John Nolen was born on June 14, 1869 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. He was the only son of John Christopher and Matilda (Thomas) Nolen. His father died within a year, and his mother married again. None of the children of that marriage survived childhood.
At the age of nine Nolen was accepted at Girard College, the unique boys' school for orphans founded by the Philadelphia philanthropist Stephen Girard. The emphasis on plain living and high thinking that prevailed there, the combination of practical training and character development, dominated the boy's early education and established permanent habits of thought. He graduated with highest honors at the age of fifteen, determined to continue his education. After working for the Girard Estate for six years to earn the necessary funds, he entered the University of Pennsylvania, graduating with Bachelor of Philosophy in 1893.
At the age of thirty-four he enroled at the newly established School of Landscape Architecture at Harvard. He received his Master of Arts in 1905.
During the summers from 1892 to 1894 Nolen was superintendent of Onteora Park, a resort in the Catskill Mountains for persons interested in drama, art, and music.
For the next ten years (1893 - 1903) Nolen was employed as secretary of the American Society for the Extension of University Teaching, which brought him in contact with leaders in many fields of creative work and civic responsibility. As a by-product he developed the art of public speaking, later an important professional asset when he began to plead the cause of city planning. Interested in art and in an outdoor life, he sought a career which would combine these interests and provide an opportunity for civic good. The art and architecture of European cities, the gardens and parks and waterfronts, were already exerting a powerful fascination for him and beckoning toward landscape gardening.
A year's study in Europe (1901 - 02) shifted his interest to landscape architecture, and a reading of the biography of the landscape architect Charles Eliot by President Charles W. Eliot of Harvard served to crystallize the decision. At this time American city planning was only a glint in the eyes of certain landscape architects. This was the challenge and the opportunity for which Nolen was looking.
He make a plan for Independence Park in Charlotte, N. orth Carolina. This was the first of over 400 public planning projects and works of landscape architecture handled by Nolen and his associates in the office he set up in Harvard Square, Cambridge.
During a period of thirty years his work included city plans and zoning, regional plans, plans for new towns and suburbs, as well as public parks, resort communities, and educational institutions. Altogether, over fifty cities were replanned in twenty states. New towns, planned and developed from the ground up, were the source of his greatest professional satisfaction; of these, Kingsport, and Mariemont are the best known and contributed to his international reputation.
In addition to his work with cities, Nolen early espoused the cause of state and regional planning. In this connection he developed regional plans for Happy Valley (near Johnson City), San Diego and Wyomissing and was consultant on the regional plans for New York City and environs and the Philadelphia tri-state district. So great was the demand for expert advice in this field that the Nolen office expanded rapidly.
In the early years Philip Foster joined Nolen as office and field associate; in the later years Justin Hartzog and Hale Walker headed the design team. All shared in the field work. To the Harvard Square office came ambitious student trainees and apprentices, many of whom later advanced to top recognition in the planning profession.
Far from being a desk man, he relished the new contacts of his field work, often traveling 25, 000 miles in a year. He made thirteen trips to Europe, visiting all the major countries, including Russia and the Scandinavian states. In addition he lectured on planning subjects in over a hundred cities and in many universities, including the Harvard School of Landscape Architecture (1928 - 36). Besides technical articles for professional journals, he wrote several books on planning.
His professional library was donated by his widow to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where it became the John Nolen Memorial Collection in City and Regional Planning.
Nolen was a small man, with ruddy complexion and bright blue eyes.
On April 22, 1896, Nolen married Barbara Schatte of Philadelphia. A resourceful homemaker and talented gardener, she shared her husband's enthusiasms and ideals. Four children were born to them: John, Barbara, Edward, and Humphrey. John Nolen, Jr. , followed his father's profession and became director of planning for the National Capital Planning Commission, Washington, D. C.
