Annual WAWH Conference

The “50 Years of Telling it Like it Was” Conference

The Western Association of Women Historians holds an annual spring conference for the presentation of scholarly work, new research, the discussion of teaching methods, writing, and other issues of importance to women scholars.

The 2019 conference marks a milestone in the organization’s history. Our 50th anniversary celebration will be held at the Hilton Portland Downtown in Portland, Oregon from April 25-27, 2019. The deadline for submissions has passed.

Read (and download) the preliminary 2019 Conference Program.

WAWH Membership, 2018-2019

Members of the Western Association of Women Historians receive lower conference rates. Membership for the 2018-2019 membership year makes the member eligible for the 2019 WAWH awards and prizes and to present at the 2019 WAWH conference. A three-year membership makes the member eligible to apply for awards or to present through the 2021 conference.

To initiate a new membership, renew your membership or gift a membership please use our secure online Membership form.

Register for the 2019 Conference

To register for the conference, please use our secure online Registration form.

Meals should be purchased using the registration form. If you have already registered and now need to purchase a meal for yourself or someone else, use this conference Meals Only form.

Registration deadlines & FAQs

• Presenters must be registered by February 14, 2019 (10 weeks prior to the conference).
• The deadline for other attendees is March 28, 2019 (4 weeks prior).
• On-site registration will be available. Rates for on-site registration will be higher.
• Only a limited number of meals will be available for purchase on site.
• Information about booking accommodations at the Hilton Portland Downtown is below.

Keynote Speaker

It gives us great pleasure to announce that Professor Martha Jones will deliver the keynote address at WAWH’s 50th anniversary meeting in Portland, Oregon (April 25-27, 2019). Her talk is entitled “What if Black Women Have Always Been the Vanguard of Women’s Suffrage?”

Professor Jones is the SOBA (Society of Black Alumni) Presidential Professor and Professor of History at Johns Hopkins University, where her research focuses on race, law, citizenship, slavery, and the rights of women. Jones’ publications include Birthright Citizens: A History of Race and Rights in Antebellum America (Cambridge University Press, 2018) and All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African-American Public Culture, 1830-1900 (University of North Carolina Press, 2007) as well as dozens of articles, essays, and book chapters. A prolific scholarly writer, Jones also provides commentary in popular and trade venues such as the Washington Post, CNN, and The History News Network. Professor Jones’ research has earned wide acclaim and support.

She has held fellowships from the American Council of Learned Societies, Columbia University Center for the Critical Analysis of Social Difference, The University of Pennsylvania Law School, and the Gilder-Lehrman Institute of American History among others. In 2013-2014, Jones was the National Humanities Center’s William C. and Ida Friday Fellow. Jones currently serves as a co-President of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.

2019 Conference FAQ

Please visit our Conference FAQ for information about:

• What you should expect and responsibilities of panelists, roundtable speakers, chairs/moderators, commenters, workshop participants, poster presenters; session time, session technology and some key presenter do’s and don’ts.
• Funding for graduate students.
• How teachers/faculty/professions can make WAWH a good experience, especially for graduate students.
• Poster sessions.
• Meal options during the conference.
• Opportunities to socialize.
• The Dessert and Champagne Book Launch.
• The WAWH Mixer.
• If you are on the program but have an emergency and cannot attend.
• Thoughts about if it is fine to come in for a few hours for your panel and then leave.
• Childcare.
• If you have a problem during the conference.
• Tweeting at the conference.
• WAWH policy on harassment and inclusion.
• How to get more involved in WAWH.

Questions?

If you have any unanswered questions, please contact our Executive Director, Sarah Gold McBride.

Booking Accommodations

The conference will be held at the Hilton Portland Downtown. The group rate for conference attendees is $170 per night for one King bed or two Double beds. To book a hotel room online, visit the Hilton Portland Downtown website and enter the code WAC into the Group / Convention Code box. This will allow you to book directly into the block and secure the negotiated rate. Alternately, you may call 1-800-HILTONS and speak with a reservations agent to book a room. In order to receive the group rate, reservations must be made by March 22, 2019.

* March 18, 2019 hotel update from Sarah Gold McBride

The good news is that registration for our 50th Anniversary Conference is extremely high, which is fantastic and exciting!

The bad news is that these registration levels have also meant unprecedented demand for hotel rooms at the Hilton Portland Downtown, our conference hotel. Over the last two months I worked with hotel staff to expand our block of discounted rooms four separate times to accommodate this demand. Yesterday, however, the hotel reported that they are so fully booked they cannot expand our block any further. Thus, our hotel block is completely sold out.

We want to do everything we can to ensure all of our members are accommodated, and so WAWH President Jenny Thigpen and I are working on securing rooms in an overflow hotel. To do this, we need some information from you: if you were planning to stay in the conference hotel but have not yet booked your room, please email me before MONDAY MARCH 11 so that we may get a headcount. Click here to email Sarah Gold McBride, WAWH Executive Director, directly.