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History as Dialogue

2025 ANNUAL MEETING

Thursday, May 29 — Friday, May 30, 2025

Registration is now open! 



Library of Congress
James Madison Memorial Building
101 Independence Avenue SE
Washington, DC 20540



History as Dialogue

The process of producing federal history rarely results from individuals working alone. Instead, history is a collaborative process that involves professionals reaching out across disciplines, integrating skills and experiences in creative ways. This occurs within organizations, but also between federal agencies, educational institutions, and in dialogue with the public.

This year’s SHFG conference will explore the ways in which federal historians, curators, archivists, editors, administrators, contractors, and other professionals make federal history across boundaries and in collaboration with colleagues and with the public. We will discuss both the challenges this brings and the benefits of creating projects about and within the federal government.


Thursday, May 29

8:00 am

Registration Opens (Light Breakfast)

 Dining Room C

9:00-10:30 am

Session 1: Plenary


The Current State of Federal History

Montpelier Room


10:30-10:45 am

BREAK

10:45 am -12:15 pm

Session 2 

Panel 1


Panel 1: Career Pivots: Finding Inspiration and Avoiding Professional Doldrums 

West Dining Room


Panel 2


Panel 2: Communicating History's Importance to the Federal Government and the Public 

Montpelier Room

Alexandra Levy, American Historical Association

Daniel S. Holt, U.S. Senate Historical Office

Mark Folse, U.S. Army Center of Military History


12:15-1:30 pm

LUNCH BREAK


BUSINESS MEETING

Dining Room A

1:45-3:15 pm

Session 3

Panel 3


Panel 3: American Revolution at 250 Commemorations: Perspectives and Insights 

Montpelier Room

Chair: Shannon Granville, U.S. Army Center of Military History 

Johnathan D. Bratten, U.S. Army Center of Military History

Zach Klitzman, Library of Congress

Susan Reyburn, Library of Congress

Suzanne Isaacs, National Archives and Records Administration

Nancy Sullivan, National Archives and Records Administration

Joseph Seymour, U.S. Army Center of Military History


Panel 4



Panel 4: Celebrating 70 Years of the Nuclear Ship Savannah Program 

Dining Room A

Anna Gibson Holloway, U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration

Barbara Voulgaris, U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration

Erhard Koehler, U.S. Department of Transportation Maritime Administration


Panel  5

Panel 5: Building the Archive: Oral History, Data Collection, and Collecting Documents in Federal History

West Dining Room

Chair

Chrissie Reilly, Department of Defense

"Lessons from Operation Allies Welcome and the RFF Deployment to Ramstein AB"

Joseph Ballengeer, U.S. Census Bureau

"Enumeration Nation: 1960 Census Evaluation and Research Program"

Francis Park, Defense Security Cooperation University

"Field History Over the Horizon: Collecting Records from U.S. Forces, Afghanistan in 2021"

Patricia Pinto da Silva, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 

"NOAA Voices: Integrating Oral History into the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration"


 Panel 6

Meeting of the Oral History Working Group

Dining Room C


3:15-3:30 pm

BREAK

3:30-5:00 pm

Awards Ceremony and Trask Lecture

Montpelier Room

5:00-7:00 pm

Reception

Montpelier Room, Dining Room A, Dining Room C



Friday, May 30

8:00 am

Registration Opens (Light Breakfast)

Dining Room C

9:00-10:30 am

Session 4

Panel 7

Montpelier Room

Panel 7: Local Histories, National Stories: Partnership Programs and Networks in the National Park Service 

Montpelier Room

Emily Kambic, National Park Service

Ashley Adams, National Park Service

Déanda Johnson, National Park Service

Perri Meldon, National Park Service

Kathryn G. Smith, National Park Service


Panel 8

West Dining Room

Panel 8: Capturing History: Insights into Joint Oral History Programs 

Angela Riotto, Defense Security Cooperation University

Heather Haley, Naval History and Heritage Command

Kate Tietzen-Wisdom, U.S. Army Center of Military History

Jessica Sheets, U.S. Marine Corps University, History Division


Panel 9

Dining Room A


Panel 9: Commemoration and Public Outreach in War and Peace

Dining Room A

Chair

Lisa Budreau, U.S. Marine Corps University, History Division

"The Marine Corps Remembers 9/11"

