Ephemera 40 Conference and Fair 

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Mark your calendar for the Ephemera Society of America’s fortieth annual conference, Women Challenging Expectations on March 26–29, 2020, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Old Greenwich, Connecticut.

For the centenary of the 19th Amendment it was natural to choose a conference topic focused on women. And, to kick off our event, attendees who come early, on Thursday, may attend an afternoon young scholar presentation on the use of ephemera by college students in the classroom. Professor Heidi Herr and students at Johns Hopkins University will reveal what suffrage ephemera can mean today.

For the full conference on Friday, March 27th we will leave the Suffragists and turn to the surprising lives of women across centuries and cultures. Lisa Baskin will speak from her broad-based collection of ephemera interpreting working women, placed at Duke University. A women who became an advertising icons - journalist Elizabeth Cochrane as Nellie Bly - will be described by journalism Professor Brooke Kroeger of New York University. From West Texas in the 19th century and Australia in the early 20th century comes evidence of strong women Johanna Wilhelm and Annie Tankesley, presented by writer Virginia Noekle, and Doris Blackburn, by writer Amanda Bede. Princeton University’s archive of Sylvia Beach adds 1920s Paris literary ephemera to writer Caroline Preston’s inherited personal collection of the founder of famous bookshop Shakespeare and Company, Research notes preserved at the American Philosophical Society enhance an understanding of the work of geneticist Barbara McClintock, researched by archivist Susan Anderson Laquer. Ph.D. candidate Jennie Waldow from Stanford University will bring us into the late 20th century with an exploration of the influence of Lucy Lippard on political art.

On Saturday and Sunday March 28th and 29th, the ESA will present our widely anticipated Ephemera Fair which is considered to be the premier event in the country. There will be exceptional material from a broad spectrum of knowledgeable and experienced dealers, displaying an array of materials on countless topics. The materials are rich in content, desirable to the eye, entertaining and whimsical -- choose your favorite adjective and it will apply. The Fair runs from 10 am to 5 pm on Saturday, with an early preview for Ephemera Society members only at 9 am. On Sunday the Fair runs from 11 am to 4 pm. You can attend just the Fair if you are not able or interested in attending the conference. For more information on the fair you can visit our show promoters website.

For detailed information on each aspect of the event click here.

Schedule of Events:

(For full description of presentations and speaker bios, click here.) 

THURSDAY:
9 a.m.– 4 p.m. — Board of Directors’ meeting, Belle Haven conference room.

4:30 p.m. Roundhill Room
Young Scholars Sessions
2020 is the centenary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, giving the majority of women in America the right to vote. Ephemera created by advocacy groups for the American and English women’s suffrage movement was crucial in raising awareness for the cause and answering objections to it in powerful and colorful ways. The women’s suffrage collection at Johns Hopkins University highlights how suffragists made ephemera that, even in today’s oversaturated visual culture, would ‘go viral.’ 

FRIDAY:

Three morning conference sessions: Roundhill Room

8:45 a.m.
Welcome
Barbara Loe, Conference Committee Chairman

Three morning conference sessions: Roundhill Room

9:00 a.m.
Hoop Makers to Layers Out of the Dead: A Few Centuries of Working Women
Lisa Baskin

10:15 a.m.
The Branded Journalist: Nellie Bly Changes the Game
Brooke Kroeger

12 pm. - 1:30 p.m. 

Lunch Break

Five afternoon conference sessions:
Roundhill Room

1:30 p.m.
Australian Activist - Doris Blackburn
Amanda Bede

2:20 p.m.
Sylvia Beach: 1920’s Paris Publisher and Bookseller
Caroline Preston

3:10 p.m. Break

• 11:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. — Dealer Set-up

SATURDAY — Ephemera Fair Opens today!

• 8:15 a.m. — Memberships will be sold at the Ephemera Society desk at the entrance to the fair in the Grand Ballroom.

• 9 a.m. — Members-only fair preview ($10) for the Society’s 40th Annual Ephemera Fair in Grand Ballroom. Membership cards will be available at registration desk.

• 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. — Exhibits open in Laddins Rock.

• 10 a.m. — General public entry. Admission is $15.

• 12:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. — Silent Bid Auction in Roundhill. Many Lots. Bid early and often!

• 5 p.m. — Fair closes; reopens 11 a.m. Sunday.

• 5:30 p.m. — Silent Auction final bids close in Roundhill Room.

• 5:30 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. — Cash Bar outside Mead ABC.

• 6:15 p.m. — Live Auction Roundhill

• 7:00 p.m. — Ephemera 40 Banquet and Presentation — Mead ABC. RESERVATIONS REQUIRED. 

After Dinner Presentation

Loose Women: Defying the Constraints of Victorian Undergarments 
Barbara Rusch  

SUNDAY
9:00 a.m. Members annual meeting, Mead AB

All members are urged to attend.

9:45 a.m.
Exhibitor Roundtable – Laddins Rock
Exhibitors will have the opportunity to describe their themes and the significance of the pieces they selected. If you are interested in submitting an exhibit related to this year's theme, please contact our Programs Committee chair, Tamar Zimmerman.

• 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. — Exhibits open in Laddins Rock.

• 4 p.m. — Ephemera 40 closes.

Register Now!