JUNE 24–26, 2005 • UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA

Hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara

With the support of The Huntington Library, The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, and Stanford University

INTRODUCTION

The Omohundro Institute of Early American History and Culture was founded as the Institute of Early American History and Culture in 1943 by the College of William and Mary and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to foster “study, research, and publications bearing on American history approximately to the year 1815.” Still jointly sponsored by the College and Colonial Williamsburg, the Institute was renamed in 1996, in recognition of a generous endowment pledged by Mr. and Mrs. Malvern H. Omohundro, Jr. The OI publishes the William and Mary Quarterly, books in its field of interest, and a e-newsletter, organizes and supports a variety of conferences, seminars, and colloquia, and annually awards a two–year NEH postdoctoral fellowship and a one–year Andrew W. Mellon postdoctoral research fellowship.

In June 1995 the OI inaugurated a series of annual conferences specifically designed to serve as a forum for the rich variety of work underway in the early American field. Organized exclusively by calls for papers and panels and held in a different geographic region each year, these meetings are intended to bring together and facilitate exchanges among junior and senior scholars from several disciplines who share a common interest in the history and culture of early America.

The program committee for the 2005 conference is chaired by Patricia Cline Cohen (University of California, Santa Barbara) and Jack N. Rakove (Stanford University), and includes Ruth Bloch (University of California, Los Angeles), Caroline H. Cox (University of the Pacific), Edith Gelles (Stanford University), Christopher Looby (University of California, Los Angeles), Peter Mancall (University of Southern California), Ann Marie Plane (University of California, Santa Barbara), Terri L. Snyder (California State University, Fullerton) and Jennifer Spear (University of California, Berkeley).

The meeting will take place on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and at the Casa de la Guerra in downtown Santa Barbara. The OI and the conference organizers are grateful to Stanford University and the University of California, Santa Barbara, for their sponsorship and to The Huntington Library, San Marino, California, and The Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation for their support.