Reframing the City Beautiful: Environment and Health in Harrisburg,Pennsylvania

Abstract

Botanist and forester Mira Lloyd Dock, horticulturalist and printer J. Horace McFarland, and landscape planner Warren H. Manning collaborated to implement positive, community-inspired physical improvements in Harrisburg, PA, in the early twentieth century. Their efforts led to real change couched in advancing the cleanliness of streets, drinking water, and air to promote human safety and health. The city paved roads, built a water-treatment plant, installed sewer lines, and constructed parks, playgrounds, and athletic fields. Harrisburg’s commitment to civic engagement is considered an early part of the City Beautiful movement. A thorough reconsideration of the efforts reveals that Harrisburg’s achievements were innovative, and, while a product of the assumptions of their time, offer a hint of the future environmental and urban health movement. While this proto-environmental approach would not inform City Beautiful across the board, the example may lead scholars to reconsider the motivations, impact, and legacy of the movement.