{"id":4944,"date":"2014-03-21T10:23:27","date_gmt":"2014-03-21T14:23:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=4944"},"modified":"2014-03-21T10:23:27","modified_gmt":"2014-03-21T14:23:27","slug":"working-to-perpetuate-rebecca-lukens-legacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/?p=4944","title":{"rendered":"Working to perpetuate Rebecca Lukens’ legacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Graystone Society’s annual award goes to longtime open-space advocate\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong>, Managing Editor, The Times<\/span><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"IMG_1779\"<\/a>

Molly K. Morrison chats with Susannah Brody, playing the role of Rebecca Lukens, at the Eighth Annual Rebecca Lukens Award ceremony in Coatesville.<\/p><\/div>\n

Attired in 19th<\/sup>-century Quaker garb, Susannah Brody provided the voice of Rebecca Lukens, and the elegant Graystone Mansion, built by Lukens\u2019 grandson in 1889, offered a fitting backdrop for a brief synopsis of the pioneering industrialist\u2019s accomplishments.<\/p>\n

Driven by a promise to her dying husband to keep the steel mill going, Lukens proceeded to demonstrate an iron will that would transcend myriad \u00a0obstacles, including litigation from her own mother, who deemed her unfit and foolish. But Brody, a Rebecca Lukens re-enactor, cut the dramatic prelude short, explaining that the audience had assembled for a different reason: to honor Molly K. Morrison, the president of Natural Lands Trust and the recipient of the Eighth Annual Rebecca Lukens Award.<\/p>\n

Bestowed annually by the Graystone Society\u2019s National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum in Coatesville, the award goes\u00a0to individuals who exhibit the qualities of Lukens, a trail-blazing businesswoman who ran the steel mill from 1825 to 1847. The museum recently celebrated her 220th<\/sup> birthday.<\/p>\n

\"Molly<\/a>

Molly K. Morrison, recipient of the Eighth Annual Rebecca Lukens Award, is shown with Scott G. Huston, a direct descendant of the trail-blazing industrialist.<\/p><\/div>\n

The host for the award program \u2013 which serves as an annual reminder of Rebecca Lukens\u2019 greatness \u2013 was as appropriate as the setting. Scott G. Huston, president of the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum, happens to be the great, great, great, great grandson of Lukens. He said he was delighted to honor \u201canother woman of courage and determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among a half-dozen officials and politicians who spoke about Morrison\u2019s career \u2013 which began as an intern at the Brandywine Valley Association \u2013 a theme emerged: Despite the passage of nearly 200 years, Morrison overcame challenges similar to those over which Lukens triumphed.<\/p>\n

For example, State Sen. Andy Dinniman described the early days of the county\u2019s open-space movement as an uphill battle. Morrison, who worked for Chester County in positions of increasing responsibility for 21 years before joining Natural Lands Trust, played a key role in the quest to develop and implement the county\u2019s nationally recognized preservation program.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe got killed on trails,\u201d recalled Dinniman, explaining that not everyone shared preservationists\u2019 zeal for a network connecting parks and natural resources. An equally difficult sell was the importance of promoting urban revitalization to balance the open space acquisitions, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is literally the mother of open space in Chester County,\u201d proclaimed \u00a0Commissioner Terence Farrell, noting the 1,263 Ches-Len Preserve in Newlin Township that materialized under the auspices of Natural Lands Trust. Farrell said the trust has saved more than 100,000 acres in the region.<\/p>\n

\"Rebecca<\/a>

Rebecca Lukens award-winner Molly K. Morrison celebrates her honor with her husband, Bob Morrison, at the Graystone Mansion in Coatesville.<\/p><\/div>\n

Coatesville City Councilman Ed Simpson, a lifelong resident and city advocate, couldn\u2019t resist the urge to suggest that the city has an open-space opportunity for anyone who might be interested \u201cright across the street,\u201d referring to \u201cthe flats,\u201d an area long overdue for redevelopment. He said it\u2019s hard to explain \u201cCoatesville pride\u201d to an outsider, but in listening to the history of the Lukens and Huston families, he\u2019s convinced it started with them. \u201cThe pride they have for this city has continued until today,\u201d he said. \u201cYou can\u2019t take it away.\u201d<\/p>\n

