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Call For Proposals

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference
“Discovering More Pieces of the Puzzle”
Cambridge, Maryland, June 3-6, 2010
Cambridge branch of Chesapeake College

Harriet Tubman has long been identified as one of the most successful Underground Railroad agents of all time. Until recently, many details of her life and missions to rescue family and friends, and the many other regional Underground Railroad stories, were lost. New and ongoing research is changing that, revealing rich, cross cultural, tri-racial, multi-state stories rooted in intricate relationships based family, community, and faith. The purpose of this conference is to focus on the life of Harriet Tubman in conjunction with the many histories of the Underground Railroad in the region of her birth - the Eastern Shore of Maryland - and the many paths Tubman and others from this area took to freedom in the North. In the spirit of these new understandings and ongoing discoveries, this conference seeks to provide a forum for historians, students, educators, genealogists, researchers, community members, and artists to share and compare research, historical methods, interpretation, curriculum ideas, and creative artistic expressions with a growing community of enthusiasts.

We are seeking proposals focusing on Harriet Tubman, as well as Underground Railroad histories related to people, places and events from the Eastern Shore of Maryland and their multiple paths through Delaware, Pennsylvania, New York, New England and Canada. What was the nature of the environment, including physical, economic, political, and social, that defined and shaped enslavement and the pursuit of freedom here in the Chesapeake region to Canada? Who were the participants, what were their relationships, and how did they operate? What determined success or failure? Why is this history important today, and what can it tell us about historical and current struggles for freedom and equality? We encourage both broadly conceived, or narrowly focused presentations that inform, educate, challenge, and engage a broad audience.

Workshop sessions, panels, cultural/artistic activities, and media presentations shall be one hour in length. All programming is expected to encourage and facilitate audience interaction. Individual proposed programs will be considered at the Conference Committee’s discretion, and grouped together, if possible.

Proposals should be no more than two double-spaced pages and include the following information:

Type of Presentation:
Workshop, panel discussion, individual paper, cultural or artistic program/performance, media production, poster session or exhibit.

Title of Presentation:
Give title of the session and the titles of each individual paper presented.

Presentation Details:
Content - Include description of topic/theme of panel, workshop, program, performance, poster, media, or exhibit, as well as brief description of each paper. Include a brief comment on what audience participants may learn from this workshop or cultural/artistic presentation.

Intended Audience – Describe the intended audience (scholarly, general public, children, local, regional, national communities.)

Presenter Information – Provide name(s) of panel members, workshop presenters, performers, artists, and facilitators, with contact information (including work/home/cell phone numbers), affiliation, if any, and biographical information.

Technology requirements:
Specify Power Point, slide projector, computer projection, internet access, TV and other audio visual needs.

Submit proposals by January 14, 2010
by email to Tubman.Conference@gmail.com
or by mail to Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Conference,
5624 Belle Aire Road, East New Market, MD 21631