Hoosier Women at Work in Peace and War

October 5, 2024

Conference Sessions at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library

Keynote Speech at the Madam Walker Legacy Center

Join us in Indianapolis for the sixth Hoosier Women at Work History Conference on Saturday, October 5, 2024 at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library and the Madam Walker Legacy Center.

This conference will combine historical research and discussion on the unique roles of women in peacebuilding and war efforts. Women’s work has been undervalued throughout history by patriarchal economic, political, and social systems, hindering a fuller understating of peace and war studies through the exclusion of women’s stories. This conference will seek to encourage fresh scholarship and dynamic discussion of how Indiana women impacted these larger global events and systems of power.

What has been the role of women working to eliminate violence? How are women of color and indigenous women potentially at work for peace in different ways? What unexplored roles have women taken on in times of war? How has colonization and war impacted women and girls? How did Hoosier women impact broader historical and current events? We encourage topics related to girls and women of color, indigenous women, women of immigrant origin, those who identify as LGBTQ, and women with disabilities.

Call for Proposals: Open now through August 1, 2024

Please consider contributing your scholarship about Indiana women’s efforts for peace and war. This could be in the form of a paper presentation or a panel discussion. Academic, student, and citizen historians are encouraged to participate. Papers should be approximately ten pages and based on original research or a synthesis of scholarship. PowerPoint or other visual aids are encouraged.

To submit an individual proposal, send a one-page explanation of your paper and a short biography (about 150 words). Panel proposals should include a one-page description of the panel which specifies the topic that each participant will discuss and a short biography for each participant. The deadline for submitting paper and/or session proposals is August 1, 2024.

Please e-mail your proposal to IHB historian Nicole Poletika: npoletika@history.IN.gov.

Download a PDF of the conference description and call for papers here. View examples of past conference papers here.

HWW Partners: Indiana Historical Bureau, Division of the Indiana State Library; Indiana Women’s History Association; Crown Hill Heritage Foundation; Indiana University, Indianapolis; Indiana State Museum; the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library; and the Madam Walker Legacy Center.

For more information on the conference contact IHB historian Jill Weiss Simins: jweiss@library.IN.gov.

Making Women's History

Why Indiana Women’s History?
. . . because, with few exceptions, women have been consistently left out of the story of the Hoosier state. On paper, historians agree that including the histories of women and other marginalized groups provides a more complete understanding of the events that shape our communities, state, and world. However, in practice, very few historians are researching, publishing, or posting on women’s history. Having identified a dearth of resources on Indiana women’s history, organizers from various institutions, both public and private, came together to create this annual conference. Hoosier Women at Work aims to energize the discussion of Indiana women’s history and make the papers, presentations, and other resources resulting from the conference available to all Hoosiers. READ MORE!