May 14, 2010
Article from the Spring 2010 Newsletter

Part of NYPAP’s mission is to inspire preservationists to celebrate the history of the preservation movement. But we also aim to educate the general public on the importance of historic preservation in shaping our communities and cities. By working with local schools and universities, NYPAP helps spread the message of preservation and historical scholarship to students and educators from different academic disciplines and backgrounds.

In December 2009, NYPAP founder and chair Anthony C. Wood visited the Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, to deliver a guest lecture on preservation history to a group of enthusiastic students. WHSAD is dedicated to preparing students for university study with a focus on architecture and engineering.

This spring, NYPAP is also working with the Pratt Institute’s graduate program in Historic Preservation to conduct oral history interviews with key figures in New York City preservation history. Students in the Public History class taught by Jeanne Houck will interview a diverse group of preservationists on specific topics. The students learn how to prepare for and conduct oral histories while assisting NYPAP in its mission of documenting New York’s preservation movement. This partnership is a continuation of a successful program that began in the fall of 2007 and has since captured the memories of a dozen preservationists.

This year’s interviewees include: Oliver Allen (TriBeCa), Herbert Broderick (the Upper West Side), Mosette Broderick (the Villard Houses and the Coogan Building), Dr. Lawrence Cohn (Central Park West), Carole de Saram (TriBeCa), Edward Kirkland (the West Chelsea Historic District), and Joseph Rosenberg (Brooklyn Heights). Interview transcripts are available online here. 

The Archive Project’s internship program also continues to help undergraduate and graduate students explore the cultural, legal, and professional legacy of the historic preservation movement. Four students are participating during the Spring 2010 semester: Lucas Berman, a junior studying at New York University’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study; Caroline Corley, a sophomore American Studies major at Columbia University; Inna Guzenfeld,a graduate student in the Pratt Institute’s Historic Preservation program; and Ann Hackett, a senior Art History major at New York University

Finally, we are thrilled to announce that former NYPAP intern Marlee Busching has been accepted to New York University’s new graduate program in Historical and Sustainable Architecture. We wish her the best of luck in her emerging preservation career!