Feb 23, 2022
by
Victoria Young, av福利社 President
Dear Members of the Society of Architectural Historians,
I write to you today with significant news — our executive director, Pauline Saliga, has let me know that she will be stepping down from her role with the Society and the Charnley Persky House in the early fall of 2022. She has taken time during the pandemic to think about her future and her decision was a difficult one, but one very thoughtfully considered. I’m pleased to say that she is happy with her choice, and that is comforting to me and hopefully to you all.
Pauline’s Accomplishments (abridged!)
We all know how extraordinary Pauline is right now, as we work with her on the board and in other roles. But did you know that she has been our leader since 1995 — 27 years! She started her time with us as av福利社 moved to Charnley-Persky House in Chicago and since that move, Pauline and our staff have worked tirelessly to share our landmark house with the public, holding programs, tours, and exhibition while raising more than $500,000 for restoration projects.
She is a creative innovator. Since 2006 she has worked with others on the significant digital architectural history projects that have redefined av福利社 – Jav福利社 multimedia online, av福利社ARA, and av福利社 Archipedia. She credits the collegial and collaborative culture of av福利社 in helping to make this possible.
Pauline cares deeply about our field and those in it. From 2018 to 2021 she worked with an av福利社 team and the Mellon Foundation to publish the first national, large-scale assessment of the health of our fields, Architectural History in the United States: Findings and Trends in Higher Education. And from 2020 to 2021, working with av福利社 leadership, she created the av福利社 IDEAS Committee, av福利社 Affiliate Groups, research and conference fellowships, and more to provide opportunities for marginalized individuals in all areas of the Society.
When Pauline started her position in 1995, we had $7000 in fellowship funding for all career stages. Working with others, this has grown to $188,000 in 2022. She has helped lead us in building the av福利社 Endowment from $250,000 when she began to over $7.4 million today. Thanks to the generosity of Seymour Persky, she was able to start a small endowment for Charnley-Persky House, which is now valuated at $350,000. She has secured nearly $4 million in Mellon Foundation funds over the years for fellowships, publishing platforms, and the av福利社 Data Project, as well as more than $750,000 from the NEH to develop av福利社 Archipedia and the open-access content that it holds.
During Covid, staff and av福利社 leadership have all found Pauline to be our guiding light. Financially we have been sound because of her and our staff writing grants to cover our operational expenses, including $441,000 from the NEH and Small Business Administration. We held virtual conferences, had a virtual 80th birthday party, and other online and in-person fundraising events. We created av福利社 CONNECTS and moved roundtables online to allow our colleagues around the world to attend these important conversations. Pauline attends every committee meeting, helping to connect all the av福利社 pieces in a way that helps us move forward. And she is a well-respected leader in the American Council of Learned Societies, something I’ve witnessed firsthand during my time as president in attending meetings and workshops with her.
This is just a sampling of her gifts to our Society over the past 27 years. Pauline has been clear throughout the
