Edmund Carpenter, preservationist, dies

East Hampton possesses one of the country's unique town halls, thanks to Edmund Snow Carpenter's passion for preserving old buildings.

Carpenter, an expert on Eskimos and mass media, saved and moved more than a dozen historic structures to the Further Lane estate he created in the mid-1970s with his wife, Adelaide de Menil.

When the couple put the seaside property up for sale a few years ago, they donated the buildings to the town, and six now make up a government complex on Pantigo Road.

Carpenter died July 1 in Southampton at age 88. He suffered from the brain ailment aphasia, according to de Menil's assistant. Carpenter had recently divided his time between Manhattan and East Hampton Town.

He was known for books and films about tribes living near the North Pole and on Pacific islands. He also worked with Canadian communications scholar Marshall McLuhan to develop theories of how society is influenced by television, radio, newspapers and other media.

At the time of Carpenter's death, two art exhibits that he helped organize were on display at a Houston museum founded by his wife's wealthy oil family.

The couple's donation to East Hampton of 18th- and 19th-century buildings is to be recognized July 23 at a town ceremony.

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Carpenter's commitment to preserving Colonial-era architecture on the East End began when he rescued a 1747 house near the Amagansett Farmers' Market from the bulldozer.

He soon received offers to save other Hamptons structures, eventually moving them to a former potato farm and assembling a modern home out of an old house and barn.

"Others had moved historic houses and renovated them on the South Fork . . . but no one did it on the scale of Adelaide and Ted," said Robert Hefner, historic services director for East Hampton Village and a consultant on the town hall project. "Ted wanted to preserve the dignity of the buildings, but also to create something new with them."

Hefner and others said Saturday that it was important to Carpenter that his collection of houses and barns survive the $103-million sale of his 40-acre estate in 2007. He and his wife worked with East Hampton officials to move the structures and provided $2 million of the $5 million needed for the new town hall.

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Carpenter was born on Sept. 2, 1922, in Rochester. His lifelong interest in archaeology and anthropology began when, as a boy, he searched for artifacts at the family's summer home in Michigan.

He enlisted in the Marines during World War II, seeing action on a number of Pacific islands. After the war, he completed his studies at the University of Pennsylvania and eventually earned a doctoral degree.

Carpenter collaborated with McLuhan starting in the 1950s, when both taught at the University of Toronto together. Later, Carpenter lectured at Adelphi University in Garden City.

"My father loved sharing knowledge," said Ian Snow Carpenter of Astoria. "He could make you interested in something you might never have thought of before, like Eskimo artwork."

In addition to his wife and son, Carpenter is survived by two other sons, Stephen, of Columbia Station, Ohio, and Rhys, of Pittsboro, N.C., and a sister, Barbara Grace, of Rochester.

A memorial service will be held in the fall.