The Life of Mrs. Nellie Leber Longsworth

With heavy hearts, we announce the death of Nellie Longsworth (Rockville, Maryland), who passed away on March 1, 2021 at the age of 87.

Nellie Leber Longsworth

Born: 1933 in York

Age: 74

Home: Bethesda, Md.

Family: Children Mark Stewart, Jennifer King and Jeffrey Stewart Longsworth and five grandchildren

Known for: Lobbying for historic preservation in communities and states around the country

Education: B.A. in American studies, Smith College in Northampton, Mass.; Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Design at the Graduate School of Design, Harvard University (1986-87)

Occupation: Lobbyist and consultant, Society for Historical Archaeology and the American Cultural Resource Association

Accomplishments/community involvement: Retired president and founder (1975 to 1998), Preservation Action Inc., a nonprofit citizens' lobby for historic preservation and neighborhood conservation, including involvement in the 1980 historic rehabilitation tax credits, annual appropriations for the state historic preservation offices, programs to protect American farmland, tribal offices, Save America's Treasures and Preserve America.

Since retiring from PAI in 1998, she's continued to lobby Congress, federal agencies and local communities such as Savannah, Ga., San Antonio, Texas, and Philadelphia for preservation and blight reduction. She's also lectured at various colleges and universities on the politics of historic preservation.

Honors/awards/recognition: The Louise DuPont Crowninshield Award, which is the highest preservation award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation (2007); the 1997 Trustees Award for Outstanding Achievement in Public Policy from the National Trust for Historic Preservation); 1997 Institutional Builders Award from the Partners for Livable Communities; the Gordon Gray Award for Outstanding Achievement in Support of Historic Preservation in the United States and Public Service Award from the National Trust; Presidential Citation from the National Institute of Architects; Cultural Achievement Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior; Special Citation for Achievement in the Passage of the 1980 Historic Preservation Act Amendments from the National Conference of State Preservation Officers; honorary doctor of laws for achievement in historic preservation, Goucher College in Towson, Md.