Tribute to Evelyn Ortner

Current Memberships and Activities

Some Past Offices and Activities

President, Community Committee of the Brooklyn Museum (1975-77)
President, Friends of the Brooklyn Academy of Music (1973-75)
Former Chairman, Board of Directors, St. Ann Center for Preservation and the Arts.
Co-founder (with Charlene Victor) and first Treasurer (1966), Brooklyn Arts & Culture
Association (BACA)
Chairman, Historic & Cultural Resources Committee of the Park Slope Civic
Council (1966-73); researched and directed seven-year project leading to
designation of Park Slope as a historic district
Co-founder, Triangle Parks/Flatbush Avenue Improvement Committee
Organizer of art show and special events, Prospect Park Centennial Committee (1966)
Member, Landmarks Task Force, City Planning Commission
Member, August Heckscher’s Prospect Park Advisory Board
Member, Brooklyn Bicentennial Commission (1975-76)
Chairman, Events Committee, first national Back to the City Conference (1974)
Interior designer for Brooklyn Union Gas Company’s famous Cinderella I project (1967)
Research director and designer, Ports & Terminals Exhibition at Fulton Ferry
Firehouse (1975)
Co-founder (1966), The Victorian Society in America; first program chairman; Board
of Directors (1966-72) of both national organization and New York chapter
Member, Board of Directors, Brooklyn Center for the Urban Environment (1988-97)

Awards and Citations
Community Service Award, Central Brooklyn Independent Democrats (1973)
Quality of Life Service Award, The Auxiliary of Kings County Hospital Center (1976)
Cinderella Award, Brooklyn Union Gas Company (1976)
Citations, Brooklyn Borough President, for work as community leader (1983 & 1994)
Spirit of Life Award, New York Congregational Home (1994)
St. Mary’s “Preserving Community Art” Award (1995)
Brooklyn Academy of Music “BAMMY” Award (1997)
Park Slope Civic Council Community Service Award (1996)
St. Ann Center’s William J. Bolton Award (1997)
Historic Districts Council for AExemplary Service for Community Preservation@ (2002)
Victorian Society in America, “Lifetime Achievement” Award (2005)
Lucy G. Moses Preservation Leadership Award

Lecturer and Architectural Historian

Lectured (weekend course) at Cooper-Hewitt Museum; lectured at Chautauqua
Institution, Long Island Historical Society, Brownstone Revival Committee
Conference, etc.; annual lecture on Park Sope history and architecture at
Montauk Club; architectural tour leader for Victorian Society, Long Island
Historical Society, Brooklyn Engineers Society, New York’s 92nd Street “Y”, etc.

Education

B.A. (cum laude), Hunter College (1952)
Interior Design, Pratt Institute (1957-60)
Completed coursework leading to M.S. degree in Historic Preservation, School of
Architecture, Columbia University (1976-79)

Professional Interior Designer

Assistant Designer, Jane Ashley Interiors (1955-57)
Designer, Bachstein & Freitag Interiors (1957-60)
Partner, Jeremiah Goodman & Evelyn Ortner Interiors (1960-62)
Designer and Owner, Evelyn Ortner Interiors (1962–)

Archivist and Preservationist

Director of Facilities & Collections for New York Chamber of Commerce (1979-84),
maintaining the Chamber’s landmark building and acting as curator of the
Chamber’s 300+ oil paintings and valuable collection of Americana

Miscellaneous

Member of numerous preservation and allied organizations
A born-in-New York (Manhattan) New Yorker July 4, 1924
Married to Everett H. Ortner, former Editor of Popular Science magazine and an
active preservationist