The Ephemera Society of America will hold its 2026 annual conference in Greenwich, Connecticut, on March 20. The theme for that conference is—
250 Years: Ephemera Shapes America
And here’s the society’s call for papers.
The historic anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in July 1776 is an apt moment for examining how ephemera played a key role not only in our founding, but also during the significant political events and social movements that make up our nation’s history.
Ephemera has helped to ignite, inform, commemorate, and reflect such events as the Civil War, the abolition of slavery, the Western land rush, the Centennial celebration, women’s suffrage, the World Wars, the Second Red Scare, counterculture movements in the 1960s and activist activities today.
Sometimes, ephemera serves as primary evidence. Without such survivors as hand-written accounts, photographs, news clippings, and maps to establish the historical record, we might not know of the existence of Tulsa’s Black Wall Street and the tragic Race Massacre of 1921.
We invite submissions for talks at our 2026 conference on how ephemera has shaped and mirrored the major events and movements that have marked America’s growth. These presentations should be richly illustrated and supported by ephemera.
Examples include broadsides, posters, pamphlets, handbills, leaflets, newspaper articles, trade cards, billheads, photographs, scrapbooks, diaries, circulars, brochures, booklets, signs, correspondence, playbills, menus, ration books, tickets, postcards, draft cards, arm bands, and buttons.
Proposals are due by September 15, 2025. For more details and other information, visit the Ephemera Society’s website: https://www.ephemerasociety.org/
Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife 