The CRHC Biennial Conference 250 Years: The Promises and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence is made possible by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the generous support of the Kennedy Lecture Series, College of Arts and Sciences, Honors Tutorial College, and College of Fine Arts.
In 2026, we commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. With this document, members of the revolutionary generation set in motion the struggle against political tyranny and in defense of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” In the years following independence, generations of Americans, inspired by the Declaration, strove to cement the “self-evident truth that all men are created equal” and endowed with certain unalienable rights. The story of that pursuit shaped regions and communities like ours and informed the trajectory of our country and broader world.
The Central Region Humanities Center 2026 biennial conference, “250 Years: The Promises and Legacy of the Declaration of Independence,” will facilitate an exploration of the history, meaning, and legacy of the Declaration of Independence. It will also highlight the many ways people and communities in the Ohio Valley and Northwest Territory helped to realize the lofty sentiments articulated in the Declaration of Independence in the 250 years since 1776.
Conference events include:
All conference events are free and open to the public.
Free parking is available for conference participants on the Baker University Center surface lot (#122 on the OHIO parking map).
6 to 7 p.m. – College Green – Thursday, Sept. 10
9 to 10 a.m. – Baker Center Theater – Friday, Sept. 11
Dr. Dantas is director of the Central Region Humanities Center and Associate Professor of History at Ohio University.
Dr. Ando is Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Ohio University.
10 to 11:40 a.m. – Baker Center Theater – Friday, Sept. 11
Associate Professor of Classics and Religious Studies, Ohio University
Dr. Drogula is the Charles J. Ping Professor of Humanities and Professor of Classics at Ohio University and director of the Charles J. Ping Institute for the Teaching of the Humanities. He is the author of three books that explore the origins, development, and collapse of the government of the Roman Republic.
Abstract: Thomas Jefferson was familiar with Aristotle’s theory of the cycle of governments, which suggests that different types of government rise and fall in a regular cycle based on the predictability of human nature. In drafting the Declaration of Independence, where did Jefferson imagine that the American colonies fell within that cycle?
Dr. De Rode is a historian of the Franco-American alliance during the American Revolution. A Gibson Postdoctoral Fellow at the Karsh Institute of Democracy (University of Virginia), she is the author of an award-winning biography on Chastellux and a forthcoming trade book on transatlantic revolutionary friendship.
Abstract: Drawing on the recently rediscovered archive of François-Jean de Chastellux, this presentation explores how transatlantic intellectual and scientific networks shaped the American Revolution. Situating figures such as Manasseh Cutler within these exchanges, it highlights how knowledge, correspondence, and Enlightenment ideals reinforced political transformation across the Atlantic.
Jessica Cyders is the Executive Director of the Southeast Ohio History Center. Prior to stepping into this role, she served as the Curator from 2011 to 2019. In addition to her work in public history, she served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cameroon from 2006-2008.
Abstract: This presentation will discuss the founding ideals of liberty and virtue as they were lived out through the examples of two of our region's most important founding figures: Rufus Putnam and Ephraim Cutler. Though both of these men were largely self-educated, their commitment to learning and liberty influenced the establishment of Ohio University and the state as a whole.
11:40 a.m. to 1 p.m.
1 to 2:40 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Friday, Sept. 11
Dr. Milazzo is Associate Professor of History at Ohio University.
Dr. Downing is an Associate Professor of Early American history at Marietta College. He teaches courses on Colonial America, the American Revolution, Native America, and Public History. His current book manuscript, A Memorial to the Start Westward of America: A Conversation about Commemoration, Preservation, and Legacy, explores how monuments shape ideas about nation and citizenship through memory.
Abstract: This paper investigates the complicated decisions made by the founding fathers of the Northwest Territory during the initial stages of westward settlement in the Ohio Country. Their actions determined who could and could not claim the ideals espoused in the founding documents of the United States.
Dr. Watts is professor emeritus of English at Michigan State University. He has authored or edited 11 books, many of which address the early West. His most recent is Racial Vengeance, Berserk Violence, and Settler Colonialism in American Writing from Franklin to Melville (Oxford, 2025).
Abstract: When Manasseh Cutler looked “West,” he imagined “no inveterate systems to overturn.” But there were. Both indigenous and French settlements were well entrenched, as were white squatters. This talk will address how the Declaration’s ideology was tested by the ethic, religious, and racial complexities of the early Ohio Valley.
Dr. Anderson is Associate Professor in the Department of Geography at Ohio University, where he teaches courses in cultural and historical geography. His research focuses on the historical settlement geographies of the United States, regional landscapes and identities, and the production of space in Germanic diasporic cultural landscapes.
Abstract: This paper offers an alternative interpretation of the meanings encoded in the design and implementation of the U.S. Public Land Survey System (PLSS). Framed within the paradigms of settler colonialism and Lefebvre’s spatialization theory, the PLSS is contextualized as a peculiarly American response to specific historical conditions regarding the commodification of land in the trans-Appalachian West and as a material manifestation of Enlightenment ideal(s).
