Around the Field – July 29, 2026

29 July 2026 – NCPH Office

From Around the Field this week: The Bureau of Land Management has opened a public comment period to help save the Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape; Villanova University is accepting proposals to fund public history projects; the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is hosting a makerspace webinar; and the American Historical Association is seeking a co-editor or co-editors for the American Historical Review 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• The Bureau of Land Management has opened an additional 14-day public comment period on the Greater Chaco Cultural Landscape, which remains under threat from proposed oil and gas development. The public comment period closes today, July 29 at 11:59 pm Mountain Time
  
• The African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund awarded $3 million to preserve 27 historic sites and organizations across the United States, including sites listed in the Green Book and on the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places in America 
• The Oral History Association is seeking a host institution or executive director for a five-year commitment beginning on January 1, 2028. Letters of interest should include a preliminary explanation of factors that would make you an appropriate executive director or your institution an appropriate home. Letters are due November 1, 2026 

AWARDS AND FUNDING

• The Albert Lepage Center for History in the Public Interest at Villanova University is now accepting proposals to support public-facing history projects that speak to power, equity, sustainability, and justice. Applications are due by September 25, 2026
• The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) opened its 2026-27 fellowship and grant applications to promote research across all fields of the humanities and social sciences, as well as programs focused on public engagement beyond the academy. Application deadlines vary by program 
• The Arline Custer Memorial Award Committee of MARAC (Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference) is looking for submissions for its annual award recognizing the best books and articles written or compiled by individuals and institutions in the MARAC region. Works must be relevant to the general public and to the archival community and published between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026. All submissions must be received by July 31, 2026 
• The National Recording Preservation Foundation (NRPF) is accepting grant applications that support the preservation of unique and at-risk audio collections held by organizations. Applications may be submitted any time before July 31, 2026

CONFERENCES AND CALLS

• The Pacific Coast Branch of the American Historical Association will hold its 119th Annual Meeting, “We Hold These Truths,” in Las Vegas, Nevada, US, from July 29-31, 2026
• The Society of American Archivists will host its 90th Annual Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, US, from July 29-August 1, 2026
• The Association of African American Museums is hosting its 2026 Annual Meeting, “This Land Holds Our Stories,” in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, from August 19-21, 2026
• Latinos in Heritage Conservation is hosting its biennial Congreso Leadership Summit in Chicago, Illinois, US, from August 19-22, 2026
• The American Historical Association will hold the Virginia Conference on Introductory History Courses, which will be in person from August 28-29 at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture in Richmond, Virginia, US 
• The International Federation for Public History will host its 8th international conference on public history, “The Public History of Difficult Pasts,” in Lisbon, Portugal, from September 7-11, 2026
• The Asian & Pacific Islander Americans in Historic Preservation is hosting its biennial National Asian & Pacific Islander American Historic Preservation Forum in Denver & Aurora, Colorado, US, from September 10-13, 2026
• NCPH and AASLH are hosting their joint conference, “The Work of Revolution,” in Providence, Rhode Island, US, from September 16-19, 2026
• The Council of State Archivists is hosting its annual meeting, “Preserve, Adapt, Endure: Building Resilient and Territorial Archives,” in Columbia, South Carolina, US from September 23-25, 2026
• The Southeastern Museums Conference is hosting its annual conference, “Forged in Culture – Focused on the Future,” in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, US, from September 28-30, 2026
• The Slave Dwelling Project is hosting its 9th conference, “250 Years and Counting: Reckoning, Resilience, and Remembrance,” to be held in Charleston, South Carolina, US, from October 1-3, 2026
• The Mid-Atlantic Association of Museums is hosting its 2026 Annual Conference in New Brunswick, New Jersey, US, from October 6-8, 2026
• The Organization of American Historians is hosting, “Coasts, Currents, and Islands: Exploring the Interwoven Histories of the United States & the Pacific,” part of its History in Place Symposium series, in Honolulu, Hawai’i, US, from October 10-11, 2026. The call for proposals is open until June 30, 2026
• The Oral History Association is hosting its 2026 Annual Meeting, “Landscapes of Memory,” in Portland, Oregon, US, from October 14-17, 2026
• Qatar National Library’s Heritage Library & Khayrallah Center for Lebanese Diaspora Studies are jointly hosting a conference in Doha, Qatar, from October 19–20, 2026, that focuses on the public history field in the Middle East
• The Western History Association is hosting its 66th Annual Conference in Portland, Oregon, US, from October 21-24, 2026
• The Universities Studying Slavery consortium will host its fall conference, “250 Years of Freedom and Unfreedom: Truth, Liberty, and Justice for All,” in College Park, Maryland, US from October 22-25, 2026
• Imagining America: Artists and Scholars in Public Life is meeting for its 2026 National Gathering, “Tides of Transition: Restoring Collective Spirit in Troubled Times,” in Davis, California, US, from October 23-25, 2026
• The Museums Association of the Caribbean is hosting its 2026 annual conference, “Caribbean Museums: Connectors, Conveners, and Catalysts for Change,” in Port of Spain, Trinidad, from November 9-13, 2026
• The Association of Critical Heritage Studies is meeting for its 8th biennial conference in Wellington, Aotearoa, New Zealand, from November 30-December 2, 2026
• The National Humanities Alliance is hosting their Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day in Arlington, Virginia, US, from March 7-9, 2027
• The Organization of American Historians will host their 2027 OAH Conference in San Francisco, California, US, April 1-4, 2027
• The Italian Association for Urban History is hosting a congress, “The Wounded City. Urban Spaces as Sites of Conflicts, Life, and Memory,” in Genoa, Italy, from September 7-10, 2027 
• The Fort Ticonderoga Museum is hosting its Thirty-First Annual War College of the Seven Years’ War Conference in Ticonderoga, New York, from May 21-23, 2027. They are seeking paper proposals on the origins, conduct, and legacy of the Seven Years’ War. Submissions are due by July 31, 2027

LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES

• American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) is hosting a webinar, “Makerspaces for Museums and Historic Sites,” on July 23, 2026. It will provide real-world examples and practical guidance on designing and implementing makerspaces that complement existing exhibits and collections
• Alli Schell, host of Your Museum Career Coach, is presenting a two-hour resume and cover letter workshop on July 22, 2026 
• NCPH’s Professional Development Committee is hosting a book club discussion for Fleshing the Archive: An Intimate Genealogy of Chicana Knowledge Praxis by María Eugenia Cotera on August 18
• Registration for AASLH’s fall courses is now open. Learn from an instructor and gain important skills for running a museum or historic site. The first course is on August 24 and is an introduction to museum endowments
• Carleton University is hosting a free four-part lecture series at Library and Archives Canada this fall. The 2026 series highlights scholars and practitioners whose work addresses gaps in historical scholarship and archival collections. All lectures are free and open to the public
• The Organization of American Historians is hosting a virtual discussion of Stolen: Five Free Boys Kidnapped into Slavery and their Astonishing Odyssey Home on September 24, 2026, as part of its K-12 Teachers’ Book Club    
• Desolate Dreams is a historical film and educational initiative that explores the overlooked role of Black journalists who advocated for Japanese Americans during World War II. Alongside the film, the project includes an educational website in development designed to help educators, students, museums, libraries, and community organizations engage more deeply with the history that inspired the story

PUBLICATIONS

• The American Historical Association (AHA) is seeking an editor or co-editors for its journal, the American Historical Review. Those interested are encouraged to apply by October 1, 2026
• The Public Historian (TPH) has a special virtual issue available to all and will remain available for the rest of 2026. The issue, “Considering the Revolution,” edited by MJ Rymsza-Pawlowska, collects five essays written over five years, each based on five plenary conversations produced in partnership with the National Park Service and held at NCPH’s virtual and in-person conferences between 2021-2025 
• Doyle P. Glaze II, Founder of CemeteryRegistry.us, has authored “Documenting Cemetery Locations: A Spatial and Historical Deep Dive.” The paper explores cemeteries as permanent spatial anchors, covering methodologies (GPR, LiDAR, GPS), ethical debates, GIS applications, and preservation strategies
• Transpositiones, an interdisciplinary biannual peer-reviewed humanities journal, is seeking submissions for its sixth volume, which will focus on the environmental humanities. Proposals are due October 20, 2026

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