JUNE 5–7, 1998 • WORCESTER POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE, WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS

Hosted by the American Antiquarian Society

Held at Salisbury Laboratories,
Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, Massachusetts

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 Institute 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 Institute 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 1998 conference includes Richard D. Brown (University of Connecticut), program chair, David R. Brigham (Worcester Art Museum), John Brooke (Tufts University), Steven C. Bullock (Worcester Polytechnic Institute), Jon Butler (Yale University), Cornelia Hughes Dayton (University of Connecticut), Philip Gould (Brown University), John B. Hench (American Antiquarian Society), Karen Ordahl Kupperman (New York University), Barry J. Levy (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Jan Lewis (Rutgers University), and John Murrin (Princeton University).