Transportation innovations literally and imaginatively moved the American frontier ever westward from the Eastern Seaboard. New York State’s Mohawk Valley was a natural corridor through which flowed people, goods, and ideas. The 2009 Western Frontier Symposium seeks papers focusing on the role early transportation played in the Mohawk Valley’s growth and development.

This third symposium in the Western Frontier series seeks to present the latest analytical scholarship on transportation and the development of the Mohawk Valley before 1900. Papers can be related to various aspects of transportation as an agent shaping the Mohawk Valley. Native American trade routes, colonial settlement and expansion, boats, turnpikes, canals, railroads, ferries, bridges (covered or otherwise), horse-drawn vehicles, entrepreneurs, early travelers’ accounts, etc, are all appropriate topics. The impact of technology on transportation and its corollary impact on social, economic, and industrial growth or change are also encouraged.

Scholars from multiple disciplines are urged to participate. All presentations will be open to the public and the use of visuals is strongly encouraged. Proposals for papers in the format of a mobile workshop or off-site presentation will also be considered for the second day of the symposium.

Submit a 300 word proposal abstract and a CV or brief bio to:
robin.campbell@oprhp.state.ny.us
Deadline for submissions is November 15, 2008