Preservation Advocacy

Chinchero_credit_Georgi_Kyorlenski
Preserving important structures, landscapes and other aspects of the built environment is a key tenet of the Society of Architectural Historians' mission. As a matter of policy, the Society only becomes involved in preservation issues of national or international significance. Preservation issues of local significance should be directed to your State Historic Preservation Office or to local preservation organizations.

Policy Statement on the Functioning of the SAH Heritage Conservation Committee (2020)

SAH Heritage Conservation Committee

SAH PRESERVATION OFFICER
Bryan Clark Green, PhD, LEED AP BD+C, Commonwealth Architects

COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Kenneth Breisch, University of Southern California School of Architecture
Mary Brush, FAIA, BRUSH Architects, LLC
James M. Buckley, University of Oregon, Portland
Jeffrey Cody, Getty Conservation Institute
Anthony Cohn, Anthony Cohn Architect, New York
David N. Fixler, FAIA, LEED® AP, EYP/
Priya Jain, Texas A&M University
Theodore Prudon, FAIA, Prudon & Partners
Deborah Slaton, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. 

EX OFFICIO
Victoria M. Young, SAH President, University of St. Thomas
Pauline Saliga, SAH Executive Director

Resources

Guidelines for Architectural Historians Testifying on the Historical Significance of Properties
Connections Episode 32: Protecting Cultural Heritage with Heghnar Watenpaugh

Position Statements

Statement on the Preservation of Hua Lamphong Train Station, Bangkok, Thailand (5 January 2022)

Statement on Preserving Historic Buildings on University Campuses (5 January 2022)

Statement on The Preservation of the Palácio Gustavo Capanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (20 September 2021)
 
SAH Statement on the Cultural Impact of the United States Border Wall (12 February 2021)

Statement on Threats to the Preservation of the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence, Italy (8 January 2021)

Statement on Threats to the Cultural Heritage of Nagorno-Karabakh (8 January 2021)

Opposition to the Proposed Demolition of the Willert Park Courts / Alfred D. Price Courts, Buffalo, NY (30 September 2020)

Statement on the use of Hagia Sophia, Istanbul, Turkey (11 September 2020)

Statement on The Removal of Monuments to the Confederacy from Public Spaces (19 June 2020)

Statement on the Proposed Renovation of Gare du Nord, Paris (11 December 2019) (French version)

Joint Position Statement with Docomomo US on the Preservation of the Abrams House, Pittsburgh, PA (2018) 

Position Statement on the Reconstruction of Lost Buildings and the Construction of Unbuilt Designs (2018)

Letters of Support / Concern

SAH Letter of Support for the Preservation of the Great Northern Grain Elevator in Buffalo, NY (11 February 2022)

SAH Supports the Preservation of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Frederick Bagley House (6 September 2021)

SAH Supports the Listing of the James R. Thompson Center on the National Register of Historic Places (23 June 2021)

SAH Letter Opposing the Proposed Demolition of the South Shore Community Center in Miami (10 June 2021)
 
SAH Letter Supporting the Proposed Restoration of the Fort Wayne Civic Theatre (Arts United Center) (10 June 2021)
 
SAH Letter Supporting the Restoration of Bears Ears and Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monuments to their 2016 Boundaries (10 June 2021)

SAH Supports Extending the Minnesota State Historic Tax Credit (30 April 2021)
 
SAH Letter Opposing the Proposed Chicago Zoning Amendment that Would Restrict or Prohibit House Museums in "R" Zoning Districts (17 March 2021)

SAH Letter of Support for the Designation of the McGraw-Hill Building Lobby in New York (12 March 2021)

SAH Letter Opposing the Proposed Demolition of the Union Station Power House in Chicago (23 February 2021)

SAH Letter of Concern about the Proposed Alterations to the Weyerhaeuser International Campus (23 February 2021)

SAH Letter Requesting to Rescind Executive Order 13967: “Making Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture” (23 February 2021)

Letter Expressing Concerns About Proposed Alterations to the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (12 January 2021)


Letter in Opposition to the Proposed Demolition of H. H. Richardson's Home and Office in Brookline, MA (22 December 2020)

Support for the Designation of the Emmett Till House as a Chicago Landmark (28 August 2020)

Opposition to the Rail Tie Wind Project and the Ames Monument (10 April 2020)

Opposition to the Border Wall Construction within the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument (14 February 2020)

Society of Architectural Historians Letter in Opposition to Proposed Executive Order "Making Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" (2019)

Support for HR 3824, Cahokia Mounds Mississippian Culture National Historical Park Act (11 December 2019)

Support for S Res 315, the resolution memorializing the discovery of the Clotilda, the last known ship to bring enslaved workers from Africa to the United States in 1860 (11 December 2019)

Support for S. 2165, the Safeguard Tribal Objects of Patrimony (STOP) Act of 2019 (11 December 2019)

Letter of Support for the Preservation of H. H. Richardson's Percy Browne House (27 Oct 2019)

Read: "H. H. Richardson's House for Reverend Browne, Rediscovered" by Mark Wright (JSAH, 68:1, March 2009)

Letter of Support for the Preservation of Chinchero, Peru (11 September 2019)

Letter Opposing the Demolition of Buildings on the Site of the Proposed Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Visitors Center (26 August 2019)

Letter Supporting the Preservation of the Alamo Historic District in San Antonio, Texas (7 August 2019)

Comments on Proposed Department of the Interior, National Park Service Rule Changes – National Historic Preservation Act, Regulation Identifier Number (RIN) 1024-AE49 (19 April 2019)

Letter Supporting the Preservation of the James R. Thompson Center/State of Illinois Building in Chicago (7 Feb 2019)

Letter Supporting the Chaco Cultural Heritage Area Protection Act (S. 2907) (22 June 2018)

Letter Supporting the Preservation of the Marine Midland Bank in New York (19 March 2018)

Letter Supporting the Preservation of the Fergus Falls State Hospital, Fergus Falls, Minnesota (1 March 2018)

Letter Supporting the Designation of Philip Johnson and John Burgee's AT&T Building as an Individual Landmark (20 Nov 2017)

Letter Supporting the Retention of the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program (13 Nov 2017)

Letter Supporting the Retention of the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentive Program (10 Nov 2017)

Letter Opposing Proposed U.S. Withdrawal from the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) (8 Nov 2017)

Letter Supporting the Continued Reasonable Use of the Antiquities Act of 1906 (19 July 2017)

Letter Supporting the Retention and Preservation of Kresge College at UCSC (23 Jan 2017)

Letter in Support of the Retention and Preservation of the Charles Moore Additions to the Hood Museum at Dartmouth College (13 June 2016)

Letter in Support for the Retention of the Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit (14 March 2016)

Letter Supporting the Preservation of the Administration Building of the Great Shrine of Izumo (9 March 2016)

Letter Supporting the Designation of the Kaufmann Conference Rooms, Lecture Hall, and Elevator Lobby, 809 United Nations Plaza, Manhattan (12 Nov 2015)

Letter to Secretary of State John F. Kerry on the Cultural Impacts of Earthquake Damage in Nepal (9 July 2015)

Letter to Dominion Power on Planned High-Voltage Transmission Lines Crossing the James River (9 July 2015)

Proclamations

Proclamation in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the Saving of the Glessner House (5 Nov 2016)

Proclamation in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (6 April 2016)

Proclamation in Honor of the 100th Anniversary of the Establishment of the National Park Service (6 April 2016)

Driehaus_SH_Horizontal_RGB_275_100

SAH thanks The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
for its operating support.
Society of Architectural Historians
1365 N. Astor Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
312.573.1365