Preservation in Action Wins Accolades

Press release

Webb Deane Stevens Museum Celebrates Lee Kuckro, Anne Crofoot Kuckro, Peter Brown, and Don Carter on their award winning publication, Preservation in Action.

Lee Kuckro and Anne Crofoot Kuckro receive the Harlan H. Griswold Award for Historic Preservation from Preservation Connecticut. Preservation in Action receives a Silver Award and an Excellence Award from the Connecticut Art Directors Club.

WETHERSFIELD, CT — We are honored to celebrate Lee Kuckro and the late Anne Crofoot Kuckro (recognized posthumously) as they receive the Harlan H. Griswold Award for "leadership, vision, and selfless dedication in preserving Connecticut's heritage," awarded jointly by the State Historic Preservation Office and by Preservation Connecticut. Lee is a member of the Webb Deane Stevens Museum Council, and Anne's vision as a past president of The National Society of the Colonial Dames in America in the State of Connecticut led to our state-of-the-art Holcombe Education Center.

Their joint leadership in preserving Wethersfield’s historic character, along with their detailed documentation of the town’s architectural heritage in their book Preservation in Action: Ten Stories of Stewardship, has made a meaningful and lasting contribution to the community. The book was published in 2024 by the Webb Deane Stevens Museum in association with Wesleyan University Press.

Additionally, the publication has received a Silver Award for photography and an Excellence Award for graphic design from the Connecticut Art Directors Club.

Preservation in Action: Ten Stories of Stewardship is an exceptional journey through beautifully preserved, thoroughly documented, and artistically presented historic landmarks, designed by Don Carter with original photography taken by Peter Brown.

Webb Deane Stevens Executive Director Brenton Grom says, "We are thrilled that Anne and Lee have received public recognition for their years of dedication, vision, and service to the town of Wethersfield, and to historic preservation more broadly. Without Anne and Lee, the preservation community in Old Wethersfield would not look as it does today. Through a half-century of board and committee leadership, uncommon prescience, and tireless work behind the scenes, they are the common thread connecting several entities responsible for stewarding the town’s history."

Of the book itself, Grom notes: "Peter Brown's stunning architectural photography and Don Carter's elegant design capture our town's history, grace, and depth with a nuance and reverence that bring the stories to life. Their work has given these structures the presence and attention they deserve. We are grateful to Preservation Connecticut, the State Historic Preservation Office, and the Connecticut Art Director's Club for recognizing the important and timely work of Anne, Lee, Peter, and Don."

Preservation in Action is the first book to vividly share the powerful story of Old Wethersfield—Connecticut’s oldest and largest historic district in its oldest town. Drawing on in-depth original research, paired with striking photography and sophisticated design, the book explores ten inspiring examples of restoration, renovation, rehabilitation, adaptation, and reuse.

The narrative demonstrates the community's efforts over more than a century to preserve the architectural legacy of its historic village, through individual and institutional commitments, civic planning decisions, historic preservation, and design review.

The examples range from the oldest house in town, with a 17th century addition added thirty years ago, to a 19th century commercial building whose greenhouse was repurposed as a cafe in 2022, and includes the town's old high school whose redevelopment, in a bold partnership between the Town and the Historical Society, together with the Society's redevelopment of another town owned building, has spurred the economic revival of the old village.

Preservation in Action is available at the Webb Deane Stevens Museum gift shop and at Wesleyan University Press.