** Bloomington, Indiana
** Mon Feb 20, 2000 - 3:00 p.m. EST
** Contact: Lee W. Formwalt, OAH Executive Director
** Phone: (812) 855-7311  Fax: (812) 855-0696
** E-mail: feedback@oah.org  http://www.oah.org/

After careful consideration of several sites, the Organization of American Historians announced today that it will move its Annual Meeting registration, book exhibits, and nearly all its sessions to the campus of Saint Louis University. Beautiful, compact, and convenient to downtown St. Louis by MetroLink, the university campus has been an anchor for urban renewal efforts in the area. Historians and other conference goers will find the university a perfect setting for the 2000 Annual Meeting on 30 March - 2 April.

The meeting had been scheduled to take place at the Adam's Mark Hotel, but last week the organization decided to shift sessions and events offsite. Its goal is to ensure that all OAH members and participants feel welcome during the conference and to protest the hotel's record of racial discrimination toward guests and employees.

Responses from hundreds of OAH members and other meeting participants during the past three weeks indicate a widespread unwillingness to enter the Adam's Mark and a growing concern that the hotel had created a hostile atmosphere. Allegations of differential treatment for African American guests at various Adam's Mark locations and a 1996 judgment for employment discrimination against the hotel in St. Louis have been particularly disturbing. The continued refusal of Adam's Mark to sign consent decrees with the U.S. Department of Justice and the NAACP to resolve racial discrimination lawsuits has made it impossible for the OAH to conduct its international scholarly meeting in its entirety at the hotel as planned.

With only five weeks before the meeting, the OAH will be unable to return its sessions and events to the Adam's Mark should an agreement be reached between the hotel and the Justice Department. The days remaining will be used to ensure the smooth running of the conference now scheduled at Saint Louis University.

OAH is not canceling the contract it signed in 1995 with the Adam's Mark. Rooms for OAH members at hotels in downtown St. Louis, including the Adam's Mark, are still available. Members are encouraged to make their hotel reservations soon, however, since other conventions are meeting in the city at the same time and rooms will soon be scarce.

OAH, along with its cosponsors, the National Council on Public History and the Missouri Conference on History, is delighted with the new arrangements at Saint Louis University. OAH particularly thanks UM-St. Louis, Washington University, St. Louis Community College, and St. Charles Community College for their assistance. Given the clear support of the city's educational and political leadership and the enthusiasm of the entire St. Louis community, this could easily be one of the best OAH annual meetings ever.

SPECIAL FUND As we approach the annual meeting with renewed energy and excitement, we know there will be substantial additional expenses, including the cost of the alternative meeting space as well as possible legal action. In order to meet these unbudgeted expenses, the OAH has established a Special Fund. Some members have made tax-deductible contributions, ranging from $25 to $1,000. Several other historians have already expressed their support by joining OAH at the Life ($1,200) or Patron ($1,500) levels; several members have upgraded their memberships to those levels. If you wish to contribute to this Special Fund or upgrade your membership, please send your check to OAH, Special Fund, 112 N. Bryan Avenue, Bloomington IN 47408-4199. Or contact the Membership Office at member@oah.org or (812) 855-7311; or visit the online membership page at:

http://www.oah.org/members/mbrinfo.html

Any unused money in the Special Fund after the annual meeting will be placed in the OAH Fund for American History for new initiatives in historical inquiry, teaching, and professional development.

MORE DETAILS ABOUT THE ST. LOUIS MEETING Dates and times of original meeting schedule remain the same.

Most events set for the Adam's Mark Hotel are now at Saint Louis University.

All events originally scheduled off-site (at the Old Courthouse, the Wainwright Building, the International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame, and the Missouri History Museum) will be held at those sites.

Saint Louis University is approximately 2 miles west of downtown.

By MetroLink:

• From downtown board at either 8th and Pine or Laclede's Landing, going west toward the airport, and get off at the Grand Avenue stop.
• From the Airport take the MetroLink east toward downtown and get off at the Grand Avenue stop for Saint Louis University, or continue to 8th and Pine for downtown events.
• From Union Station head west toward the Airport and get off at the Grand Avenue stop for Saint Louis University, or go east to 8th and Pine for downtown events

Exhibits and Registration will be in the Simon Recreation Center, strategically located in the middle of the Saint Louis University campus.

Weekly updates will be available on the OAH webpage . Information about lodging downtown, near Union Station, and by the Airport is already posted on the OAH website.

If you did not receive this statement directly from OAH by email and wish to have future messages sent to you, please send your email address to the OAH membership director at .