What can be taken – irrevocably – is the land that conservationists like Morrison have fought to protect. State Rep. Becky Corbin said her entry into politics occurred because of her earlier involvement with Morrison and open-space initiatives. Corbin echoed Farrell\u2019s description: \u201cYou are the mother of open space, Molly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surveying the crowd of about 75, Morrison said she was thrilled to see so many people from her past, several of whom commented that they remembered her being pregnant with one or both of her two daughters, now adults. \u201cI guess motherhood is the theme here today,\u201d she joked.<\/p>\n

On a more serious note, Morrison, a county native who traces her love of the land to visits to her grandparents\u2019 farm in Kimberton, said she has always had \u201ca great affinity for the history\u201d and heritage of the county. She said she was fortunate to have worked with many like-minded professionals and stressed that the work is not done.<\/p>\n

She said one of the highlights of her career occurred in 1989 when Chester County voters reinforced her passion for open space by approving a referendum that authorized the county to borrow $50 million to preserve farmland and parks in perpetuity.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a collective effort; we\u2019re all in this together,\u201d she said, warning that Chester County is projected to experience \u201ctremendous growth\u201d that will cause it to surpass the population of Delaware County. \u201cWe must continue to work together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like Lukens, who nurtured and upgraded her facilities and created the nation\u2019s longest continuously-running steel mill, Morrison oversees another expansive operation. Since its founding in 1953, Natural Lands Trust (and its predecessor, the Philadelphia Conservationists) has saved more than 100,000 acres of natural areas and agricultural lands throughout eastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, making it one of the largest regional nonprofit land trusts in the country. Morrison joined the trust in 2001, becoming its chief executive in 2005.<\/p>\n

Consistent with that record of accomplishments, Morrison received a plethora of proclamations. The county commissioners, the state House, the state Senate, even the governor weighed in on her contributions to maintaining area residents\u2019 connections to the land of their forbears.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy belief \u2013 and the work we do at Natural Lands Trust supports that belief \u2013 is that those lands and forests and streams that sustained our forebears are just as critical to future generations,\u201d said Morrison, acknowledging the honor of having her mission linked to that of Lukens.<\/p>\n

The Graystone Society, created in 1984 to help preserve the city\u2019s historic architecture, is named for the Graystone Mansion, an impressive Collegiate Gothic structure that is part of the Lukens National Historic District, home of the National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum. One focal point of the museum is the 500 tons of World Trade Center steel \u201ctrees,\u201d support beams originally manufactured in the late 1960s at Lukens Steel \u2013 which is now owned by ArcelorMittal. A historic convoy returned the beams to Coatesville on April 14, 2010.<\/p>\n

For more information on the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum, call \u00a0610-384-9282 or\u00a0visit http:\/\/www.steelmuseum.org<\/a>.\u00a0 To learn more about the work of Natural Lands Trust, visit http:\/\/www.natlands.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Graystone Society’s annual award goes to longtime open-space advocate\u00a0 By Kathleen Brady Shea, Managing Editor, The Times Attired in 19th-century Quaker garb, Susannah Brody provided the voice of Rebecca Lukens, and the elegant Graystone Mansion, built by Lukens\u2019 grandson in 1889, offered a fitting backdrop for a brief synopsis of the pioneering industrialist\u2019s accomplishments. Driven […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,7],"tags":[911,3184,138,185,3185,3180,3182,2869,3179,444,2870,3183,3186,556,3181],"class_list":["post-4944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-featured","tag-brandywine-valley-association","tag-ches-len-preserve","tag-chester-county","tag-coatesville","tag-coatesville-city-councilman-ed-simpson","tag-eighth-annual-rebecca-lukens-award","tag-graystone-mansion","tag-molly-k-morrison","tag-national-iron-steel-heritage-museum","tag-natural-lands-trust","tag-rebecca-lukens","tag-scott-g-huston","tag-state-rep-becky-corbin","tag-state-sen-andy-dinniman","tag-susannah-brody"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4944\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chescotimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}