Celebrating a Preservation Victory

On a Monday morning in June 1966--June 27 to be exact--Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller arrived at Olana by helicopter to sign the Lane-Newcombe bill, authorizing the state to purchase Frederic Church's Olana, thus preserving America's most intact and important artist's home, studio, and landscape.

Photo: Melanie Hasbrook

Fifty years later, on Monday, June 27, 2016, representatives of The Olana Partnership and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation will be joined by elected officials and hundreds of others, including veterans of the 1964-1966 campaign to save Olana, to commemorate this signal victory of the historic preservation movement in the United States.

When Sally Church, the widow of Frederic Church's son Louis, died at Olana on August 17, 1964, the future of the house and estate was thrown into question. Her heirs, led by executor Charles Lark, Jr., planned to sell the exotic Victorian house, then crumbling, and its contents, which included more than 700 works by American landscape artist Frederic Church. Church, who created the 250-acre Olana estate over 40 years, had been the most successful Hudson River School painter, but in the mid-1960s, the Hudson River School and Victorian architecture were both little appreciated.

The campaign to save Olana was led by David Huntington, a young art historian then teaching at Smith College, who had visited Olana when he was doing research in graduate school. Huntington joined forces with Sam Aldrich, Governor Rockefeller’s chief aide, to form Olana Preservation, Inc. They brought together some of the leading national figures in art and culture, including Jackie Kennedy, Philip Johnson, Jimmy Biddle, and thousands of ordinary citizens from the Hudson Valley and beyond, to raise awareness of Olana and the Hudson River School. Their efforts culminated in a 14-page feature article in LIFE Magazine in May 1966 and in the NY State Legislature’s passage of the Lane-Newcombe bill authorizing the purchase of Olana. Today, Olana is one of the flagships of the New York State Parks system and one of the most visited historic sites in the state, with more than 170,000 visitors in 2015.

Among those who will be present at the 50th Anniversary commemoration this coming Monday are Sam Aldrich and Trudy Huntington, David Huntington's widow, as well as other veterans of the battle to save Olana. Remarks will be given by Dr. Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, chair of the New York State Council of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, and Ruth Pierpont, deputy commissioner for Historic Preservation.

The event begins at 10 a.m. Those planning to attend are asked to RSVP by email or by calling 518 828-1872, ext. 103.

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