“…in whatever way in your life, in your work, kind of add the lens of language to how you're seeing environments and situations… we live in still a fundamentally multilingual world, very much a multilingual city and state, and of course it can seem like it's a challenge but also it's a huge opportunity — something to kind of embrace and value and wonder at. So I I hope some sense of wonder also kind of emerges through Language City.”
Read MoreSince Black History Month falls in February, and since it is cold and snowy in New York, we thought in addition to rounding up a few places to experience Black history, we’d also pair those places with a book or a documentary for anyone less inclined to brave the elements. It’s also a good reminder that Black history exists all the time — so check out some books from your local library and support your local PBS station this winter, and then make sure to visit the places that are promoting this history through the year. There are countless places around New York State doing incredible work to preserve and celebrate Black history and it is always a good time to support them.
Read MoreThe Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever details the story of an obscure little street at the lower tip of Manhattan and the remarkable artists who got their start there. An ambitious and singular account of a time, a place, and a group of extraordinary people, The Slip investigates the importance of community, and makes an argument for how we are shaped by it, and how it in turns shapes our work. In this webinar we were joined by author Prudence Peiffer who discussed her research and highlights from the book.
Read MoreIn Spiritualism's Place, four friends and scholars who produce the acclaimed Dig: A History Podcast, share their curiosity and enthusiasm for uncovering stories from the past as they explore the history of Lily Dale. Located in western New York State, the world's largest center for Spiritualism was founded in 1879. Lily Dale has been a home for Spiritualists attempting to make contact with the dead, as well as a gathering place for reformers, a refuge for seekers looking for alternatives to established paths of knowledge, and a target for skeptics. In this webinar, two of the book’s authors, Averill Earls and Elizabeth Garner Masarik, give an overview of their research and how the book came together.
Read MoreIn this webinar, we were joined by New York Times Bestselling author Alyssa Cole who spoke about her recent thrillers, When No One is Watching and One of Us Knows. Following her presentation, Alyssa was joined in conversation by k. kennedy Whiters, RA, whose initiative Black in Historic Preservation co-hosted this event.
Read MoreThe Preservation League of NYS will welcome five authors as part of our ongoing Preservation Book Club program in early 2025. These virtual author talks will take place via Zoom and are free and open to the public.
Read MoreIn this webinar, author LaTonya Yvette talks about her new book Stand in My Window: Meditations on Home and How We Make It. Buy the book here.
Through essays with stunning photography, the beloved multimedia storyteller and author of Woman of Color shares the powerful lessons she's learned about creating a home that honors the past and celebrates the future. “Home is a reflection of what we inherit.” Following LaTonya's presentation, she was joined in conversation by Katy Peace, the League's Director of Communications.
Read MoreNew 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.
Read MoreAs 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.
Read MoreFor 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreJust 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?
Read More…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.
Read MoreBonnie 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreIn 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.
Read MoreIn 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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