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Edward Kirkland

Edward Kirkland

Citizen preservationist, planner and tireless community activist, who served as an important voice in the creation of New York’s first community-led zoning plan and the historic designation of Chelsea West Historic District.

People: Amanda Burns, Joshua David, Robert Hammond, Edward G. Jones Jr., Elliot D. Sclar, Saskia Sassen-Koop, Robert “Bob” Trentlyon
Organizations: Manhattan Community Board 4, 23rd Street Association, Historic Districts Council, New York City Planning Commission, the Hudson River Park Advisory Historic Working Group, Chelsea Waterside Park Association
Places: Chelsea Historic District, High Line, Hudson River Park, Lamartine Place Historic District, West Chelsea Historic District, Ladies’ Mile Historic District
Above: Ed Kirkland at the Highline, 2012 | Courtesy of Michael Kirby Smith

Edward Stevens Kirkland was born on June 15th, 1925, in Providence, Rhode Island to Edward C. Kirkland, an economic historian, and Ruth Kirkland. He spent most of his childhood in Rhode Island and in Maine, where his father taught at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.[1]

 

In his early years, Kirkland served as a Private First Class in the US Army during the World War II, where he participated in the Battle of the Rhineland and was held as a Prisoner of War for two months in northern Germany before he was liberated by the British.[2] He was honorably discharged in December 1945[3], after which he earned a bachelor’s degree from Dartmouth where he studied French and mathematics, and earned a doctorate at Yale.[4] For a few years, he taught French at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts and then moved to New York City to work as a computer programmer.[5]

 

Before moving to Chelsea in late 1950s, Kirkland resided in the Young Men’s Christian Association Building[6], a historic structure on the corner of 23rd Street and Fourth Avenue (now called Park Avenue South) built in 1868.[7] He began his work in historic preservation and civic engagement in the early 1980s, and continued actively till his demise at the age of 96, on January 11th, 2022. His wife, June, died in 2009. He left no immediate survivors.[8]

Head of the Preservation & Planning Committee of Manhattan Community Board 04 (1992), Chairman of the Hudson River Park Advisory Historic Working Group, Co-chairperson of the citywide Historic Districts Council’s designation committee.

https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland/

Oral History, Ed Kirkland, the New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Becky Collins

March 25, 2010

https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland-2/

“Sages and Stages” forum sponsored by the New York Preservation Archive Project, November 3, 2004

[1] https://darik.news/newyork/edward-kirkland-who-helped-preserve-historic-chelsea-dies-at-96/473149.html, “Edward Kirkland, who helped preserve historic Chelsea, dies at 96”, New York News, January 14, 2022

[2] https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/thomas-k-duane/edward-s-kirkland, “Edward S. Kirkland”, The New York State Senate, May 18, 2012

[3]  https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/articles/thomas-k-duane/edward-s-kirkland, “Edward S. Kirkland”, The New York State Senate, May 18, 2012

[4] https://darik.news/newyork/edward-kirkland-who-helped-preserve-historic-chelsea-dies-at-96/473149.html, “Edward Kirkland, who helped preserve historic Chelsea, dies at 96”, New York News, January 14, 2022

[5] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/nyregion/edward-kirkland-dead.html, “Edward Kirkland, Who Helped Preserve Historic Chelsea, Dies at 96”, Roberts S., The New York Times, January 17, 2022

[6] https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Becky Collins, March 25, 2010

[7] http://daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com/2015/08/the-lost-ymca-bldg-no-52-e-23rd-street.html, “The Lost YMCA Bldg, No. 52 E. 23rd Street”, Daytonian in Manhattan, August 3, 2015

[8] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/nyregion/edward-kirkland-dead.html, “Edward Kirkland, Who Helped Preserve Historic Chelsea, Dies at 96”, Roberts S., The New York Times, January 17, 2022

[9]  https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Becky Collins, March 25, 2010

[10]  https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Becky Collins, March 25, 2010

[11]  https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/nyregion/edward-kirkland-dead.html, “Edward Kirkland, Who Helped Preserve Historic Chelsea, Dies at 96”, Roberts S., The New York Times, January 17, 2022

[12] https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland-2/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Lisa Ackerman and Eddie Nelms, November 3, 2004

[13]  https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland-2/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Lisa Ackerman and Eddie Nelms, November 3, 2004

[14]  https://www.nypap.org/oral-history/edward-kirkland-2/, “Edward Kirkland”, The New York Preservation Archive Project, Interviewed by Lisa Ackerman and Eddie Nelms, November 3, 2004

[15] https://www1.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/about/publications/197a.pdf, “197-a Plan Technical Guide”, Department of City Planning, City of New York, 1997

[16]https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/18/nyregion/neighborhood-report-west-side-keep-low-rise-chelsea-tall-on-character-board-says.html, “NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: WEST SIDE;Keep Low-Rise Chelsea Tall on Character, Board Says,”, The New York Times, February 18, 1996

[17]https://chelseacommunitynews.com/2022/07/10/open-hearts-clearing-skies-at-waterfront-reverie-remembering-chelseas-kirkland-trentlyon/, “Open Hearts, Clearing Skies at Waterfront Reverie Remembering Chelsea’s Kirkland, Trentlyon”, Chelsea Community News, July 10, 2022

[18]https://chelseacommunitynews.com/2022/07/10/open-hearts-clearing-skies-at-waterfront-reverie-remembering-chelseas-kirkland-trentlyon/, “Open Hearts, Clearing Skies at Waterfront Reverie Remembering Chelsea’s Kirkland, Trentlyon”, Chelsea Community News, July 10, 2022

[19] https://hdc.org/events/landmarks-lion-award/, “Landmarks Lion Award”, Historic District Council, January 14, 2019

[20] https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/historical-signs/listings?id=11969, “Chelsea Waterside Park”, NYC Parks, December 17, 2001

[21]https://chelseacommunitynews.com/2022/07/10/open-hearts-clearing-skies-at-waterfront-reverie-remembering-chelseas-kirkland-trentlyon/, “Open Hearts, Clearing Skies at Waterfront Reverie Remembering Chelsea’s Kirkland, Trentlyon”, Chelsea Community News, July 10, 2022

[22] https://tribecacitizen.com/2022/01/18/remembering-a-founder-of-hudson-river-park-and-a-city-preservationist/, “Remembering a founder of Hudson River Park and a city preservationist”,

[23] https://hudsonriverpark.org/about-us/hudson-river-park-trust/hudson-river-park-act/, “Hudson River Park Act”, Hudson River Park, visited July 27, 2022

[24] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/14/nyregion/edward-kirkland-dead.html, “Edward Kirkland, Who Helped Preserve Historic Chelsea, Dies at 96”, Roberts S., The New York Times, January 17, 2022

[25] https://www.thehighline.org/history/, “History”, Highline, visited  July 27, 2022

[26] https://www.nypap.org/in-memoriam-edward-stevens-kirkland-1925-2022/, “In Memoriam – Edward Stevens Kirkland (1925-2022)”, Calderaro G., The New York Preservation Archive Project, visited  July 27, 2022