A preservation champion talks about her work, her accomplishments, and what she sees for the future of preservation.

Nellie Longsworth

Q: How did Preservation Action come about?

Back in 1975, the tax laws said that organizations that were classified as 501c3, which the National Trust was, could not lobby. So, Preservation Action began because we were very much needed, because somebody had to be going to congress and talking about preservation, and at that time the Trust couldn't. They've since eased up the laws and now the Trust is able to lobby.

Q: How did you get involved with Preservation Action?

I was approached by Tersh Boasberg, who was trying to get Preservation Action started, and he offered me a job. And I told him there were two things I didn't know anything about: One was historic preservation, and the second was congress. But I thought I could give it a shot anyway.

Q: When did you first discover you cared about preservation?

I realized that preservationists were passionate—people at that time were chaining themselves to bulldozers and doing all sorts of dramatic things—so I had to find out if I had passion. I ended up getting a call from two students at Smith College, which was my alma mater, and they told me that the alumni gymnasium, which was built in 1891 as a gift to the school from the alumni, was going to be demolished to make room for a library addition. So, I got into that battle, and it was a very bitter battle and it lasted 8 months. And we did save the gym, even though the president of the college said that the decision to save it didn't have anything to do with historic preservation. But we didn't care what they said, as long as it stayed up. So, that's how I got the passion, in a real battle with my college.

Q: What is your proudest accomplishment working with Preservation Action?

Well I've been at this for a long time! But, when I started in 1975, the tax laws made tearing down a building more profitable for the owner than saving it. So when we began, we had no tools at that time to stop that. Now we have lots of tools, and I think the first preservation tax credits, which we got in 1982, was what began to change people's ideas about historic preservation and encourage them to give it a chance and not tear down their buildings.

Since then, we've done so many other things too. We have added amendments to the Historic Preservation Act that were very significant, that got local governments involved, added the Native American tribes, and installed a preservation officer in every agency of the federal government. We have also tried to look at all the programs in the federal government and see where historic preservation can work. There are a lot of agencies that are now more aware of historic preservation. In the farm bill, we've been able to get easements for farms with historic sites, and with the Department of Transportation, we've made the Highway Enhancement Program, which has meant that ten percent of the funding for a new highway must go to enhance the community.

Q: Do you think people have any misconceptions about preservation?

People get the idea that lobbyists run this land, the people on K Street, but I know how the process works. It is important to have lobbying of congress, as well as lobbying at the state and local levels, because these things don't happen by magic; you have to work with people. But congressman will listen to their constituents.

For example, in 1982 getting the tax credits was a great success. But in 1986, congress decided they were going to get rid of all tax credits because they were too costly for the government, so we had to do a real battle to save them. I was told in the very beginning that grassroots movements were very important to members of congress, and so in six to eight weeks I went to over 20 cities all over the country. The whole point was to encourage all the people who were using the credits to write their members of congress and persuade them to save the credits, and so tons of letters poured in from all over the country. And the effort worked; they did spare our tax credits.

Q: Do you have any words of wisdom that you can pass on to budding preservationists?

From my perspective, I think that the grassroots movements are very, very important. People need to be responsible and communicate with their leaders on the federal, state, and local levels. And I supposed that's what I feel is my legacy, is that I've shown that grassroots efforts can work.

Q: What do you see for the future of preservation?

I see more and better. People are catching on and they're realizing that positive things are happening in communities all over the country because of historic preservation. But, I will tell you, three houses from my house they have torn down an original home from when this neighborhood first began, and they're putting up a McMansion. So, I don't think the battle is over. Every year we're going to have to fight for money and try and get the laws at the federal, state, and local level to support preservation.

CORRECTION: In the November/December issue, Nellie Longsworth was incorrectly identified as the founder of Preservation Action. In fact, Tersh Boasberg was the founder, and Longsworth was an establishing employee.

Look for the November/December 2007 issue on newsstands or e-mail us to purchase a copy.

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