Charles H. Ramsdell (1879 – 1957)
Biography
Born and schooled in West Newton, Massachusetts, Charles Ramsdell began work in the Boston landscape architecture office of Warren Manning after completing high school. (Phelps Wyman worked at the same firm briefly during the same time period; it is not clear whether they worked together at this stage.) Having acquired skills in drafting and engineering, Ramsdell was sent by the firm to supervise a landscape program in Menomonie, Wisc. After several years in Wisconsin, he relocated to Minneapolis, Minn., and opened a landscape architecture firm of his own, building on his particular interest in horticulture. During the years to follow, he designed many landscape projects throughout the Midwest.
During World War I, Ramsdell designed housing projects for the United States Corporation. He reprised a similar role for the government during World War II. He also served as a member of the Yellowstone National Park Boundary Commission in 1929
Sources/Further Information:
1. Obituary published in Landscape Architecture (Vol. 48, No. 2, January, 1958, pp. 114-115).
2. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=22038.
