A Vanishing New York: A Conversation with Photographer John Lazzaro
New York is filled with forsaken buildings, each ravaged by the exploits of modernization, each having fascinating histories. A Vanishing New York, published in 2022, explores over 40 of the most evocative abandoned sites in the Empire State and puts their individual stories in the larger context of New York’s historical legacy. Photographer and author John Lazzaro traveled the state over a three-year period, capturing what’s left of such places before they are swept away by time. Divided by region, these sites, ranging from the Catskills’ once-vibrant vacation destinations to Long Island’s melancholy psychiatric centers, reveal deeper social, cultural, and political changes that lead to their decay. These abandoned hospitals, schools, churches, railways, and estates offer us a view into a past rapidly dissolving before it disappears completely.
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Every Woman Her Own Architect: Author Talk with Kelly Hayes McAlonie
As America's first professional female architect, Louise Blanchard Bethune broke barriers in a male-dominated profession that was emerging as a vital force in a rapidly growing nation during the Gilded Age. Yet, Bethune herself is an enigma. Due to scant information about her life and her firm, Bethune, Bethune & Fuchs, scholars have struggled to provide a complete picture of this trailblazer. Using a newly discovered archival source of photographs, architectural drawings, and personal documents, Kelly Hayes McAlonie paints a picture of Bethune never before seen. A comprehensive biography of the first professional woman architect in the United States, who was also the first woman to be admitted to the American Institute of Architects, Louis Blanchard Bethune: Every Woman Her Own Architect serves as an important addition to New York and architectural history.
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Brownstone Boys: For the Love of Renovating
For the Love of Renovating: Tips, Tricks & Inspiration for Creating Your Dream Home by Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, is the inspiring, game-changing book every fixer-upper needs, whether the project is budget remodeling or a full gut renovation. In this webinar, Barry and Jordan talk about how they first began their restoration journey with their own Brooklyn brownstone, plus examples from some of their historic renovations around the borough.
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The Borscht Belt Revisited
In her talk, Photographer Marisa Scheinfeld discusses the rise, fall, and impact of the Borscht Belt along with the deeper, more layered meaning she finds in her series, as well as her current work with the Borscht Belt Historical Marker Project.
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Cheap Old Houses Book Talk with Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein
The League was thrilled to host Elizabeth and Ethan Finkelstein for a Preservation Book Club author talk in support of their new book Cheap Old Houses: An Unconventional Guide to Loving and Restoring a Forgotten Home. In this webinar, they discuss the process of putting the book together and the importance of everyday old home stewardship.
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Sleeping with the Ancestors: Author Talk with Joseph McGill, Jr. and Herb Frazier
In this Preservation Book Club webinar, we were joined by Joseph McGill Jr., founder of the Slave Dwelling Project, and his co-author Herb Frazier. They discussed their book Sleeping with the Ancestors: How I Followed the Footprints of Slavery. This book is the personal account of one man's groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in the countless oft-overlooked former slave dwellings that still stand across the country, the fascinating history behind those sites, and how he has used the experiences to shed light on larger issues of race in America.
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America Redux: Author Talk with Ariel Aberg-Riger
In this Preservation Book Club presentation, author Ariel Aberg-Riger discussed her brand new book America Redux: Visual Stories From Our Dynamic History. Ariel did a reading from the book and detailed the behind-the-scenes process of how a chapter was put together. Following her presentation, she was joined in conversation by Katy Peace, Director of Communications for the Preservation League of NYS.
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Pride Month Book Recs
Just a few Pride Month book recommendations for you. Some of these we’ve already read and others are still on our TBR. Which have you checked out?
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We love books. Maybe you do, too?
…If what resonates with people is just the book recommendations, maybe there’s a better way to do that. So we’re going to spend the summer experimenting with a new format. Preservation Book Club, but make it Instagram.
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American Chinatown
Bonnie Tsui’s book American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods shines a spotlight on Chinatowns across the country — from New York City to Honolulu, Hawai’i — interweaving the stories of the people she meets with her own personal narrative.
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Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Author Talk with Kristina Wilson
In this Preservation Book Club webinar, Art Historian and Author Kristina Wilson joined us to speak about her book Mid-Century Modernism and the American Body: Race, Gender, and the Politics of Power in Design. A striking counter-narrative to conventional histories of design, this book unveils fresh perspectives on one of the most distinctive movements in American visual culture. Following Kristina's presentation, she was joined in conversation by Sarah Tietje-Mietz, Digital Editor at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.
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Meet Me by the Fountain: Author Talk with Alexandra Lange
In Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall, author Alexandra Lange chronicles postwar architects' and merchants' invention of the mall, revealing how the design of these marketplaces played an integral role in their cultural ascent. In Lange's perceptive account, the mall becomes newly strange and rich with contradiction: Malls are environments of both freedom and exclusion--of consumerism, but also of community. Meet Me by the Fountain is a highly entertaining and evocative promenade through the mall's story of rise, fall, and ongoing reinvention, for readers of any generation.
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Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States
In her book Historic Real Estate: Market Morality and the Politics of Preservation in the Early United States, Dr. Whitney Martinko takes a look at how historic preservation played out following the Revolutionary War. She discusses the ways in which people debated whether and what to save of their built environment, and how preservation balanced (or tried to) the relationship between the public good and private profit.
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Olmsted & Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea
In this webinar, Rolf Diamant and Ethan Carr discuss their new book Olmsted & Yosemite: Civil War, Abolition, and the National Park Idea.
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Where Activism and Preservation Meet: Author Talk with Catherine Fleming Bruce
In this Preservation Book Club event, author Catherine Fleming Bruce discusses her award-winning book The Sustainers: Being, Building and Doing Good through Activism in the Sacred Spaces of Civil Rights, Human Rights and Social Movements. Catherine touches on her inspiration for the book, the importance of writing for a general audience, and her own grassroots preservation campaigns to save places related to civil rights — restoring the physical buildings and preserving the stories of the people who made history there.
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A Queer New York: Author Talk with Jen Jack Gieseking
A Queer New York: Geographies of Lesbians, Dykes, and Queers, 1983-2008 is the first lesbian and queer historical geography of New York City. In this Preservation Book Club webinar, we invited author Jen Jack Gieseking to talk about their research exploring how lesbians and queers have survived in the face of twenty-first century gentrification and urban development.
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A Wild Idea: The Story of the Adirondack Park Agency
Especially in an era of rapid climate change, the conservation efforts in the Adirondacks can provide a blueprint for other areas in New York State and beyond. In this author talk, Brad Edmondson dives into the APA’s tumultuous origin story and then is joined in conversation by the League’s Erin Tobin to expand on how the creation of a government agency in the 1970s continues to have ramifications today.
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The Story of a House: Storytime with Miki Conn
Miki Conn reads her book The Story of House, followed by a kid's activity inspired by the story led by the Historic Albany Foundation.
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It's a Helluva Town: Roberta Brandes Gratz in Conversation with Anthony Wood & Amy Freitag
Roberta Brandes Gratz is a noted urbanist and journalist, as well as a longtime Preservation League Trustee. Her newest book, It’s a Helluva Town: Joan K. Davidson, the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and the Fight for a Better New York, explores the profound impact of Joan K. Davidson and her work through her family fund.
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Diana S. Waite Author Talk: The Architecture of Downtown Troy
On Thursday, February 11, we welcomed Diana S. Waite to share some highlights about her book The Architecture of Downtown Troy: An Illustrated History.
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