Beverly Moss Spatt
Beverly Moss Spatt has been a leading figure in planning and preservation in New York City for over fifty years. In this oral history she discusses growing up in Brooklyn, … Continued
Full TranscriptVillage Preservation Oral History Collection
Village Preservation’s Oral History Project includes interviews with some of the great artists, activists, business owners, community leaders, and preservation pioneers of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo. It captures and preserves their first-person perspective on the important histories they witnessed or of which they were a part.
- Activists & Advocates
- Arts
- East Village
- Greenwich Village
- Immigration
- LGBTQ
- Local Business
- Preservationists
- South Village
- Westbeth
Preservationists
Arthur Levin
Arthur (Art) Levin has served as a Village Preservation Trustee for over 20 years, including as President since 2012, overseeing a period of organizational growth. Art grew up on the … Continued
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Joan Davidson
Daughter of J.M. Kaplan and a member of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, Joan Davidson coordinated the founding of the Westbeth Project, an artist’s residence in the West Village.
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Gloria McDarrah
McDarrah has lived in the Village since the 1950s. She worked in publishing, and married Fred McDarrah, who established himself as a photojournalist and a leading documentarian of mid-century Greenwich … Continued
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Claire Tankel
Claire Tankel (born 1926) is the widow of Stanley Tankel, an architect and city planner who was involved in Greenwich Village’s early preservation efforts.
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Verna Small
Verna Small (1916-2008) was one of Greenwich Village’s preservation pioneers and helped lead the successful campaign in the late 1960s to create the Greenwich Village Historic District.
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Norman Redlich
Norman Redlich (1925-2011) was the former Dean of the NYU School of Law. This oral history interview serves as a follow-up to a lecture Redlich gave to a preservation course … Continued
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Edith Lyons
Edith Lyons (1906-2002) was one of the leaders in the seven-year battle with Robert Moses over the use of Washington Square Park as a thoroughfare to Lower Manhattan. Moses’ plan … Continued
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Leticia Kent
Leticia Kent (1928-1999) was an esteemed freelance journalist and long-time Villager. This oral history was conducted in anticipation of an interview Kent was scheduled to conduct with Jane Jacobs and … Continued
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Jane Jacobs
Jane Jacobs (1916-2006) was an urban planner, author, and activist. Jacobs discusses various preservation battles in which she participated while living in Greenwich Village, including the fight to prevent Robert … Continued
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Shirley Hayes
Shirley Hayes (1912-2002) was a community activist who led the successful fight in the 1950s against Robert Moses’ plan to extend a highway through Washington Square Park.
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Margot Gayle
Margot Gayle (1908-2008) led the grassroots effort to save the landmark Jefferson Market Courthouse building in Greenwich Village and transform it into a library. Gayle begins this interview by discussing … Continued
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