William Hull, assistant director of the Council, started the project, while the Syracuse University School of Architecture led by Harley J. McKee carried it out.
[1] Other architects at the school involved in writing the book were Patricia Day Earle, Paul Malo, and Peter Andrews.
[2] Upon publication, an article in The New York Times wrote that after sending out information on the report to various officials and programs, "[t]he response in replies ha[d] far exceeded the council's expectations.
"[1] Ada Louise Huxtable considered the work a "significant pilot report" and described it as a "remarkably competent survey of buildings of architectural value and historical importance."
[4] A 1975 article in Pioneer America by Peirce F. Lewis argued that "the historic preservation movement in the United States has been, and continues to be, a thundering failure."