Servant of Beauty: A conversation about Albert Bard IN-PERSON

Servant of Beauty:

Landmarks, Secret Love, and the Unimagined Life of an Unsung New York Hero

A Conversation with Author of Servant of Beauty, Anthony Wood and

New York Landmarks Conservancy President, Peg Breen

Tuesday, March 24th at 6.00 P.M.

An In-Person and Online Program

The in-person program will be followed by a Book-signing and Reception.

Presented in Partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy and The New York Preservation Archive Project.

Please join us for a conversation between Anthony Wood, author of Servant of Beauty, and Peg Breen, to discuss the life and times of the great civic advocate and “grandfather” of New York’s Landmarks Law, Albert Bard.

His life delivers a lesson in civic engagement and personal perseverance, also notable for a rich and complex story of both public and private passions.

Bard (1866-1963) fought for cities to have the right to protect their beauty, propelling him into a David versus Goliath combat with Robert Moses and paving the way, after four decades, for New York City's Landmarks Law (1965). This transformative piece of legislation today safeguards more than 37,000 buildings across the city’s historic neighborhoods.

Anthony Wood and Peg Breen will explore Albert Bard’s impact on New York City and the ongoing relevance of his vision for urban preservation and his enduring legacy as a civic champion.

Anthony (Tony) C. Wood is a preservationist, historian, and grant maker. He is the author of 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. He is the recipient of the Fine Arts Federation’s Bronze Medal, the Historic District Council’s Landmarks Lion Award and the 2020 New York Landmarks Conservancy Lucy G. Moses Award for Preservation Leadership.

Peg Breen joined The New York Landmarks Conservancy, one of the oldest and largest preservation organizations in the country, after careers in public television and government. She has expanded the Conservancy’s advocacy, as well as loan and grant programs that help owners restore and maintain their historic buildings. She was deeply involved after 9/11 in efforts to identify and save original elements of the World Trade Center, including the Survivors Staircase that is now featured in the 9/11 Museum. She is currently involved in efforts to prevent destroying the block south of Penn Station which contains landmark quality buildings and middle income apartments. The U.S. State Department sent her abroad to discuss preservation in St. Petersburg, Russia, Vancouver, Canada and Tbilisi, Georgia. She was the keynote speaker at an international preservation conference in Havana, Cuba and led a workshop on restoring religious properties with CENCREM, the national Cuban preservation organization. Peg Breen is on the board of Save Ellis Island and on the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Social Sciences. She also was on the boards of The International African-American Museum in Charleston, South Carolina, Museum of the City of New York, Preservation Action and State Theater at Lincoln Center.

General Admission: $15;

General Society Members, New York Landmarks Conservancy Members, The New York Preservation Archive Project and Senior Citizens: $10;

Students: $5

Advance Registration required.

The General Society Library, 20 West 44th Street, New York City, www. generalsociety.org

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

The General Society Library, 20 WEST 44th Street (BETWEEN 5th AND 6th AVENUES), New York City, New York, United States

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