Maritime Heritage Conference, Baltimore, September 15-19, 2010

Held every three years, the Maritime Heritage Conference brings together individuals from the numerous naval, military, and maritime history, education and preservation communities to share information and exchange ideas about issues affecting the broader community.

This year Baltimore's historic inner harbor will be the site of the 2010 conference, at the Hyatt Regency Baltimore, overlooking USS Constellation in her home berth. Hosts include National Maritime Historical Society, Historic Ships in Baltimore, Maryland Historical Society and the Naval Historical Foundation. The annual meeting of the Historic Naval Ships Association and several other maritime organizational forums will run concurrently with this conference.

CALL FOR PAPERS: The conference theme, "Maritime Nexus," envisions the marine environment- the Earth's oceans, seas, and freshwater great lakes and rivers-as a global meeting place.

Merchant sailors, navy men and women, fishers, and others all share this space. Most of their work is done out of sight of land, invisible to all but the seagull and the albatross. Goods imported and exported find their way to and from the marketplace in ways seemingly mysterious to ordinary citizens. The navies that protect these goods and the nations they represent are also often "out of sight and out of mind." Fishermen perform their valuable, often dangerous, work beyond the horizon, and the products of their labor are brought to market overland, by trucks.

In their introduction to The Way of the Ship (2008), authors Alex Roland, W. Jeffrey Bolster, and Alexander Keyssar expressed it this way: "Never in the nation's history has shipping been so invisible..." Shipping has so far receded from public consciousness in the United States that it is now difficult to recall that the country began as a group of maritime provinces hugging the Atlantic Coast of North America and depending on ships for their way of life, for life itself." This is also true in other countries. It is time to take on the task of reinterpreting the seagoing world to those who can no longer even imagine it, despite the hundreds of histories, novels and films that have done so in the past.

The purpose of this conference will be to stimulate thinking on how history can reawaken the general public's consciousness of what the maritime world means (and meant) to us all.

Given this context, the organizers of the 9th Maritime Heritage Conference see an opportunity for individuals from all segments of the maritime heritage communities to come together to discuss topics of interest, learn from their peers, and consider how to connect our fellow citizens with their seagoing heritage. Conference topics include, but are not limited to:

International Trade
Whaling
Oceanic Immigration
Underwater Archeology
Maritime Law
Shipbuilding
Naval History
War of 1812
Small Craft
Lighthouses & Lifesaving Stations
Mercantile & Naval Ports
Historic Ships and Preservation
Sail Training
Sailors' Life Ashore
African-American Maritime History
Maritime Museums and Organizations
Maritime Literature
Native Maritime Cultures
Maritime Art and Music
Maritime Education
Marine Sanctuaries and Protected Areas
and other topics related to global maritime heritage.

The deadline for submitting proposals is 1 June 2010.

Paper proposals should include an abstract not exceeding 250 words and a one-page vita. Panel proposals are also encouraged and should contain an abstract and vita for each panelist.

Please mail proposals to: Dr. David F. Winkler, c/o Naval Historical Foundation, 1306 Dahlgren Avenue SE, Washington Navy Yard, Washington, DC 20374-5055. Send inquiries and electronic proposals to dwinkler@navyhistory.org.