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PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS

Welcome to Preservation Volunteers



History, architecture, and the technologies of the past come alive this summer for volunteers ready to spend two weeks working on historic structures, reviving them for new community uses.

Since 2002, Preservation Volunteers has brought French and American volunteers together for two weeks of hard work and great fun.  Our volunteers rejuvenate valuable pieces of history and help to revitalize communities, all while forming inter-cultural friendships.  

Past locations have included woodworking at the Byrdcliffe arts colony in Woodstock, NY, restoration work at the Green-Wood cemetery in Brooklyn, NY, masonry and carpentry at the Huguenot Historical Society in New Paltz, NY, as well as an intensive three week conservation experience at the Historic House Trust of New York City.  In France, sites have included a former quarantine on the Mediterranean coast, a redoubt in Normandy, and a Medieval Chateau with a Romanesque chapel. Visit our picture gallery from past years!

This summer, our volunteers will be working at historic Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, NY, as well as renovating the Bartow-Pell Mansion in the Bronx.  


Click GET INVOLVED to find out more about volunteer opportunities!

PV is a non-profit 501-c-3 organization dedicated to linking volunteers to historic sites in need of repair. PV volunteers may be any age over 18 and offer a variety of skills.


Call (212) 769-2900 for details.


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Visit our Fundraising Page!

 

Donating through this website is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to support our fundraising efforts.Many thanks for your support -- and don't forget to forward this to anyone who you think might want to donate too! Please check with your employer, many corporations offer gift matching programs which could more than double the monetary value of your generous gift.

Preservation Volunteers is a a 501(c)(3) registered charity. Contributions are tax-deductable in the United States as prescribed by law. Contributions and grants go towards the operations of our program, including staff, office, marketing, travel, conference attendance, educational programs, and scholarships to pre-selected volunteers. When warranted, we also provide assistance to preservation supervisors and to developing long-term relationships with local communities in support of their heritage preservation projects.

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Tribute to Everett Ortner

Please visit our Tribute to Everett page, a place for friends to exchange their memories and thoughts about Everett Ortner's remarkable life and achievements.

Tribute to Evelyn Ortner

Please visit our Tribute to Evelyn page, a place for friends to exchange their memories and thoughts about Evelyn Ortner's remarkable life and achievements.





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Current News...


February 27, 2012
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Join us this summer in Brooklyn and the Bronx!

 

Would you like to spend two weeks in New York City this summer working on historic preservation projects and forming friendships with like-minded volunteers? 

If so, contact us about participating in Preservation Volunteers! Our 2013 program will take place July 29-August 9.  Volunteers will spend one week at Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum and one week at Brooklyn's iconic Green-Wood Cemetery.  

The fee for the two-week program is $200 USD per volunteer.  Volunteers are also responsible for their own transportation to and from New York City.  Housing will be provided, as will some social events. Food is the responsibility of the volunteer.     

 

We hope to see you this summer!

For more information, please contact us at contact@preservationvolunteers.org.



 
May 22, 2012
In Memoriam Everett Ortner

Enjoying a Preservation Volunteers Celebration in his home.


Dear Friends of Preservation Volunteers,

We are profoundly saddened by the death on May 22, 2012 of Everett H. Ortner, noted preservationist and founding chairperson of both the Brownstone Revival Coalition and Preservation Volunteers. For almost fifty years, Everett worked tirelessly to preserve and defend New York’s brownstone neighborhoods.

After purchasing and restoring his Park Slope townhouse in 1963, Everett and his wife Evelyn (deceased 2005) personally spearheaded the brownstone revival movement. By organizing grassroots fairs and conferences, fighting banks who habitually “red-lined” mortgages in struggling brownstone neighborhoods, and founding several local and national preservation organizations, including Back to the City, Inc., the BRC, Preservation Volunteers, and Preservation Action, Everett helped save beloved townhouse neighborhoods in NYC and elsewhere.

A native of Lowell, MA, Everett graduated from the University of Arkansas in 1939. He spent 7 months in a POW camp during WWII and was decorated with the Bronze Star Medal for Valor as an infantry lieutenant in France. He was an editor, writer, and photographer at Popular Science magazine for 33 years until his retirement. He also penned numerous articles on urban revival and preservation topics.

Everett passed away after complications from a fall. He was 92 years old.

The estate requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Preservation Volunteers. Click on the link to donate.

Sincerely,

Dexter Guerrieri

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Click here for the Park Slope Civic Council's wonderful tribute to Everett's life and work, with insights into his commitment to historic preservation!
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2012 PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS!

2012 was another successful summer for PV! This year's five French volunteers were featured in several news outlets, including The Brooklyn Paper and DNAInfo.com - Click to read the articles!



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2011 PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS!




On August 2, 2011 the Preservation Volunteers were featured in a story on NY1! A news crew taped them at the Bartown-Pell mansion as they worked on repainting the mansion and replacing fixtures. Click here to view the story and watch the video clip!

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2010 PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS!

On July 27, 2010 the Preservation Volunteers were featured in a story on NY1! A news crew taped them at the Green-Wood Cemetery as they scrubbed, washed and polished the statue of Minerva, the Goddess of War. Click here to view the story and watch the video clip!



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2010 PRESERVATION VOLUNTEERS IN THE NEWS!

Waxing with the Goddess Minerva: Volunteers Clean Famed Brooklyn Statue

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - 06:32 PM

WNYC BLOG: Story and Photos by Stephen Nessen


Perched at Brooklyn's highest natural point (200 ft. above sea level) in Green-Wood cemetery, the Roman Goddess Minerva received a fresh waxing Tuesday morning, courtesy of a few French volunteers (and one American).


"I know that when I'm back in France I'll tell everybody that I know that there's this great cemetery and this great statue," said Ines Reulet, 21 from France, one of six volunteers in New York for the next two weeks with the Preservation Volunteers of America program.


Reulet says she wanted to discover something other than France's castles this summer. She and the other volunteers spent the morning applying fresh coats of wax to Minerva and will be tidying up some granite tombstones for the rest of the afternoon.   


Richard Moylan, president of Green-Wood Cemetery, says the statue was placed there by the local businessman Charles Higgins in 1920 to commemorate the Battle of Brooklyn. "She is saluting the Statue of Liberty. And that's especially important with our French volunteers, since the statue was a gift from France and France helped us with the Revolutionary War," Moylan says. "And Liberty is actually, we think, looking right at us, so Minerva is saluting her."


Minerva sits near the grave sites of Charles Ebbets, of Brooklyn Dodger fame, and the composer Leonard Bernstein.


The volunteers are headed to the Bartow-Pell Mansion in the Bronx next week. Green-Wood cemetery is currently lobbying the Bloomberg administration to pass legislation that would prevent the construction of buildings that block the view from Minerva to Lady Liberty.



 

Preservation Volunteers is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit tax-exempt corporation


Preservation Volunteers
1995 Broadway, Suite 605
New York, New York 10023
(212) 769-2900
contact@preservationvolunteers.org