2026 Annual Meeting

The Program Committee for the 2026 annual meeting of the Pennsylvania Historical Association invites proposals for papers, panels, and roundtables for its upcoming conference, “Revolutionary Legacies in the Mid-Atlantic.” This meeting seeks to explore the complex history of freedom, power, and dissent in Pennsylvania from the colonial period to the present, with particular attention paid to ideas contained in the Declaration of Independence. We convene in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania from October 22-24, 2026.

We welcome proposals that explore the varied and enduring legacies of the independence era: the transformation from colony to Commonwealth, the formation of new political institutions, and the evolving meanings of liberty and citizenship in a region that stood at the crossroads of revolutionary change. Papers might consider how communities across Pennsylvania and its neighbors experienced and remembered the Revolution. Scenes of battle, Pennsylvania’s farms, towns, households, and workshops bore the imprint of Revolution as ordinary people negotiated its consequences in extraordinary ways.

Full session proposals are preferred, but individual papers will also be considered. All program participants must be members of the PHA at the time of the annual meeting. Deadlines for paper, panel, and roundtable submissions will close on March 15, 2026. We are accepting student poster and multimedia proposals through May 15, 2026.

Details about the venue, lodging, and program will be made available in late spring of 2026.

For general inquiries about our annual meetings, please email Joseph Heffley, annual meeting coordinator, at: joeheffley.pha@gmail.com.