Underground Railroad Conference: Call for Proposals

“Gender, Class, Race, and Ethnicity in Abolitionism, on the Underground Railroad, and in the Struggle Since”
The Ninth Annual Underground Railroad History Conference
Sponsored by Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc.
February 26, 27, 28, 2010 in the New York Capital Region
The forces of gender, class, race, and ethnicity have deeply and complexly conditioned the Underground Railroad and the movements for freedom that have arisen in its wake. The theme of the 2010 UGR History Conference calls on us as academic scholars, independent researchers, performers, educators, and community members to examine the many ways that these forces interacted to shape the UGR and the struggles that followed it, and to consider how these interactions impact us today.
Possible questions to be considered:
• In what ways did gender, class, race, and ethnicity--individually or in combination-¬determine the programs, leaderships, activities, ideologies, and crises of UGR and abolitionist groups, locally and/or nationally?
• How did abolitionists and UGR participants understand, react to, and negotiate the contradictions of gender, class, race, and ethnicity in antebellum US society?
• What were the legacies of the UGR’s attempts to grapple with gender, class, race, and ethnicity for post-Civil war struggles for freedom and equality?
• How can we best learn from the successes and failures of the UGR and abolitionist movement in dealing with these forces in our work today?

Your proposal may be for a 60-minute panel session, workshop, cultural/artistic activity, media production, poster, or other exhibit that addresses these questions and this theme. While we urge that the content focuses on the theme, we also invite proposals on other important topics concerning Underground Railroad history. When possible, activities should encourage audience interaction.
Proposals should be no more than two double-spaced pages, and should include information on the following:
• Type of presentation (workshop, panel, etc.) and level of audience interaction
• Title and content, including topics of individual presentations, if any.
• Intended/appropriate audience
• Name(s), contact information (including work and home / cell phone), and brief biographical information on presenter(s)
• Technology needs

Proposals should be submitted by October 1, 2009
to URHPCR, PO Box 10851, Albany NY 12201 or via email to urhpcr2010@localnet.com.
For more information, see www.ugrworkshop.com or call 518-432-4432

“The gold standard of Underground Railroad conferences...bringing together an extraordinary spectrum of attendees, ranging from noted scholars and authors to large numbers of interested laymen, in spirited and informative workshops which both bring history alive and open new avenues of research.” --Fergus M. Bordewich, author, Bound for Canaan
Underground Railroad History Project of the Capital Region, Inc.
researches, preserves, and retells New York's regional history of the Underground Railroad, highlighting the role of African-American freedom seekers and local abolitionists. URHPCR is a 501(c) 3 organization.