Frederick Rath; Shaped Historic Preservation Trust

Frederick Rath, 87, former director of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Rath largely shaped the organization as director from 1949 to 1956 after it was created by Congress to succeed the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings, which Rath had also headed. The organization was inspired by Britain’s National Trust, which owns and manages historic sites in Great Britain. But Rath turned the American group into an advocacy organization, lobbying Congress and the executive branch for historical preservation. After leaving the trust, Rath was vice director of the New York State Historical Assn., taught museum management and worked as deputy commissioner of historic preservation in New York state. On April 1 in Cooperstown, N.Y.