rom the shores of ancient South Jutland, Denmark - a country where every foot of land had its history - to the prairies of Mid-America, a new country, new to white men, where the Indians still roamed the plains and the buffalo enjoyed the freedom of vast prairies endless to the European mind" - thus began the influence of Jens Jensen when he came to America in early 1881.

Jensen brought with him an appreciation and love of nature and an unusual skill as a landscape architect, having attended the agricultural and horticultural colleges of Copenhagen, Berlin, and Hanover. His ability was quickly recognized and he became superintendent of the Union and other small parks in the Great West side of Chicago. Later, he became superintendent of Humboldt Park, general superintendent of the Great West Park System, which includes the famous Garfield Park Conservatory.

Jens grew to love America and marveled at its tremendous industries and commercial undertakings, but he soon realized "that the overcrowded city chains the mind of the people, dwarfing the mind, and a love for the living green, which is a natural heritage." He became a pioneer and fought for open spaces and sunshine for our cities by building parks and playgrounds and by spreading the gospel of "back to nature". *

Many parks and estates in various cities throughout the United States were the result of Jensen's genius, as were most of the estates along Chicago's famous North Shore. In addition to landscaping Fair Lane, he completed four homes for Edsel Ford and projects for the Dearborn Inn, Henry Ford Hospital, Henry Ford Museum, and the Ford pavilion at the 1933 Chicago Century of Progress.  On October 1, 1951, just seventeen days after his 91st birthday, Jens Jensen died at "The Clearing," the unique nature institution he had established in Ellison Bay Wisconsin.

* Excerpt with permission from Jens Jensen: Maker of Natural Parks and Gardens, by Robert E. Grese