The Pioneer America Society: Association for the Preservation of Artifacts & Landscapes (PAS: APAL) will hold its 39th annual conference at the Four Points Sheraton Hotel in Hagerstown, Maryland, on October 10-13, 2007.

The co-hosts for this event will be Dr. Paula S. Reed, of Paula S. Reed & Associates, Inc., of Hagerstown, MD, and Dr. Susan W. Trail, of the Monocacy National Battlefield, Frederick, MD.

“Landscapes in Stasis-Landscapes in Change: Two Views of West Central Maryland Cultural Landscapes” offers the dual conference themes of historic agricultural landscapes and their preservation, and transportation with all of the changes that evolving transportation systems have brought to the landscape. To study these themes, two day-long tours are planned for which the hosts are partnering with C&O Canal National Historical Park and Antietam National Battlefield.

The Thursday tour will examine regional transportation systems with stops at: 1) segments of the National Road and C&O Canal in Maryland, 2) the B&O Railroad Roundhouse in Martinsburg WV, and 3) Harpers Ferry, WV, where the railroad and canal meet at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers. The Saturday tour will look in depth at historic cultural landscapes on Antietam National Battlefield at Sharpsburg, MD. This field trip will provide the opportunity to view several examples of 18th century through mid-19th century farmsteads that are not open to the general public. Finally, an informal caravan tour of Monocacy National Battlefield will be offered on Sunday. It will feature a visit to l’Hermitage, a French Caribbean plantation established in the 1790s by refugees of the St. Domingue slave revolt.

The conference committee is now soliciting proposals for papers, special sessions, and panel discussions on the conference themes. However, presentations on all topics related to material culture that are of interest to the Society are welcome.

For further information, please contact Dr. Paula S. Reed, Paula S. Reed & Associates, Inc., 1 West Franklin Street, Hagerstown, MD 21740; tel: 301/739-2070; email: paula@paulasreed.com; or Dr. Susan W. Trail, Superintendent, Monocacy National Battlefield, 4801 Urbana Pike, Frederick, MD 21701; tel: 301/662-3515; email: susan_trail@nps.com.