How does the past inform Pennsylvania and the Mid-Atlantic’s futures? What is the impact of (post-) extractive and (post-) industrial sites on our understanding of the region? How do the region’s historic sites and monuments shape our knowledge of the past and might be used to re-envision a more inclusive past and future? How did the region’s earliest residents inform later uses and perceptions of the landscape? Straddling the Mason-Dixon line and housing historic battlefields as well as military educational and industrial complexes, the region invites critical inquiry into issues of race, gender, ethnicity, protest, and war. The conference will be held in person on October 26-28, 2023, in Camp Hill, near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Please note that panel, paper, and roundtable proposals were due by March 15, 2023. Successful submitters will be notified by late Spring. We welcomed student posters and media proposals through May 15, 2023.

The Pennsylvania Historical Association’s Program Committee invites submissions, preferably related to past and future visions of the region; proposals on all aspects of Pennsylvania and Mid-Atlantic history from pre-contact to the present, pedagogy (both K-12 and post-secondary), environmental history, digital history, public history, history in the 2023 curriculum, and material culture will be considered. Past formats include panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, and lightning rounds.

Submissions from all disciplinary backgrounds, including but not limited to history, economic and community development, public policy, sociology, museums and archives, visual culture, and political science are welcomed. Graduate students are encouraged to submit proposals. The PHA also supports high school and undergraduate research with a poster session showcasing work on all aspects of mid-Atlantic history.

Highlights of the meeting include an opening plenary session planned for the new Pennsylvania State Archives (Oct. 26) and lunchtime keynote speaker Dr. Anthea M. Hartig, Elizabeth MacMillan Director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History (Oct. 27).

Full session proposals are encouraged, but individual papers are welcome as well. All program participants must be members of the PHA at the time of the annual meeting. Panel, paper, and roundtable proposals were due by March 15, 2023. Successful submitters will be notified by late Spring. We also welcomed student posters and media proposals through May 15, 2023.

Participation will be confirmed by the program committee through the late Spring and program announced shortly thereafter. For more information, please contact Dr. Anne Verplanck, Associate Professor of American Studies and Public Heritage, Emerita, at aav3@psu.edu