Hello SHEARites! The 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historians of the Early American Republic is less than 3 months away, and plans are well underway.  Registration is now OPEN at Ticketleap and an online version of the program is available at shear.org (printed programs will be available to conference attendees upon check-in).

For those of you ready to make your travel arrangements and conference plans, here is much, I hope helpful, information:

Registration

Information about the conference is available under “Annual Meeting” on the SHEAR website.  Preregistration opens at Ticketleap on 1 May and is $90 for members and $120 for nonmembers; $60 for public history professionals, independent scholars, and k-12 teachers; graduate students pay $52; registration for graduate students on the program is free.   All preregistration must be completed online by Friday, 23 June 2023.  You do not need to be a member of SHEAR to present at the conference, but everyone on the program must register.

If you do not preregister, you may register at the conference (includes a $30 on-site registration fee).

Conference check-in will be open from 5:00 to 7:30 pm on Thursday, July 13 at the DoubleTree. It will continue on Friday, July 14 and Saturday, July 15, from 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, and Sunday, July 16, from 8:30 am to 10:30 am at the conference hotel.

Conference Highlights

Graduate Research Seminars. Continuing SHEAR’s long tradition of mentoring graduate students, senior scholars will lead research seminars for advanced graduate students and recent graduates, devoted to different scholarly topics in the history of the early United States and its world. To promote accessibility and broad participation, these will be held online before the conference opens.  The Call for Participants will open soon.

Tour by Grim Philly, Thursday 13 July.  A leisurely two-hour walk of historic Old Town with Grim Philly tour guides. Historic sites of significance include the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, the President’s House, the First and Second National Banks, Carpenter’s Hall, Dolley Madison’s home, and the original Library Company among others.  At 11:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Lazaretto Tour, Thursday 13 July.  Tour the oldest surviving quarantine station in the Western Hemisphere.  Built in 1799 after a series of devastating yellow fever epidemics, the Lazaretto protected Philadelphia from imported epidemics from 1801 to 1895.  Discover the many layers of suffering, tragedy, hope, and survival embedded in this most unusual historic site.  Sponsored by Department of History and Sociology, UPenn.

President’s Plenary, Thursday 13 July.  SHEAR’s 44^th annual conference opens at 6:00 pm with the President’s Plenary, “Judicial Review: Law, Gender, and the Early Republic,” at the DoubleTree.

Plenary Reception, Thursday 13 July.   Immediately following the President’s Plenary, from 7:30 to 9:00 pm, Masonic Hall, 1 N. Broad St.

Perk and Pop with the JER Editors, Friday 14 July.  Ron Johnson, Johann Neem, Andy Shankman invite graduate students and early career scholars to meet for an informal early-morning conversation.

Graduate Student Meet-n-Greet, Friday 14 July.  Graduate students at the conference can meet and mingle at an informal gathering beginning at 9:00 pm at Misconduct Tavern, 1511 Locust St.

Boydston Women’s Breakfast, Saturday 15 July. The women of SHEAR will gather from 7:30 to 9:00 a.m. for their fourteenth annual breakfast honoring the life and career of long-time SHEAR member and supporter Jeanne Boydston.

Philly Water Ice and Soft Pretzel Social, Saturday 15 July.  Join us for traditional Philadelphia treats.

Presidential Address, Saturday 15 July.  The 2023 presidential address begins at 6:30 pm.  SHEAR President Serena Zabin will discuss “Everything Must Go: Property, Uncertainty, and Choice it the Evacuation of Boston,” in Benjamin Franklin Hall Auditorium, American Philosophical Society, 427 Chestnut Street.

Awards Ceremony, Saturday 15 July.  The SHEAR awards ceremony will immediately follow the Presidential Address from 7:30 to 9:00 pm at the Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3^rd Street.

Closing Reception, Saturday 15 July.  The SHEAR closing reception follows immediately after the Awards ceremony at the Museum of the American Revolution, 101 S. 3^rd Street.

Coffee & Business Meeting, Sunday 16 July.  Join us at SHEAR’s business meeting, open to all.

Hotel

A block of rooms has been reserved at the DoubleTree Hotel, 237 South Broad Street, located in the heart of the Theater District on the Avenue of the Arts.  Rates are $174/single or double, $194/triple, and $214/quadruple, and are valid for up to three days before and three days after the SHEAR conference, based on availability.

