Charles Eliot Scholarship
The Metropolitan Area Planning Council has established a scholarship award in memory of Charles W. Eliot, II. Mr. Eliot was an advocate of regional cooperation and especially interested in land use planning as it affected open space protection, land management, and other ecological issues.
This scholarship is open to any senior in a secondary school in the 101 city-and-town MAPC region, who is planning to further his/her education in these fields, which were of significant value to Mr. Eliot. A cash prize of at least $500 will be awarded in the form of a scholarship to the school of the recipient's choice.
Scholarship information for 2011 will be posted by December, 2010.
Below is a brief summary of the accomplishments of Charles W. Eliot, which students should review prior to submitting an application.
If you would like more information about this award, please feel free to contact Thomas Hauenstein, at the address shown at THauenstein@mapc.org or (617) 451-2770, ext. 2072.
Applications for this award should be sent to:
Metropolitan Area Planning Council
Attn: Charles W. Eliot Scholarship
60 Temple Place
Boston, MA 02111
The award will be made at the MAPC Annual Meeting (to which the winning student is cordially invited to attend).
In Memory of Charles W. Eliot II 1900 - 1993
"Planning is the guidance of change," Charles Eliot 2nd noted in his Thoughts on Planning essay developed after some fifty years of practice and teaching. Indeed Charles Eliot made notable achievements in the evolution, advocacy and implementation of planning concepts, as did three generations of Charles Eliot's before him.
As one of the founding fathers, MAPC has long benefited from Mr. Eliot's pioneering efforts in regional planning. His work with the Council began at the first meeting on January 14, 1964 and continued for three decades. During those years Mr. Eliot was an outspoken defender of regional planning and the preservation of open space. Longtime members of the MAPC organizational family recall his annual submittal of legislation for the regionalization of government. His role on the national front includes setting up state planning agencies throughout the country, as director of the National Resources and Planning Board. On the local front he created plans for Arlington , Bedford , Duxbury and Yarmouth. For the Commonwealth, he masterminded the green belt area around Boston and the Bay Circuit. His work has gone a long way to forward sound planning practices and the conservation of natural resources.
At MAPC, Mr. Eliot is most remembered for his participation in drafting the original legislation that created MAPC. During his years at the Council, Mr. Eliot served as a member of the Open Space and Recreation Technical Advisory Committee, and on the Regional Organizational Technical Advisory Committee developed to explore inter-municipal cooperation. He held a gubernatorial seat on the Executive Committee for 12 years. In the 1970s MAPC and the Society of Planning Officials awarded Mr. Eliot for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of planning. He was the first and only recipient of MAPC's Atherton Loring Award.
Mr. Eliot has been at the vanguard of regional planning for more than half a century. He leaves a great legacy for the Commonwealth and the nation that will not soon be forgotten. We need only look around to see the benefits of his work.
