Call for Presentations
Pacific Northwest History Conference
April 15-18, 2009
Portland, Oregon
The Washington State Historical Society, permanent sponsor of the annual Pacific Northwest History Conference, and the Center for Columbia River History are pleased to announce a 2009 History & Heritage Rendezvous this April in Portland, Oregon.
The 62nd Annual Pacific Northwest History Conference will be held jointly with meetings of the Northwest Oral History Association, the Oregon Heritage Commission, and the Northwest Archivists in a unique opportunity for exchange among academic and public historians, students, and the general public. The goal of "Rendezvous 2009" is to reflect the sharing of ideas, multiplicity of perspectives, and convergence of cultures that occurred in the fur trade and statehood rendezvous of the 19th century.
February 14, 2009, marks the 150th anniversary of Oregon statehood. This event calls for academic and public historians to reconsider competition for the Oregon Country within the context of native histories and international influences. Commemorations such as the celebration of statehood can reveal a people?s values at a specific time, becoming important watershed moments that both reflect the past and project a future. The narratives we craft at these moments characterize and define who we think and hope we are.
The Pacific Northwest is no stranger to commemorating historic events -- the Lewis and Clark Centennial American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair (1905), the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909), the centennial celebrations of Oregon, Washington, and Idaho statehood (1959, 1989, and 1990 respectively), the more recent Lewis & Clark Bicentennial, and upcoming celebrations of female suffrage in the Pacific Northwest -- all raise important intellectual questions about the role of memory and experience in historical narratives, the place of dissenting histories within state and national narratives, and the tensions between heritage and history.
The Program Committee for the 2009 meeting of the Pacific Northwest History Conference, in collaboration with the Northwest Oral History Association, the Oregon Heritage Commission, and the Northwest Archivists, invites proposals for sessions and individual presentations that explore the past of those states that comprised the Oregon Country and Alaska and how we tell it.
This event will attract Public and independent historians, Oral historians, Archaeologists, Heritage and museum specialists, Archivists, Students, Academic historians.
Sessions that engage multiple groups and that deviate from the traditional paper format are particularly encouraged.
Submission Guidelines: Submissions can involve an entire session or an individual presentation. All proposals must include: title, description (no more than 250 words), A/V requirements (laptop, projector, screen, etc.), presenter name, professional affiliation, address, email, phone number and brief resume.
Session proposals must include all of the above for each presenter, plus: session title, session description (200 words maximum), and contact information for the panel organizer, including email address and phone number. We assume that everyone listed in a session proposal has agreed to participate. Electronic submissions are preferred; attach proposals as Word or PDF files.
All submissions must be received no later than December 31, 2008.
Submit proposals to:
Katrine Barber
Program Committee Chair
2009 Pacific Northwest History Conference
Email:
barberk@pdx.edu

Phone: 503-725-3979
Address:
Portland State University
Department of History
P.O. Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751