The hotel’s amenities include 18-hour room service, complimentary fitness center, walking track, rooftop atrium pool and sun deck.  All conference attendees are responsible for making their own room reservations directly with the DoubleTree Hotel at the booking website or calling (800) 222-8733 (TREE); please be sure to request the group rate for SHEAR.

More information about the hotel is available at their website.

The deadline for making reservations at the reduced rate is 12 June 2023.

Getting There:

Planes:  Philadelphia International Airport (PHL) is the closest airport to the conference, served by domestic and international airlines with non-stop flights from more than 130 locations.  Center City is 7 miles from PHL and can be reached by taxi, public transit, and shuttles and shared rides.

• • Taxi – trips between the airport and downtown cost a flat fee of $32.00 (before tip) each way.
  • Public transit – SEPTA trains run 5:07 am to 12:07 pm from the airport [every 30 minutes M-F and hourly Sa-Su] and hourly 4:25 am am to 11:25 pm from Suburban Station to the airport. The closest station to the conference hotel is Suburban Station at 17^thand JFK Boulevard (5 blocks north and 2 blocks west of the hotel, an easy 10-minute walk).
  • Information about other forms of public transit is available here: https://www.phl.org/to-and-from/public-transportation

Trains:  Philadelphia’s 30^th Street Station can be reached by local, regional, and national rail services.  The conference hotel is a short taxi ride from the station, or about a 25-minute walk.  The taxi stand is outside the station’s east exit (facing downtown).  If walking, take the east exit, turn right, go three blocks south to Walnut Street, then turn left and proceed east down Walnut.  Cross Broad Street and then turn right and walk one block to Locust Street.  The hotel is located at the intersection of Broad and Locust.

For information about schedules and pricing, please contact

• • AMTRAK at (800) 872-7245 or https://www.amtrak.com
  • New Jersey Regional Transit at (800) 722-2222 or http://www.njtransit.com
  • SEPTA at (215) 580-7800 or http://septa.org

Automobiles:  Philadelphia is located approximately two hours south of New York City and two hours north of Washington D.C.

• • From Philadelphia International Airport: Take I-95 North to Exit 17 (PA-611 North/ Broad Street Exit). Continue North on Broad Street for approximately 3 miles. The hotel is located on the right side, one block past Spruce Street at the corner of Broad and Locust Streets.
  • From Baltimore, Washington and points South: Take I-95 North past the Philadelphia Intl. Airport to Exit 17 (PA-611 North/ Broad Street Exit).  Take Broad Street North and follow Broad Street for about 3 miles. The hotel is on the corner of Broad and Locust Streets.
  • From New York, New Jersey and points Northeast: Take NJ Turnpike South to exit 4 (Philadelphia/Camden Exit). Take 73 North to 38 West. Follow signs to The Benjamin Franklin Bridge.  Once over the bridge follow signs for 676 West. Take 676 West to the Broad Street / Central Philadelphia Exit onto 15th Street heading South. Take 15th Street (approx 7 blocks) and make a left turn onto Locust Street. Take Locust one block to Broad Street.  The hotel is located directly in front of you at the corner of Broad and Locust Streets.
  • Harrisburg, Hershey and points West: Take Pennsylvania Turnpike East to exit 24 (Valley Forge). Get onto 76 E following signs to Central Philadelphia. Take Vine St. (I-676) to Broad St. exit and make a right onto 15th St. Follow 15th St. to Locust, then turn left onto Locust. Go 1 block to Broad St. and the hotel is on the corner.

Parking:  Self-parking in a covered lot with in and out privileges is available at the DoubleTree.

Buses:  The Philadelphia Greyhound Bus Terminal at 1001 Filbert Street, (215) 931-4075 is served by Greyhound https://www.greyhound.com and Peter Pan Bus Lines https://peterpanbus.com.  Megabus serves Philadelphia 30^th Street Station from a variety of cities along the eastern corridor.  http://us.megabus.com

If you have questions about registration or the conference itself, please feel free to contact me at robyn.davis@millersville.edu

I look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia (our first time back since 2017!) and I send you traveling mercies.

Robyn Lily Davis

SHEAR National Conference Coordinator