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Announcements
Upcoming Annual Meetings of the Pennsylvania Historical Association
2010 Annual Meeting
Susquehanna University
October 2010
Local Arrangements Co-Chairs: Karol Weaver or Edward Slavishak at Susquehanna University
Program Chair: Dennis Downey, Dennis.Downey@millersville.edu
2011 Annual Meeting
University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown
October 13–15, 2011
Local Arrangements Chair: Paul Douglas Newman, pnewman@pitt.edu
Program Chair: Daniel Barr, barrd@rmu.edu
Call for Proposals
"New Perspectives on Pennsylvania's Past "
Pennsylvania Historical Association
2010 Annual Meeting
October 14–16 2010
Selinsgrove PA [End Page 109]
The Program Committee invites proposals for the 2010 PHA Annual Meeting hosted by Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove PA, October 14–16. Full session proposals are encouraged relating to the conference theme "New Perspectives on Pennsylvania's Past." Individual paper proposals are also welcome. Program Committee members will solicit session proposals from affiliated organizations. The Program Committee is particularly interested in panel discussions that examine previously under-represented themes and topics that challenge traditional boundaries of Pennsylvania historical scholarship. Proposals should identify session chairs and participants and provide brief professional biographical information. Note: all participants must be members of the association at the time of the meeting. The committee requests all submissions as Word documents. Inquiries and proposals may be sent by February 1, 2010 to the address below:
Dennis B. Downey, Ph.D.
2010 PHA Program Chair
Department of History
Millersville University
Millersville, PA 17551
Soldiers to Governors: Pennsylvania's Civil War Veterans Who Became State Leaders
The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission announces the publication in January 2010 of Soldiers to Governors: Pennsylvania's Civil War Veterans Who Became State Leaders by Richard C. Saylor. It offers an in-depth and sometimes intimate portrait of six of Pennsylvania's first eight post-Civil War governors who were veterans of that war. Featured are artifacts and documents from the PHMC's vast collections on these men from the election of John White Geary in 1866 to when Samuel W. Pennypacker left office in 1907. It is available through the Pennsylvania Bookstore, www.PAbookstore.com; Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, Commonwealth Keystone Building, Plaza Level, 400 North Street, Harrisburg, PA 17120-0053. For PHONE ORDERS or questions Phone: 800–747–7790 (between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. EST) ra-pabookstore@state.pa.us 190 pages; suggested retail price $59.95. There will be special pricing for a limited time after release. [End Page 110]
Philadelphia Encyclopedia Project Adds Civic Partners, Associate Editors
The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia project, launched in April 2009 with a Civic Partnership and Planning Workshop, has grown to include a Civic Advisory Board and a team of distinguished Associate Editors. Members of the PHA are invited to suggest topics for the project by visiting the project's web site, http://www.philadelphiaencyclopedia.org, where information also is available for joining a list-serv for periodic updates about the planning process. The web site also offers a bibliographic survey of research about Philadelphia published since 1982.
The Encyclopedia project has its institutional home at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania and will lead to a volume published by the University of Pennsylvania Press as well as wide-ranging public dialogue about the region's past, present, and future. It is expected that planning will continue through the Spring of 2010 and content will begin to be generated during 2010–11. General editors are Charlene Mires of Villanova University, Howard Gillette of Rutgers University-Camden, and Randall Miller of St. Joseph's University, with consulting editors Gary Nash of UCLA and Emma Lapsansky of Haverford College.
