Remembering Joan Kaplan Davidson and Celebrating Her Far-Reaching Legacy
Joan Davidson addresses the crowd at a 2017 event celebrating 70 years of Kaplan grantmaking — and her 90th birthday. Credit: J.M. Kaplan Fund
The League was saddened to hear of the passing of Joan Davidson this past weekend. Joan’s impact was felt far and wide, through her philanthropy at the J.M. Kaplan Fund and the Furthermore Foundation, her involvement in important advocacy in the Hudson Valley and New York City, and her annual Shad Party at Midwood, her home in the Hudson Valley. Joan had served on the League’s Trustees Council since 2011, but her importance to the Preservation League and our programs is much deeper than that. Over the years, Joan played a vital role in supporting some of the Preservation League’s most important programs and initiatives.
In 1987, thanks to support from Joan and the J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Preservation League undertook a study of how we could better address local, regional, and statewide preservation needs. The result of this project was the recommendation to establish the Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Now, a quarter of a century later, the Preservation League continues to provide essential preservation services statewide as a core program, thanks largely to Joan’s vision.
In 1993, as a result of the Kaplan Fund’s generosity and Joan’s love of rural landscapes and small towns, an ambitious collaborative grant program was launched. The League, together with the New York Planning Federation, the Open Space Institute, and the Land Trust Alliance of New York, provided seed funding for local land, water, and building protection projects. Through this initiative, called the Rural New York Grant Program, the League supported grassroots efforts to preserve town halls and opera houses, reuse schools and churches, and celebrate architectural treasures in hamlets and county seats. Joan took particular pleasure in these achievements and delighted in meeting the community advocates, local officials, and other leaders who were implementing the grant-funded work.
In 2014, Joan was again instrumental in establishing a new initiative at the League when the J.M. Kaplan Fund supported the creation of the Industrial Heritage Reuse Project. The goal of the project was to jumpstart the rehabilitation of four underused historic industrial buildings in New York State. With Kaplan support we worked with building owners to create feasibility studies and building code assessments that would bring their buildings closer to reuse. In the end, three of the buildings were fully restored and reused and the studies we completed provided case studies for similar buildings around the state.
And it wasn’t just preservation programming that Joan supported. Over the years, grants from the Furthermore Foundation have supported the creation of books covering Great Camp Santanoni, the NYC Landmarks Law, historic homes of the Hudson Valley, and many other preservation topics.
While we recognize Joan for all the wonderful work that she made possible through her generosity and leadership, we will miss her most for her friendship and her inspiration. The League’s Excelsior Leadership Society is named in her honor, as she often closed her correspondence with the word “Excelsior.”
Our thoughts are with her family and the many people and organizations she has touched through her years of dedication. We will never forget all that she has meant to the League, and in her honor…
Excelsior!
To learn more about what a truly remarkable person Joan was, It’s a Helluva Town: Joan K. Davidson, the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and the Fight for a Better New York by Roberta Brandes Gratz explores the profound impact of Joan K. Davidson and her work through her family fund. Shortly after the book was published in 2021, the League invited Roberta to do an author talk as part of our Preservation Book Club. She was joined in conversation by Anthony Wood and Amy Freitag. Anthony Wood previously served as the Chief Program Officer of the J.M. Kaplan Fund and is a former Chairman of our Board of Trustees. Amy Freitag was the Executive Director of the J.M. Kaplan Fund (she now serves as President of the NY Community Trust). You can find the recording of their conversation here.