Pillar of New York: Peggy King Jorde
The stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell each other are powerful, and can have a profound impact in shaping who we are and how we engage with one another as individuals, communities, and as a nation. The deliberate omission, silencing, and misrepresentation of cultural and historical narratives intend to devalue and marginalize communities, cultures, and identities. It is a disservice to the communities impacted and the practice of preservation. People give meaning to places, and the truth is we’ve all been in each other’s lives since the beginning of time. - Peggy King Jorde
The Preservation League of NYS was thrilled to recognized Peggy King Jorde with a 2024 Pillar of New York Award! Peggy King Jorde is the Principal of KING JORDE Culturals, a consulting practice in cultural heritage, preservation, and design for marginalized communities. A Harvard Loeb Fellow, Peggy’s extraordinary activism and leadership realized our first National Monument and Interpretive Center honoring enslaved and free Africans in New York City. A global expert on the memorialization of African burial grounds, Peggy is a consulting producer for, and protagonist featured in, A Story of Bones, the celebrated British documentary from Tribeca Film Festival / PBS POV.
