Ralph E. Griswold began his career as a landscape architect in 1916 after graduating from Cornell University, where he received both his bachelor's and master's degrees in landscape architecture. Following his graduation, Griswold served in World War I as a camouflage officer stationed in France. In 1919, Griswold was a part of Bryant F. Fleming landscape architecture firm in Buffalo, New York. Subsequently, Griswold won the Prix de Rome, a competitive scholarship organized by the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture in 1920. He spent the next three years at the American Academy in Rome as a Fellow of Landscape Architecture with Frederick Law Olmstead, Jr. as his advisor. After returning to the United States with his family in 1923, Griswold joined the architecture firm of A. D. Taylor in Cleveland, Ohio, and later moved to Pittsburgh in 1927 to establish his own firm of GWSM, Inc. Between 1934 and 1945, Griswold worked as the superintendent for the Bureau of Parks in Pittsburgh. He contributed to many significant Pittsburgh projects, including Point State Park, the Pittsburgh Zoo, Chatham Village, Grandview Overlook, and the Sewickley Memorial. Griswold also worked on side projects with corporate and residential landscapes throughout the Pittsburgh area, including many country club and park projects. During this time, Griswold also contributed to landscape planning projects abroad, including the American Cemetery in Anzio, Italy, and the Archaeological Park at the excavation of the Agora in Athens, Greece. Between 1956 and 1958, Griswold continued his historic landscape research as the first Research Fellow with the Dumbarton Oaks Project at Harvard University. While semi-retired from GWSM, Inc. in the 1960s and 1970s, he lived in Williamsburg, Virginia, and worked on various projects, including research for the gardens of Colonial Williamsburg, Mary Washington House, and Monticello. Griswold also contributed to other notable projects such as Rosenwald Estates, William Penn's Pennsbury Manor, the University of Pittsburgh's Falk Clinic, and many private residences in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
From the description of Collection of Ralph E. Griswold, GWSM, Inc., 1912-1981. (University of Pittsburgh). WorldCat record id: 317493753
Landscape architect. Full name: Ralph Esty Griswold. Born 1894.
From the description of Papers of Ralph E. Griswold, 1957-1968. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 71070286
Landscape architect, Cornell University Class of 1910, MLD 1920.
Ralph E. Griswold was a landscape architect in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and New York City. He designed Point Park and Chatham Village, Pittsburgh, and other sites in the east.
From the description of Ralph E. Griswold letters, 1946-1947. (Cornell University Library). WorldCat record id: 64071793