2:40 to 3 p.m.
3 to 4:40 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Friday, Sept. 11
Dr. Phillips is Professor of English at Ohio University.
Washburn is a Ph.D. student in the Department of History at the University of Cincinnati. His broader research focuses on the pre-steam power history of the Ohio Valley region. He holds M.A.s from San Francisco State University and the University of Tennessee in Museum Studies and History respectively.
Abstract: Kukwèthakèxtun, often referred to as Captain White Eyes, was a Lenape leader who negotiated the first treaty between the United States and an Indigenous Nation. Signed in 1778 but never implemented, this treaty invited the Ohio Lenape to join the U.S. as a sovereign state. The diplomatic and constitutional process that Kukwèthakèxtun drove to ensure its success was far older and more significant than is acknowledged.
Dr. Warren Milteer, Jr.
Dr. Milteer is an associate professor of history at the George Washington University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His publications include five books and multiple articles. Milteer received the Southern Historical Association’s Sydnor Award for the best book in Southern history in 2022.
Abstract: This paper explores the changes in the social and political situation of free people of color in the U.S. during the age of Revolution. It explains how revolutionary ideas about liberty and human rights led to an explosion in the number of free people of color and reshaped freedom’s meaning.
Dr. O’Keefe is an associate professor of history at Ohio University-Chillicothe, and the author of Stranger Citizens: Migrant Influence and National Power in the Early American Republic. His work examines how migrants in the U.S. used their understandings of citizenship to shape immigration policy and law from 1783 to 1830.
Abstract: In the past 250 years, many people have migrated to Ohio, building lives and communities and forging citizenships. This paper will examine the choices of people who migrated to Ohio, and investigate how migrants formed differing kinds of citizenship as both local and national conditions changed.
5 to 6:15 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Friday, Sept. 11
The 17th archivist of the United States. Dr. Shogan will have a conversation with Honors Tutorial College Dean Kris Bross about her role as keeper of the Declaration of Independence at the National Archives and the importance of this document as a historical artifact and foundational American text.
9 to 10:40 a.m. – Baker Center Theater – Saturday, Sept. 12
Dr. Miller is Assistant Professor of African America Studies at Ohio University.
Richardson is currently a Ph.D. student in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts at Ohio University. Her primary research interests focus on ancient Rome and Italian Renaissance visual culture. She is also interested in the cultural history of Point Pleasant, West Virginia, where she grew up.
Abstract: Focusing on Point Pleasant, West Virginia, situated directly across the river from Gallipolis, Ohio, this paper examines the often-invisible history of Black Appalachian communities striving for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the face of enslavement, systematic oppression, and beyond. This paper focuses on the examination of cemeteries, migration routes, and historic landmarks.
With a vision of advancing social justice in marginalized communities, Dr. Flowers has spent her clinical career “in the trenches” combating the social determinants of health and mental health. Her research focuses on the experiences of Black Americans, with a special interest in Black Appalachians who have historically been overlooked, underserved, and abandoned.
Abstract: Michael Tabler became infatuated with a girl enslaved on his family’s plantation. Fathering six children to Hannah, they moved to what would be known as Tablertown and grew through their booming coal mining and iron ore industries. The Tablertown People of Color Museum showcases artifacts that chronicle the history of the Tablers and Tablertown.
Dr. Ford is a Professor Emerita of the College of Arts & Humanities at West Virginia State University (WVSU) and an award‑winning media scholar dedicated to cultural preservation and community storytelling. Her work is a testament to the power of education, media, and cultural preservation in fostering vibrant and resilient communities. She serves as Communication and Media Director for the Mount Zion Black Cultural Center.
Abstract: This presentation examines the role of documentary film in preserving and elevating local history through the Black Wall Street Athens series. It links the founding ideals of the Declaration of Independence to contemporary efforts toward equity, demonstrating that independence is an active, evolving pursuit. By highlighting untold community stories, the session underscores how media can inspire future generations and reinforce a shared commitment to justice.
10:40 to 11 a.m.
11 a.m. to 12:40 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Saturday, Sept. 12
Dr. Sinclair is Visiting Assistant Professor of History at Ohio University.
A historian of revolutionary and early national America, Michael A. Blaakman is Associate Professor of History at Princeton University. He is the author of Speculation Nation: Land Mania in the Revolutionary American Republic, which won the Organization of American Historians’ Frederick Jackson Turner Award for best first book in American history and was a finalist for the George Washington Prize.
Abstract: During the Revolutionary War, cash-strapped patriot governments paid Continental soldiers in part through military land bounties — promises of future land grants. This talk explores how those IOUs both reflected the political principles of the Declaration and helped cause a mania for land speculation that swept the new republic during its first quarter-century.
Dr. Feight is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Public History at Shawnee State University in Portsmouth, Ohio. He directs the Appalachian Freedom Heritage Tourism Initiative, an Appalachian Regional Commission POWER Grant, focusing on Underground Railroad networks in Ohio, Kentucky, and West Virginia.
