Joan Aiken Leaves an Imprint That Will Be Felt for Years

She was disliked by some and loved by others. That is part of the legacy of the late Haddonfield preservationist Joan Aiken before her death in 2000. One Haddonfield resident says that while she did a great job in developing the historic district, the body count was high along the way: "People either loved her or hated her."

Aiken was the chief promoter behind the borough’s preservation movement when she founded the Haddonfield Preservation Society in 1966. She was the driving force behind that group’s efforts to establish a Historic District ordinance in Haddonfield. The ordinance was adopted in 1971 and regulated the exterior architecture of some 488 buildings. She was also one of the original members of the Historic Preservation Commission.

Classed as somewhat of a snob, it has been said that she has done more to increase property values than anyone in the history of the borough. She was born and raised in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. As a child, her father would take her and her sisters past historic houses and great estates. Her love for these historic places may have lighted the spark in her for her love of preservation.

Aiken had been known to challenge developers, and fight with street vendors. She had been described as a publicity hound, a busybody and a royal pain in the rear. But, by the same token, many liked her style, her skill and her determination.

"Joan was a 'larger than life' presence in Haddonfield for many years," says Doug Rauschenberger, retired director of the Haddonfield Library. "She thrived on and embraced crisis," and crisis was the key word.

Katherine Tassini, librarian for the Historical Society of Haddonfield, remembers Aiken bursting into her home at times and declaring, "Darling, we have a crisis."

"It is the first thing I think of—with a smile, too—when I think of Joan," Tassini points out.

"That is how she operated," Rauschenberger adds.

Some say that without Aiken, Haddonfield would not be the historic treasure it is today. Rauschenberger says she had seemingly limitless energy and it certainly paid off for the borough when she put it to work to get the Historic District created.

"Everyone owes her gratitude for that," he declares. "However, almost to a person, everyone who worked with her would say something like, 'Joan did great things for the town, but ... '"

Rauschenberger says there is no doubt she could be difficult to work with. "She often wrote long letters to town officials and to the newspapers extolling herself, usually referring to herself in the third person, which became more frequent in her later years," he explains. "Everything got to be about her personally."

Over the years she had sponsored seminars on porch restoration and suggested appropriate color schemes to homeowners and house painters in an effort to seek uniformity. A case in point is the couple that painted their house purple.

"As for the purple house, that is a good example of something she loved being in the middle of," says Rauschenberger. He admits that the people, who painted the house, probably did not want to stir up a fuss. "I believe they intended to paint it a more muted purple-gray, but it turned out to be a more brilliant purple.

"But once it was on and Joan started to complain, (and) they just dug in their heels and I think sort of enjoyed the notoriety," Rauschenberger recalls.

He says the house was in a prominent location, but it was not in the Historic District and, regardless, color is not regulated even in the Historic District.

"Legally, they could paint the house whatever they wanted. But people called Joan, knowing how she would react and she enjoyed having her opinions in the paper and on the television news," he says. However, records show that the couple was never penalized because Aiken could not get a paint code adopted.

Then there is the story of the hot dog vendor. It was in April 1989 when a hot dog vendor, armed with not only his cart but with a state vendor’s license, showed up in the heart of Haddonfield’s Historic District. The vendor’s mere presence was viewed as a threat to the borough’s way of life. State license or not, they wanted him gone.

"The hot dog vendor is a similar case," says Rauschenberger. He points out that she took him on as a personal cause and was relentless. "Many people in town did not particularly like having a hot dog vendor downtown, but many also did not see this as a historic preservation issue," he explains.

"To Joan, it was degrading to the downtown, which in her mind was the heart of the Historic District and therefore in her sphere of influence," he says. "One person said, after she was accused of kicking the hot dog vendor, ‘I have to admire her for taking him on—he was way out of her weight class.'"

When Aiken died on July 8, 2000 at the age of 82, the Historic Preservation Commission honored her by saying, "Joan’s vision and tireless efforts have permanently influenced the preservation of historic Haddonfield. Her vigilance and constancy in the preservation of the community will be sorely missed. It is consoling to know that influence will be a lasting one. The Haddonfield that we enjoy today and in the future is a result of Joan’s vision and the many contributions of the Haddonfield Preservation Society, of which she was executive director."

Thomas A. Bergbauer Sr., a retired journalist, can be reached tbergbauer@verizon.net.