May 14, 2009
Article from the Spring 2009 Newsletter

NYPAP commends its good friend Richard George, president of the Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association (BBPA) for recently donating his Beachside Bungalow Preservation Association of Far Rockaway archives to the Queens Library. This collection covers the years between the establishment of the BBPA in 1984 to 2008. The BBPA strives to preserve, organize, and improve the community of Far Rockaway, Queens, from Beach 24^th Street to Beach 27^th Street, between Seagirt Boulevard and the boardwalk. Their campaign to save Wavecrest Gardens and preserve Derech Emunoh Synagogue, as well as their community building efforts through street fairs and greening projects, are all well documented in this rich archival collection contained in eleven boxes at the library’s Long Island Division. These archives contain a mixed assortment of media, including DVDs, artwork, maps, and correspondence. Richard George’s choice to donate these archives to a library instead of allowing this well-documented history of a young non-profit organization fall into oblivion is a perfect example of what NYPAP advocates for on a daily basis. Saving the everyday documents of an organization gives the preservation movement a sense of its past and chronicles what has been successful in earlier campaigns or programs. The Archive Project hopes that other preservation organizations follow Richard George’s lead and find ways of preserving their own archives so that their past endeavors can guide the future of historic preservation.