Friday, May 23, 2003

WRITER: Phil Williams, 706/542-8501, phil@franklin.uga.edu
CONTACT: Kathleen Clark, 706-542-6394, katclark@uga.edu

SIXTH SOUTHERN CONFERENCE ON WOMEN’S HISTORY TO BE HELD ON THE UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA CAMPUS JUNE 5-7

ATHENS, Ga. – The Sixth Southern Conference on Women’s History will be held at the University of Georgia’s Tate Student Center June 5-7, and will cover such topics as civil rights activists, women’s reform efforts in Appalachia and issues of Jewish heritage in the South, among dozens of others.

The conference will be open free to all UGA students with a valid ID card. Others wishing to attend can pay a $30 daily fee at the conference itself at the Tate Center.

The event is sponsored by the Southern Association of Women Historians, a nonprofit organization founded in 1970 to advance the status of women in the historical profession in the South and to encourage the study of women’s and southern history.

"The prospect of holding this year’s conference at UGA is very exciting," said Kathleen Clark, assistant professor of history at UGA and one of the organizers of the event. "In the past, the conference has been on the cutting edge of new and innovative scholarship in southern and women’s history, and this year promises to be especially interesting."

In 1988, the SAWH launched its triennial Southern Conference on Women’s History. The conference sponsors presentations on the diversity of women’s experience in the South and focuses on women’s experiences from a wide variety of racial, class and ethnic backgrounds. Earlier conferences have been held at Converse College, Duke University, Rice University, the College of Charleston and the University of Richmond.

The scope of the presentations is great, with some 42 concurrent sessions set to take place over the three-day event. Speakers from universities and colleges all over the country will speak.

Another part of the conference will be a concert by Sheila Kay Adams, a traditional ballad singer and storyteller from North Carolina. This event will be held Friday, June 6, at the Morton Theatre in downtown Athens. Also present on the program is the East Athens Educational Dance Center group. Admission is free, but those attending are required to pick up tickets before the event at the Morton Theatre Box Office.

Sponsors for the event at UGA include the President’s Venture Fund, the Center for Humanities and Arts, the Dean’s Office of the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, the University of Georgia Press and the department of history. The performance by Sheila Kay Adams is made possible by the Southern Arts Federation and the National Endowment for the Arts, Regional Touring Fee Program.

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