PRIDE & PRESERVATION: 20th Century Figures Who Shaped the Movement

This Pride Month, join us on June 9th for a moderated conversation exploring the often-overlooked role of LGBTQ individuals in shaping the preservation movement, from Virginia to New York City. Spanning the 1930s through the late 20th century, the program will reflect on their lasting impact and what that legacy means today.

The conversation will focus on three preservationists: Albert Bard (1866–1963), Thom Bess (unknown -2019), and Mary Wingfield Scott (1895–1983).

Moderated by Project co-director Ken Lustbader, the conversation will feature Anthony C. Wood reflecting on Bard’s role in establishing the legal foundation for New York city’s landmarks law, John Reddick discussing Bess’s work in Harlem and his impact on expanding the field’s reach, and Blake McDonald speaking to Scott’s pioneering grassroots efforts in Richmond, Virginia, carried out with the support of her longtime partners.

Location: The J.M. Kaplan Fund, 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 903, New York, NY (northeast corner of Sixth Avenue and 23rd Street).

Registration is limited to 70 participants. For security purposes, attendees must present a government-issued ID (driver’s license or passport) that matches your Eventbrite registration information.

About the Speakers:

Anthony (Tony) C. Wood is a preservationist, historian, and grant maker. He is the author of the award-winning publications: Preserving New York: Winning the Right to Protect a City’s Landmarks (2008) and Servant of Beauty: Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero (2025). Wood has worked for the New York Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Municipal Art Society, The J.M. Kaplan Fund, and is currently the Executive Director of the Ittleson Foundation. He is the founder and Chair Emeritus of the New York Preservation Archive Project. He is a past Chair of the Preservation League of New York State and Partners for Sacred Places. He has served as an Advisor and Trustee of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. He is the Chair Emeritus of the Historic Districts Council and has served on the board of the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust. For over twenty years Mr. Wood was an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Historic Preservation at Columbia University.

John T. Reddick is an architectural preservationist, historian, and Harlem resident. He currently serves as a consultant on Community Engagement Projects for the Central Park Conservancy and sits on several boards, including Green-Wood Cemetery and the New York Preservation Archive Project. His knowledge of Harlem’s culture and architecture has advanced several public art and open space projects, including the Ralph Ellison Memorial, Harriet Tubman Square, the Frederick Douglass Memorial and Circle, and New York’s LGBT Memorial and Monument in Hudson River Park. Under a grant from the Mellon Foundation, Reddick is working with the Central Park Conservancy to advance public discussion of Seneca Village as a foundation for its commemoration as a predominantly African American pre-park community. He received his Bachelor of Science in Architecture from Ohio State University and a Master of Architecture from Yale University.

Blake McDonald is an architectural historian with Historic Richmond, a nonprofit that encourages architectural preservation, rehabilitation, and revitalization in Virginia’s capital. He studied architectural history at Connecticut College and the University of Virginia. Prior to his current role, Blake managed the architectural survey program at the Virginia Department of Historic Resources. He also led the state’s LGBTQ+ Heritage Initiative, documenting more than 100 places associated with queer history across the Commonwealth. In his free time, he enjoys trail running in Richmond’s beautiful James River Park System.

About the NYC LGBTQ Historic Site Project

The NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project is a nonprofit cultural initiative and educational resource that is making an invisible history visible by documenting extant historic and cultural sites associated with the LGBT community throughout New York City. For more, visit www.nyclgbtsites.org, or follow on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter.

This free program is presented by the LGBTQ+ Heritage Alliance, the NYC LGBTQ Historic Sites Project, the New York Preservation Archive Project, the West Harlem Community Preservation Organization, and Historic Richmond. This event is funded, in part, by grants from the New York Community Trust, New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature, and New York City Tourism Foundation. Optional donations go toward supporting the Project’s efforts to document NYC’s LGBTQ cultural heritage.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The J.M. Kaplan Fund, 71 West 23rd Street, New York, United States

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