The Civic Advisory Board for the project includes representatives from the African American Museum of Philadelphia; the American Philosophical Society; the Athenaeum of Philadelphia; the Atwater Kent Museum of Philadelphia; the Avenging the Ancestors Coalition; the Eastern State Penitentiary Historic Site; the Economy League of Greater Philadelphia; the Fels Institute for Public Policy; the Foundations of the Union League; the Free Library of Philadelphia; the Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Corporation; Historic Germantown; Historical Society of Pennsylvania; the Independence Hall Association; Independence National Historical Park; the Independence Seaport Museum; the International Visitors Council; the Library Company of Philadelphia; the Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities; the Mural Arts Program; the National Archives and Records Administration, Mid-Atlantic Region; the National Museum of American Jewish History; the Philadelphia Area Consortium of Special Collections Libraries; the Philadelphia Department of Records; the Preservation Alliance of Greater Philadelphia; and Young Involved Philadelphians.
The Board of Associate Editors includes Carolyn Adams, Temple University; Steven Conn, Ohio State University; Matthew Countryman, [End Page 111] University of Michigan; Richard Dilworth, Drexel University; Judith Giesberg, Villanova University; Susan Klepp, Temple University; Cheryl Leibold, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts; Richard Newman, Rochester Institute of Technology; Daniel Richter, McNeil Center for Early American Studies, University of Pennsylvania; Philip Scranton, Rutgers University-Camden; George Thomas, University of Pennsylvania; Domenic Vitiello, University of Pennsylvania; and Rebecca Yamin, John Milner Associates Additional editorial and technical advisers are Eugenie Birch, Martha Brogan, and Amy Hillier of the University of Pennsylvania; Charles Hardy, West Chester University; and Margaret Jerrido, Independent Archival Consultant.
PhilaPlace
Sharing Stories from the City of Neighborhoods
Scheduled to launch in early December 2009, PhilaPlace is an interactive Web site that connects stories to places across time in Philadelphia's neighborhoods, creating an enduring record of our heritage. Developed by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, the site weaves stories shared by ordinary people of all backgrounds with historical records to present an interpretive picture that captures the rich history, culture, and architecture of our neighborhoods—past and present.
The Web site, at www.PhilaPlace.org, uses a multimedia format— including interactive maps (both contemporary and historic), text, photographs, and audio and video clips. It represents a new model for connecting with audiences—employing the latest digital technologies to share archival collections in an engaging and meaningful way. Visitors to the site can view both personal stories and historical records mapped to specific locations, [End Page 112] and can map their own stories in place and time. The site will also feature K-12 lesson plans for teachers. PhilaPlace encourages new historical and cultural interpretations and interconnections between community stories and the historical record, and creates a virtual, collective memory of each neighborhood.
When the site launches in December, content will focus on two of Philadelphia's oldest immigrant and working-class neighborhoods—Old Southwark and the Northern Liberties—with additional neighborhoods to be added in the future. More than a Web site, PhilaPlace will engage diverse communities through local programs, teacher workshops, trolley tours, exhibits, and printed neighborhood guides.
PhilaPlace is a collaborative endeavor undertaken by the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in partnership with the City of Philadelphia Department of Records, the University of Pennsylvania School of Design, other institutions and community organizations, and members of the community who share their personal stories.
PhilaPlace has been made possible by generous support from The Pew Center for Arts and Heritage, through the Heritage Philadelphia Program; jointly by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Pennsylvania Humanities Council; the Federal-State Department of Education; Southwest Airlines; the Connelly Foundation; Samuel S. Fels Fund; and the Walter J. Miller Foundation.
For additional information, please contact Joan Saverino, Project Director, at 215–732–6200, ext. 246 or jsaverino@hsp.com, or Melissa Mandell, Project Coordinator, at ext. 227 or mmandell@hsp.org.
About the Historical Society of Pennsylvania
Founded in 1824 in Philadelphia, the Historical Society of Pennsylvania is one of the oldest historical societies and one of the largest family history libraries in the nation. HSP is second only to the Library of Congress for material on the nation's founding and is the country's third most popular destination for genealogical study. Following a merger with the Balch Institute for Ethnic Studies, the society is also a leading repository of immigrant and ethnic history. With more than 21 million records including manuscripts, graphics, and books that span over 350 years of history, HSP is an invaluable resource for historical research. [End Page 113]
