History of the Conference

In 1977, the Department of History at Southwest Missouri State University established the Mid-America Conference on History as a biennial conference. Professor Jim Giglio was its originator and its first coordinator. The intent of the conference was to accommodate historians primarily in the Midwest who could not afford the expense of national meetings while also providing opportunities for social interaction rarely found at national meetings.

In 1980, the University of Kansas asked to host the conference on alternate years and soon Oklahoma State University and the University of Arkansas also became conference hosts on a rotating basis.  In 1996, Washburn University sponsored the conference in conjunction with the Kansas State Historical Society and Kansas Wesleyan University, thanks in large part to the efforts of the late Professor Bill Cecil-Fronsman of Washburn University. In 2003 the University of Memphis hosted the conference.  The University of Oklahoma will host the conference in 2009.

From the beginning, the Mid-America has drawn nationally (usually from more than thirty states) even though most of the attendees are from the Midwest. The conference has been marked by continual growth in recent years but the atmosphere of a small conference remains. Indeed, close friendships have been made at the Mid-America, contributing to the large number of returnees. From the outset, the Mid-America has drawn historians in all stages of their careers.  Junior and senior faculty, graduate students, and independent scholars have all been invited to share some aspect of their work at the conference.

The Mid-America is also one of the few regional conferences accepting papers and sessions in all areas. Recent conferences for example, have included presentations on topics as diverse as the justification of polygamy in Anabaptist Munster, the industrial espionage activities of the Pinkerton Detective Agency in the early 20th century, and a panel on academic publishing designed to help graduate students and newly minted PhDs find the most appropriate outlets for their work.