Sean Graham, Directorate of Heritage and History at the Department of National Defense (Ottawa, CAN)

"Whose Story is It? Cross-Department Historical Training at Canada's First World War Sites"

Ellie Kaplan, University of California Davis

"Implementing Disability Civil Rights at Our National Parks"

Shane Story, U.S. Army War College

“Frank and Honest? U.S. Army Histories of the War on Terror"


Panel 10

Dining Room C

Panel 10: History's Mysteries: Crowdsourcing Answers to Your Most Vexing Questions

Dining Room C

Structured Conversation/Workshop

Chair: Leslie Poster, National Museum of American History 

10:30- 10:45 am

BREAK

10:45 am- 12:15 pm

Session 5

Panel 11

Montpelier Room

Panel 11: To Serve the Country and the 54: History in the National Guard 

Montpelier Room

Chair/Moderator, Elizabeth Borja, National Guard Bureau, History Office

Chris Kuhns, Air National Guard History Office

Andrew Hargroder, Historian, National Guard Bureau, History Office

Richard Clark, National Guard Bureau, History Office

Blair Haworth, Air National Guard History Office

Joseph Miller, National Guard Bureau, History Office

Julie Shively, Maryland National Guard

Miranda Summers Lowe, National Guard Bureau, History Office

Andrew Hargroder, National Guard Bureau, History Office


Panel 12

Dining Room A

Panel 12: Cold War Solutions: Recollections of International Security Practitioners 

Dining Room A

Jennie Gromoll, U.S. Department of State

Mark Goodman, U.S. Department of State

Jeffrey Charleston, U.S. Department of State


 

Panel 13

West Dining Room

Panel 13: Expanding the Archive: Rewriting the Histories of Soldiers and Bureaucrats

West Dining Room

Chair

Mariel "M" Maughan, Center for Cryptologic History, NSA

"WACs Sinking Ships in the Pacific: WWII Cryptology"

Donald Hall, Defense Health Agency

"Making Medical History: The 27th Military History Detachment and the Documentation of Medical Support during the Vietnam War"

Sabrina Waite, Texas A&M University

"The Prized Plum: Black Ideology and African American Diplomats in Haiti, 1869-1914"

Eric W. Boyle, Department of Energy

Atomic Fission: The Breakup of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974


12:15-2:00 pm

LUNCH BREAK

2:00-3:30pm

Session 6


Panel 10
Montpelier Room

Panel 10: Celebrating the Navy's 250th Birthday and the Navy Department Library's 225th Birthday: A Roundtable with NHHC Historians, Curators, and Librarians

Montpelier Room

Breanne Robertson, Naval History and Heritage Command

Martin Waldman, Naval History and Heritage Command

Jeff Bowdoin, Naval Histories and Heritage Command

Dennis Wilson, Navy Department Library, Naval History and Heritage Command

Rajshree Solanki, National Museum of the United States Navy


Panel 11
Dining Room A

Panel 11: "We are Dealing with a Gifted Toddler:" Practical Applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in History"

Dining Room A

Orlando E. Pacheco, Defense Intelligence Agency

Ramesh Menon, Defense Intelligence Agency

Annette S. Fisher, Defense Intelligence Agency


Panel 12

West Dining Room 

Panel 12: Early Career Historians in Army History

West Dining Room

Chair: Ashley Vance, U.S. Army Center of Military History

David Hipple, U.S. Army Center of Military History (Texas Tech University)

Bearington Curtis, U.S. Army Center of Military History (University of Southern Mississippi)

Brynne Long, U.S. Army Center of Military History

Julia Wall, U.S. Army Center of Military History 


4:00pm

Informal Happy Hour




           

Society for History in the Federal Government 
shfg.primary@gmail.com
PO BOX 14139
Ben Franklin Station, Washington, DC 20044

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