A SHORT HISTORY OF OUR ORGANIZATION

No longer a newcomer, PV is advancing both nationally and, through its exchange program, internationally. Since 2002 French volunteers have been coming to the United States to work on American projects, and in 2004 and 2005 PV has sent American volunteers to France.

The Founding of PV:

A 13th century French Chateau, its inner courtyard strewn with the stone blocks that seven centuries earlier had formed its walls and towers, was the inspiration for the founding of Preservation Volunteers. It was winter, 1978. Two Americans, Evelyn and Everett Ortner, traveling in Normandy, were intrigued by the fact that it was crawling with workers, perhaps twenty or more: French volunteers, the Americans were told. In 1998, twenty years later, the Ortners returned to see an amazing transformation: the guard tower and fortifications had been resurrected. The loose stones had all been put back where they had been centuries before. Displays in the huge lower vaults showed drawings and photographs by the organization that had been responsible for the magnificent reincarnation of the ancient chateau.That organization was REMPART--an acronym for "Union des Associations Pour la Rehabilitation et Entretien des Monuments et du Patrimoine Artistique"--Union for the Restoration of Monuments and Artistic Heritage. To Everett Ortner, an active preservationist, it was an inspiration. Everett Ortner is a photographer. His pictures of the Chateau Gratot, displayed at a meeting of the Brownstone Revival Coalition, an organization he helped to found and in which he is still active, got an instant response. BRC's President at the time, Dexter Guerrieri, liked the idea from the start. So from then on BRC became the de facto “incubator” of PV. Later, with the help and guidance of REMPART, Preservation Volunteers modeled itself after that organization, and, 3 years later its first projects came into being.

REMPART And French Volunteers

Volunteers learn techniques for preserving and restoring stonework

 The agreement with REMPART has enabled PV to engage in an international exchange of volunteers. REMPART is an acronym for "Union des Associations Pour la Réhabilitation et Entretien des Monuments et du Patrimoine Artistique" –Union for the Restoration and Preservation of Monuments and Artistic Heritage. 

PV Goals and Objectives

• Through its web site and its steadily enlarging network of interested organizations, PV can act as a national information exchange for preservation volunteers and projects.
• PV can foster the creation of -- and give hope to -- small, unprofessional preservation groups with specific projects.
• Through teaching/work sites, PV offers a special learning experience for young and old alike.
• With a wider variety of projects available, PV intends also to attract particularly experienced volunteers and to make use of their special skills and supervisory ability.
• Through its continuing French connection, PV maintains a close learning relationship, valuable to both organizations.