The sponsors for the meeting will be Wittenberg University, the Heritage Center of Clark County, Ohio, and the Turner Foundation. The host for this event will be Professor Artimus Keiffer, architectural geographer, of the Geography Department at Wittenberg University.

The theme for this year’s conference is: “On the Rebound: Landscape Revitalization in a Historic, Industrial Midwestern Town”. The opening reception will be in the Heritage Center of Clark County, which is housed in the huge, Romanesque historic market building that was once City Hall, and is ranked as one of the top local museums in the country. The Saturday field trip will focus on urban revitalization, extant industrial artifacts, and the historic nature of Springfield in regards to its ethnic settlement. Local experts will comment on:
1) the master plan for the city’s revitalization, which is quickly becoming a bedroom community for Columbus
2) the recent restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright Westcott House
3) the restoration of the Pennsylvania House (“the house at the end of the National Road”)
4) the arrangement of ethnic cemeteries; and 5) the remnants of the local Underground Railroad as evidenced through oral histories and archeological excavations.

The conference committee is currently soliciting proposals for papers, special sessions, and panel discussions relating to the conference theme. However, papers on all topics related to material culture and of interest to the Society are welcome. The abstract deadline is Monday, August 7, 2006.

For further conference information, contact Artimus Keiffer, Department of Geography, 110 Carnegie Hall, Wittenberg University, Springfield, OH 45501, telephone: 937/327-7304, email: akeiffer@wittenberg.edu, or visit the Society’s web site at: http://www.pioneeramerica.org.