In 1891, he enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of Finance and Economics. After graduating in 1893 with a Ph.B., Nolen began working as a secretary for American Society for the Extension of University Teaching. While on a trip to England for a conference at Worchester College in 1895, Nolen first became interested in landscape architecture. He married Barbara Schatte in 1896, and when the couple traveled to Europe again later that year, Nolen's desires to pursue landscape architecture were confirmed. Circa 1902, the couple sold their home so that Nolen could attend the Harvard School of Landscape Architecture and study under Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr., Arthur Shurtleff and B.M. Watson. Nolen received his MA in 1905 and joined the American Society of Landscape Architects. In 1908, Nolen was contacted by John Olin and asked to work on the layout and beautification of Madison parks. Unable to pay Nolen himself, Olin asked for support from the city, state, and University of Wisconsin to help cover Nolen's services. Nolen made recommendations for the improvement of the city's parks, but also contributed significantly to the development of the state park system. Noticing how Wisconsin was facing increasing rates of deforestation and other resource depletion, Nolen worked with state officials to find locations for parks and justify their development. He contributed to the creation of four state parks, citing the importance of natural landscapes to the wellbeing of Wisconsin's citizens and convincing the state legislature to green light the funding for the parks. John Nolen also worked on several other projects during his career, such as in Virginia, Georgia, and California. By 1919, he had contributed to the field of landscape architecture with several articles and two books, and in 1927 he was elected president of the National Conference on City Planning. Nolen was active in several other organizations, including the American City Planning Institute, American Civic Association, American Society of Planning Officials, International Garden Cities and Town-Planning Federation, and the Town Planning Institute of England. He died on February 18, 1937.
Image Caption	Retrieved from the Wisconsin Historical Society

Related Records

1. Print - 2015.fic.195

   Color print of proposal for Levee Park. The print uses yellow, green, and brown to depict the river, park, and city. "Nolan Plan/ 19--" in pencil on back. "As Proposed" in ink on back.

   Record Type: Archive