Civic organizations across New York State are mourning the passing of Joan Kaplan Davidson, at the age of 96.
Joan Davidson spent her life improving and advocating on behalf of civic betterment, cultural enrichment, and environmental protection in the City and State of New York, especially in the Hudson River Valley where she lived.
She served as chairwoman of the New York State Council on the Arts in the 1970s and as New York State Commissioner of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in the 1990s.
Davidson’s most significant impact came through her serving as president, from 1977 to 1993, at the J.M. Kaplan Fund (established by her father, Jacob M. Kaplan, in 1945) and later the Furthermore Foundation, which provided grants supporting the creation of books about Great Camp Santanoni, the NYC Landmarks Law, historic homes of the Hudson Valley, and other preservation topics.
With Joan Davidson’s support, the J. M. Kaplan Fund provided numerous grants to save buildings, support cultural institutions and restore historic landmarks, including Carnegie Hall in the 1960s; the artists’ housing complex Westbeth in Lower Manhattan (which became a model for industrial building rehabilitation); and the Gracie Mansion Conservancy, which renovated and preserved the mayor’s residence in New York City.
Davidson could often be seen picketing to save an endangered building and focused the fund on the city’s architecture, also established programs to support the arts, civil liberties and human rights, as well as the conservation of natural resources and rural preservation in Upstate New York.
In 1987, support from the J.M. Kaplan Fund, allowed the Preservation League of New York State to undertake a study of how they could better address local, regional, and statewide preservation needs. The result was the establishment of the Technical Assistance Center, which survives to this day.
She was also critical in establishing the Rural New York Grant Program and the Industrial Heritage Reuse Project. Davidson served on the the Preservation League’s Trustees Council since 2011.
It’s a Helluva Town: Joan K. Davidson, the J. M. Kaplan Fund, and the Fight for a Better New York (Bold Type Books, 2020) by Roberta Brandes Gratz explores the impact Davidson had.
Joan Kaplan was born on May 26, 1927, in New York City to Jacob and Alice (Manheim) Kaplan. Her father made a fortune in South America in the molasses business and later bought out the owners of Welch’s Grape Juice which he sold to an employee cooperative in 1956 to focus on his foundation.
Joan Kaplan’s government service began in Washington DC, in the 1950s, as a staffer on the Senate Armed Services Preparedness Committee under Senate Majority Leader Lyndon B. Johnson; continued on various public commissions in Portland, Oregon where she moved to as a young bride, then in Wrangell, Alaska, and years later in Albany at the New York State Council on the Arts (as Chair), the New York State Office of Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation (as Commissioner), and Hudson-Fulton-Champlain Quadricentennial Commission (as Chair). Earlier she had run for the New York State Senate as the Democratic candidate from the Upper East Side.
Photo: Joan K. Davidson speaks at her 90th birthday celebration on June 26th, 2017 at the Arthur Ross Garden of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
Leave a Reply