Abstract: This paper examines the 1845 escape of Pleasant and Dave through the Appalachian foothills of Ohio, including their passage through Athens County. Their newly recovered story demonstrates how freedom seekers and local residents enacted the Declaration’s principles of liberty and equality. Underground Railroad networks in southeast Ohio formed part of a “geography of resistance,” where antislavery ideals were transformed into lived action.
Dr. Frohne is Professor and art historian of arts of the African world at Ohio University. She is the Director of the School of Interdisciplinary Arts, and the Director of AARSI, the African American Research and Service Institute. She is the author of The African Burial Ground in New York City: Memory, Spirituality and Space (2015), and the forthcoming book Contemporary Artists from the Horn of Africa: Encounters Beyond Borders through Conflict, Colonialism, and Modernity.
Abstract: This presentation considers the Banneker family involvement in the formation of the nation following the Declaration of Independence. Benjamin Banneker (1731-1806) was a free person of color who worked on the survey team to lay out the new capital. His sister Jemima Banneker (1733-1799) had several free born children who co-founded the Lett Settlement and pioneered the new Northwest Territory.
12:40 to 2 p.m.
2 to 3:40 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Saturday, Sept. 12
Dr. Crawford is Associate Professor of Classics and Religious Studies at Ohio University.
Dr. Schwartz is an associate professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of Unmoored: The Search for Sincerity in Colonial America, and is at work on a second book, The Eyes of the Beholders, a social history of art appreciation in early America.
Abstract: In 1771, Benjamin Franklin sat down to compose the story of his life. Before he was interrupted by the task of founding a nation-state, he managed to produce a charismatic autobiography with profound wisdom on the challenges not just of pursuing happiness, but, with any luck, achieving it, too.
Dr. Anna-Lisa Cox, is an award-winning public historian and non-resident Fellow at Harvard’s Hutchins Center. Her book, The Bone and Sinew of the Land, was honored in the Smithsonian Magazine’s “Best History Books of 2018.” Her writing has been featured in numerous publications, and her research underpins two exhibits at the Smithsonian’s NMAAHC.
Abstract: There have long been revolutions, but creating a nation is a different story. Dr. Cox will reveal how the Declaration of Independence inspired many diverse founding citizens to create opportunities for equality, before backlash erased those rights and the memory of them.
Dr. Scanlan is Associate Professor of English at Ohio University. He is the author of Colonial Writing and the New World: Allegories of Desire (Cambridge University Press, 1999). He is currently working on a book on happiness in late 18th-century America.
Abstract: My paper traces the history of the idea of public happiness and its eventual decline. By looking at numerous primary sources extant during the final decades of the 18th century, I show that this notion of public happiness began before the formation of the United States, before the ratification of the constitution, and indeed before the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
3:40 to 4 p.m.
4 to 5:40 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Saturday, Sept. 12
Dr. van Tine is Assistant Professor of Instruction in History at Ohio University.
Sara Fisher earned a B.A. in History from Ohio University and an M.A. in History concentrating in Public History from Wright State University. She has over 10 years of experience working in local and state history organizations and serves as the Executive Director of the Ashland County Historical Society.
Abstract: Through an examination of partnership opportunities, events, and public programs, this presentation explores ways in which Public Historians engage their local partners to examine how the legacy of 1776 manifested and continues to evolve at the local level to create a sense of place.
Brian Koscho, director of Invisible Ground, is a media artist living in Athens, Ohio. His project, Invisible Ground, stems from his MFA thesis at Ohio University and centers on place-based storytelling in public history, including a podcast and a series of Immersive Historic Sites that use augmented reality.
Abstract: Examining the legacies of the Declaration of Independence in early Ohio from the Northwest Territory to statehood through the lens of local history in Athens and Marietta. Discussion will include conflict, education, and life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as they unfold in a new country’s frontier.
Dr. Neem, Professor of History at Western Washington University, the is author of three books: Creating a Nation of Joiners, Democracy’s Schools: The Rise of Public Education in America; and What’s the Point of College? His writing has appeared in the New Republic, the Hedgehog Review, and other public venues. He is a professor of history at Western Washington University.
[Abstract: In this talk, Prof. Neem will examine how Americans at the founding understood the promise and limits of the American Revolution, why we are so divided over the Revolution today, and how we might find our way back to a Revolution that belongs to all Americans.
5:40 to 6 p.m. – Baker Center Theater – Saturday, Sept. 12
Sunday, Sept. 13
Life Before Ohio University: Manasseh Cutler Exhibition
Join Ohio University Libraries for the opening of a new exhibition highlighting the life, work, and lasting influence of Manasseh Cutler. Over the past year, students and staff have digitized and transcribed materials from the Manasseh Cutler Collection, uncovering the story of a remarkable figure whose impact extended far beyond his role as a minister.
