RHIANNON: Welcome to the Onassis Foyer, the main entrance to Grand Central Terminal, which is named in honor of the former first lady, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. She was instrumental in the fight to save the terminal from destruction. To your left, you can see her image featured on a plaque on the wall. It’s hard to believe that a building which feels so solid and immoveable was ever in serious danger of being demolished. But remember, in the middle of last century, the railroad business was in decline – now there were automobiles, and swift and glamorous air travel. Grand Central was outliving its usefulness, and the New York Central Railroad was ready to sell the terminal for much-needed cash. KENT: Nobody ever thought it would be challenged. And nobody ever thought Penn Station would be challenged. You went away to camp, you went away to war. You met your boyfriend or girlfriend. So it was a central part of one's life. My name is Kent Barwick and I was fortunate to be the executive director of the Municipal Arts Society during the years that Grand Central was at risk. And during the years that the Municipal Arts Society worked so effectively to save it. RHIANNON: Kent is talking about the other great train station across town, New York Penn Station, which had been unceremoniously demolished in 1963 to make way for Madison Square Garden, spurring New York City to enact a Landmarks Preservation law which would protect our historic buildings. Grand Central was its first designated landmark. So we’re good, right? Well, not so fast. KENT: Most New Yorkers thought once we had a landmarks law, that all landmarks would be saved. But it's not that simple. It's not that easy. In New York, every preservation struggle turns out to be a fight. RHIANNON: In 1975, the legal battles were raging and the fate of the terminal hung in the balance. It got very touchy. KENT: We announced that we were forming this committee to save Grand Central Terminal. A few days later was a telephone call that came to the office. And it was unmistakably Jackie because of her unique voice. And she said that she wanted to be helpful. And I said, Well, that's great. We're gonna have a press conference as soon as possible, and I'll let your staff know, because we hope if you're around that maybe you'd come. And she said actually, I don't have a staff right now, and I'll be around, I'll come. She had a reputation in New York for being a little aloof, a little hard to get along with. In this first phone call and the next years that I knew her demonstrated to me something quite the opposite. She then showed up. The Municipal Society staged a press conference at the oyster bar in the basement of Grand Central, which incidentally is a bad place to have a press conference because of the Guastavino vaulted ceiling, you know, you can hardly hear what anybody says. We announced our plan, how significant it was, how important to save Grand Central. There were a lot of good speeches made. And then Jackie spoke – very, very softly, you could hear a pin drop. I mean, first of all, everyone wanted to hear her, but secondly, her voice sort of invited everybody else to, to quiet down. JACKIE (archival): I think if we don't care about our past we can't have very much help for our future and we've all heard that it's too late, that it has to happen or that it's inevitable, but I don't think that's true because I think if there is a great effort, even if it's at the 11th hour you can succeed, and I think, and I know, that that's what we'll do. Thank you. KENT: The public's response to the campaign to save Grand Central Terminal was phenomenal. And part of it for sure was that Jackie sort of signaled that it was a national issue. This was something important to all of us. We used to get, you know, 5 dollar bills from Chicago. You know, people would write in from Minnesota and say how important the terminal was, so I think it really helped get national attention. RHIANNON: Finally in 1978, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of New York City's Landmarks Law and the terminal was saved. MICHAEL: She was the ultimate, Jackie O. If it wasn't for her, forget it. We wouldn't be here. Would not be here. RHIANNON: Thank you, Jackie O!