Remembering Carolyn Cassady Kent

Carolyn Cassady Kent was a longtime advocate for the preservation of Harlem and Morningside Heights. Carolyn Cassady was born in 1935 in Rochester, NY. She attended Sarah Lawrence College and Columbia University, where she developed an interest in historic preservation.

Kent spent much of her career serving Manhattan Community Board 9, which represents West Harlem, Manhattanville, and Morningside Heights, as the founder of its Landmarks Committee. Kent was also a member of numerous community groups, including the Morningside Heights Historic District Committee and the Morningside Heights Residents Association.

As a preservationist, Kent worked with the Sugar Hill Committee, the 5 block Protection Association and Hamilton Heights/West Harlem Community Preservation Association to win landmark designation for important structures like Riverside Church and the Hamilton Theater. Kent was particularly passionate about the Church of St. John the Divine and fought to protect the site from nearby condominium development. Many of Kent's preservation battles involved her alma mater, Columbia University.

In 2007, the Hamilton Heights/West Harlem Community Preservation Association presented Kent with its first Preservation Angel award, in recognition of her efforts to preserve uptown's architectural treasures.Carolyn Cassady Kent passed away on August 23^rd, 2009 at the age of 74.

This project has been funded in part by a grant from the National Trust for Historic Preservation's John E. Streb Preservation Fund for New York.