Barbara Baer Capitman
Miami Beach, Miami-Dade County, Florida
Marker Inscription
Barbara Baer Capitman - Historic Preservationist This building is home to the Miami Design Preservation League, founded by Barbara Baer Capitman in 1976. On May 14, 1979, under her leadership, the Miami Beach Architectural District (Art Deco District) became the first urban 20th century historic district to gain recognition on the National Register of Historic Places. Capitman fought tooth and nail to preserve the Art Deco District and was known to stand in front of bulldozers to protect her beloved Art Deco buildings. Over 800 Art Deco buildings remain as testament to her defiance. The drab run- down hotels on Ocean Drive were revitalized and painted in pastel colors selected by League co-founder Leonard Horowitz. Miami's cultural development and tourism revival flowed from Capitman's vision and efforts. She spurred a national and international movement for the preservation of 20th century design and architecture. Barbara Baer Capitman preserved an architectural treasure and changed the fate of Miami Beach, creating a world class tourist destination. "My whole life had been Art Deco," she once said. "I was born at the beginning of the period and grew up during the height of it. It's a thing of fate. In 1990, Capitman died in Miami at age 69. F-1001 A Florida Heritage Site sponsored by the City Of Miami Beach, and the Florida Department of State 2018
Erected by Florida Department of State
The Story
In the 1970s Miami Beach's fading oceanfront hotels were slated for the wrecking ball, until Barbara Baer Capitman founded the Miami Design Preservation League in 1976 and fought to save them. Under her leadership the Art Deco District became, in 1979, the first 20th-century urban district on the National Register of Historic Places. She and colleague Leonard Horowitz reimagined the drab buildings in pastel color, and the more than 800 surviving structures helped transform South Beach into a world tourist destination.
Why it matters
Capitman's stand launched the national movement to preserve 20th-century architecture, proving that a neighborhood's design heritage could be an economic and cultural treasure worth saving.
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Related people
- · Barbara Baer Capitman
- · Leonard Horowitz
Related events
- · Founding of the Miami Design Preservation League (1976)
- · Art Deco District added to the National Register (1979)
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Barbara Baer Capitman
Miami Beach, FL
Barbara Baer Capitman was the force behind saving Miami Beach's Art Deco district, the sun-bleached hotels and pastel geometry built during the boom of the 1920s and 1930s. In 1976 she co-founded the Miami Design Preservation League and waged a long, often lonely campaign to protect "Old Miami Beach" from the wrecking ball, ultimately winning the district a place on the National Register. The Cardozo Hotel, named on this plaque, was one of the first jewels she fought to restore, and its later rehabilitations carried her legacy forward.
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