Have you ever been in a work meeting and all of a sudden your boss calls on you to give a presentation just on the spot?

This has only happened to me in my nightmares, but this was the situation that Frederick Law Olmsted found himself in in the summer of 1868.

Frederick Law Olmsted, the famous landscape architect, was visiting the city of Buffalo, New York, on business.

So he was brought around town and brought to the home of a prominent local stove manufacturer,

where I imagine he thought he was going to have a cup of tea.

But then when he walked through the front door, he found that 200 people were there waiting

for him to give a speech.

Oh no.

Here's the backstory.

The city of Buffalo had invited Olmsted to town because they really liked some work that

he had done in New York City, designing a park.

Central Park. You've probably heard of it. Buffalo wanted its own Central Park, and they had picked out a few potential spots.

They brought Olmstead around to these spots. He took some notes, and he told him he'd be back

in a couple days once he had time to think it over.

Then, of course, when he returned, they sprung that little surprise on him.

He walked into that house and found that a full-on public meeting had been convened,

and they were expecting him to give a speech to unveil his pick for the park's location.

There were 200 people sitting there waiting for this news,

including a former president of the United States, Millard Fillmore.

He was a Buffalo boy. Who knew?

I like to imagine as Olmsted is heading to the front of the room.

Maybe he's pulling at his collar a little bit. Maybe he's sweating a little bit.

...