Landmark & Legacy Exhibition Opens At Brooklyn Historical Society
The Brooklyn Historical Society would like to extend an invitation to the opening night reception for the exhibit LANDMARK AND LEGACY: BROOKLYN HEIGHTS AND THE PRESERVATION MOVEMENT IN AMERICA, this Wednesday, March 28, 5:30-7:30pm.
http://brooklynhistory.org/exhibitions/upcoming.html
Landmark and Legacy: Brooklyn Heights and the Preservation Movement in America
March 28 – September 9, 2007
This exhibit will highlight the social and political history that led to the designation of Brooklyn Heights as New York City ‘s first historic district. This six month exhibit will take visitors from the 1950s and the establishment of the Brooklyn Heights Association, one of the first neighborhood associations in the country, through the struggle with Robert Moses from building the BQE in the middle of Brooklyn Heights to the implications of the national landmark and preservation movement in the present day. Landmark and Legacy has been made possible by American Express.
This exhibit traces the process by which Brooklyn Heights became the first designated historic district in New York City (Greenwich Village came soon thereafter). The designation came in late 1965, but the battle for designation began in earnest in 1958. Inspired by preservation successes in other cities, particularly by the example of Beacon Hill in Boston, and equipped with the “Bard Law” passed by New York State in 1956, Heights activists built an overpowering case for the significance of the Heights, and for the urgency of the need to protect it as one landmark after another disappeared. Never-before-exhibited and seldom-exhibited objects, pictures, and documents related to Brooklyn Heights architecture and the preservation battle should make this exhibit of interest to all who participate in the preservation battles of today.
LANDMARK AND LEGACY also highlights the role played by architectural historian Clay Lancaster, whose writings, lectures, and walking tours were crucial to the effort. The exhibit was co-curated by Francis Morrone and Kate Fermoile
The Brooklyn Historical Society is located at the corner of Pierrepont and Clinton streets in Brooklyn Heights. It is easily reachable by the R to Court Street, the 2, 3, and 4 to Borough Hall, and the A, C, and F to Jay Street/Borough Hall.