Pi Gardiner
Margaret “Pi” Halsey Gardiner was born in New York City in 1949. Her family history in New York State spans back several generations, particularly on Long Island, where her great-great-great-grandfather was a whaling captain. She grew up in the MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens, one of several small historic districts in the city consisting of historic row houses with combined backyards that create a private garden space for the community.
Gardiner’s interest in historic preservation in many ways stemmed directly from her connections to family history in New York State and her interest in historic houses, including the 18th-century home she grew up in and the 18th-century home on Long Island that she purchased as an adult. After living in San Francisco for some years after graduating from college, she returned to New York, working at New York firm Dun & Bradstreet. She found her way to the Merchant’s House on the recommendation of a friend on New Year’s Day, 1988, and immediately felt at home.
Gardiner started as a volunteer at the Merchant’s House just a few days after her first visit, and has been there ever since. As a volunteer, she helped establish tours of the house, created a membership program, and soon ended up on the house’s Board. She soon found herself deeply involved in fundraising and writing grant proposals. As the possibility of demolition and redevelopment of neighboring buildings threatened the house’s structural integrity — in similar fashion to what the house faces again today — Gardiner took on more of a leadership role, eventually becoming the director of the Merchant’s House in the early 1990s.
Highlights from Gardiner’s oral history include her vivid memories of growing up in the community-centered MacDougal-Sullivan Gardens neighborhood, reflections on shifts in the historic preservation and the interpretive focus at the Merchant’s House Museum, and a candid discussion of the current threats facing the Merchant’s House.