Writing from St. Paul, departing shortly for home, after three solid days of history in company with the Agricultural History Society. Must have been a good meeting, as I have about forty pages of notes in my Moleskine. Dr. K and I consider the AHS an anchor in our yearly conference routine. I see she has posted images and comments from the conrerence here.
The key event in the program for me was the session yesterday morning where I had the honor of presenting, in collaboration with Blake Johnson, my most recent PhD, historian’s historian; and Dakota Goodhouse, a star among my current PhDs, Indigenous polymath; our co-authored paper, “A Hidden Hand: The Significance of Climate Change in Great Plains History.” I point-guarded the presentation, but it was their contributions that gave it life. Soch a pleasure to associate with such people. Doug Hurt, the moderator, was exceedingly gracious, and the other two paper presenters, Julie Courtwright and Jeff Bremer, both from Iowa State, brought outstanding papers. The feeling was, this is how things are supposed to go.
The affair got traction Thursday morning with a truly outstanding presidential address by Sarah Phillips of Boston University: “Indian Landlords and Socialist Votes: Imperial Indigestion in Oklahoma.” She set a high bar. The quality of proceedings was srong throughout, and the gathering (a fairly small orgnization) collegial. Saw a lot of old friends, made some new ones. Ate well. Discovered the Lobby Bar at the Hotel St. Paul.
Time well spent, now time to head home. Work piled up, dog to train, garden to tend. The feeling that summer now begins well and truly.