Society of Architectural Historians

08/21/2026

SAH Celebrates, the Society's most anticipated party and fundraiser of the year, will take place on November 13 at the Fortnightly of Chicago to support the stewardship of our historic headquarters at the Charnley-Persky House and aid SAH’s scholarly research and educational programs. Even if you can't attend, you can still bid on thematically- and geographically-diverse experiences in the SAH Celebrates online auction, which will open in early November and close during the in-person event.

Auction items include:
🔸 Frank Lloyd Wright Treasures of the Avery Library Tour with Dr. Barry Bergdoll
🔸 Eames House Private Interior Tour in Los Angeles
🔸 Private Tour of the Notion and Claros Archeological Sites in Western Turkey
🔸One-Week Stay at "Turtle Ridge" Villa in Barbados
🔸and much more!

Preview all of the auction items on the SAH website: https://sah.org/programs/sah-celebrates/sah-celebrates-2026-online-auction/

Images 1-2: Courtesy of the Avery Architectural and Fine Arts Library
Image 3: The living room of the Eames House (1949). Photographed by Chris Mottalini, 2025. © 2026 Eames Office, LLC. All rights reserved.
Image 4: Courtesy of Notion Archaeological Project
Image 5: Leslie St. John Photography

08/20/2026

SAH is currently accepting abstracts for roundtable panelists at the 80th Annual International Conference in Chicago, Illinois (April 14–18, 2027) through September 30 at 11:59 p.m. CDT. SAH encourages submissions from architectural, landscape, and urban historians; museum curators; preservationists; independent scholars; architects; scholars in related fields; and members of SAH Chapters, Affiliate Groups, and partner organizations.

Roundtables:
🔸African Architectural History Today
🔸Historic Preservation Legislation in the United States
🔸Pre-Modern Architectural History and Design-Based Education
🔸Reconsidering the Anthology in the Digital Age
🔸Retooling the Survey for the Digital Age
🔸Teaching Pre-Modern Asian Architecture in a Global Context
🔸When Was the South? On the Built Evidence of a Geopolitical Category
🔸Women in Architecture Education: A Reading of HTA Syllabi

See the full Call for Papers: https://sah.org/conferences/chicago-2027/call-for-roundtable-papers/

image: Caroline Theis/Parks/Choose Chicago

08/19/2026

Today is World Photo Day! 📸 Did you know that SAHARA, SAH’s digital archive of annotated architectural images, contains nearly 200,000 images of the built environment for SAH members to use for research and teaching?

SAHARA Editors Jackie Spafford and Jeannine Keefer will host a free tutorial tomorrow (August 20) to demonstrate how to add and publish images, edit metadata, and more. If you are applying for an SAH Fellowship, this is a must see!

Register: https://sah.org/2026/08/13/sahara-new-users-tutorial-august-20-2026/

Images:
1. Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), exterior, view from the north, Rome, Italy, 70-82 CE. Photograph by Allan T. Kohl, 2001.
2. The Colosseum, general view, Rome, Italy, 1st century AD. Photograph by Sibel Acar, August 2010.
3. Colosseum (Flavian Amphitheater), cavea and arena, with the support structures beneath, Rome, Italy, 70-82 CE. Photograph by William Kessler, 1965.
4. Colosseum; Flavian Amphitheater, interior, Rome, Italy, 70-80. Photograph by Dell Upton, February 2023.

08/18/2026

On July 24, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, a U.S. federal agency that oversees the regulatory framework of the National Historic Preservation Act, voted to pass a draft policy revision that radically changes the Section 106 process that guides most federal preservation work. If finalized and passed (within the coming months), these changes will reshape the stewardship of buildings and landscapes across the country.

Join SAH's Heritage Conservation Committee on August 28 for a timely discussion that will break down what Section 106 is, how it has been used in the past 60 years, what led to the current revisions, what is coming down the line, and how YOU can be involved. We welcome a broad audience to tune into this free webinar—professionals, students, historians, educators and the public, who may or may not have heard of Section 106.

Register now: https://sah.org/2026/08/14/preservation-under-attack-section-106-what-is-it-why-it-matters-and-what-you-can-do/

Image: Buildings on East Patrick Street in Frederick, Maryland, USA. Acroterion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

08/14/2026

Join SAHARA Editors Jackie Spafford and Jeannine Keefer on August 20 for a tutorial demonstrating how to add and publish images to SAHARA, SAH’s digital archive of annotated architectural images. If you are applying for an SAH Fellowship, this is a must see!

Register: https://sah.org/2026/08/13/sahara-new-users-tutorial-august-20-2026/

All registrants will receive a link to the recording and it will be posted on the SAH website following the webinar.

Photo: Seattle Public Library by Aslihan Gunhan via SAHARA

08/05/2026

SAH Membership Grants provide emerging scholars with a one-year digital SAH Individual membership to bridge the gap between the Society’s subsidized student memberships and the full-cost SAH memberships. These awards are intended for emerging scholars, regardless of age or employment status, in the field of architectural history or its related disciplines. These grants are funded by SAH's Scott Opler Endowment for New Scholars.

Applications for the 2026-27 grant cycle are due by September 30 at 11:59 p.m. CDT. Learn more and apply: https://sah.org/jobs-opportunities/sah-fellowships-and-grants/sah-membership-grant-for-emerging-professionals/

08/03/2026

Applications are open for the Edilia and François-Auguste de Montêquin Fellowships, supporting travel for research on Spanish, Portuguese, or Ibero-American architecture. The awards provide a $3,500 fellowship for an advanced graduate student and a $6,500 fellowship for a senior or emerging scholar.

Applications are due September 30. Learn more: https://sah.org/jobs-opportunities/sah-fellowships-and-grants/research-fellowships/edilia-and-fran%c3%a7ois-auguste-de-mont%c3%aaquin-fellowship/

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📷 Image by 2024 recipient Lisandra Franco de Mendonça.

07/29/2026

Take advantage of early bird pricing for SAH's 2026 Virtual Conference through July 31! Speakers representing institutions from 22 countries will explore the length, breadth, and depth of architectural and landscape history through paper sessions, roundtables, and the Eduard F. Sekler Plenary Talk. Join from anywhere in the world to hear the latest research on the history of the built environment.

This year's conference will feature three roundtables:
🔹Constructive Frictions: Building South-South Cooperation
🔹New Proportional Thinking: History, Perception, Science
🔹Sensory Anthropocene and Architecture

Visit the SAH website to explore the full conference schedule and register before prices increase: https://sah.org/conferences/virtual-2026/

07/24/2026

During the past month of Caroline Amstutz' Brooks Travelling Fellowship, they traversed the Indian Himalayas, moving through the high-altitude desert of Ladakh in the north, up to one of India’s northernmost villages at the edge of the Line of Control with Pakistan, and then southeast through the deep river valleys and dense forests of Himachal Pradesh.

📝 Read about the building traditions they encountered in the latest blog: https://sah.org/2026/07/21/constraint-or-catalyst-materials-and-assemblies-in-indias-himalayas/

Created through a 2010 bequest from noted scholar and architectural historian H. Allen Brooks, this prestigious fellowship provides emerging scholars with an opportunity to study the built environment through travel and contemplation. SAH is currently accepting applications for the 2027 H. Allen Brooks Travelling Fellowship through August 31. Learn more: https://sah.org/jobs-opportunities/sah-fellowships-and-grants/research-fellowships/sah-ideas-research-fellowship/

07/23/2026

On July 17, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) released proposed changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Section 106, enacted in 1966, requires federal agencies to take historic preservation into account and engage public participation when planning, approving, or funding federal projects, and the proposed revisions would put protections for historic places at risk.

If the ACHP votes to move the proposed revisions forward, a 30-day public comment period will be required. SAH encourages its members to submit comments and will share details once they are made available.

On July 17, the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) released proposed changes to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act to its Council members, requesting an internal vote by July 24. Section 106, enacted in 1966, requires federal agencies to take historic preservation in...