Conference Announcements

	2005 Western History Association / Coalition for Western Women's History Conference: The 45th Annual Conference of the WHA was held October 12-15, 2005 at Scottsdale, Arizona, at the Marriott's Camelback Inn. The conference theme was "Western Traditions and Transitions: Cultural Diversity and Demographic Change."
[Above: Sunset at Camelback Inn, October 15, 2005.]
The Coalition for Western Women's History meets once a year in conjunction with the WHA. The CWWH Annual Breakfast was held SATURDAY, OCT 15. Our two annual awards, the Joan Jensen-Darlis Miller and Irene Ledesma Prizes, were presented. [Right: Breakfast on the lovely terrace at Camelback Inn]
	[Left: Ann Gabbert (2003 Prizewinner) announces the 2004 Jensen-Miller prizewinner, Adele Perry.] Attendees then participated in the highlight of each year's Annual Breakfast-- standing up and identifying themselves and recounting this year's triumphs.

	[Left: Donna Scheule] [Right: Sandy Schackel]
This year the WHA conference overlapped Yom Kippur, which began at sunset Wednesday, October 12 and concluded at sunset the following day. In observance of the holiday, the CWWH Roundtable session did not occur on Wednesday, as it usually does, but rather on SATURDAY, OCT 15. This year's CWWH Roundtable honored Darlis Miller and Joan Jensen, patron saints and guiding lights of the Coalition for Western Women's History. Miller and Jensen joined a panel entitled New Directions in Western Women's History which assessed the state of western women's history 25 years after publication of their pathbreaking article, "The Gentle Tamers Revisited: New Approaches to the History of Women in the American West," Pacific Historical Review 49 (1980).

The Roundtable included the following participants (from left to right): Chair: Elizabeth Jameson, University of Calgary Panelist: Donna Akers, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Panelist: Joan Jensen, New Mexico State University (Emeritus) Panelist: Maria Raquel Casas, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Panelist: Darlis Miller, New Mexico State University (Emeritus) Panelist: Sarah Carter, University of Calgary
The concensus of opinion: There is still a lot to do in western women's history.

2004 Western History Association / Coalition for Western Women's History Conference:

The 44th Annual Conference of the WHA, "Representing the West in Image and Record," took place in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 13-16, 2004. As always, CWWH-sponsored events were the highlight of the conference (well, we think so, anyway):

CWWH Round Table/Panel -- Wednesday, October 13, 2004 3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m : "Not Another Song and Dance: The Women of Las Vegas." This Round Table presented the "other" working women of Las Vegas: the politicians, journalists, unionists, food servers, and others whose role in the city is overshadowed by the popular, "carnavalized" image of women as showgirls and sex workers. Participants presented brief overviews of their work and then exchanged questions and answers with a lively audience. We thank Joanne Goodwin for organizing this highly satisfactory event.

CWWH Breakfast -- Friday 7:00 a.m., October 15, 2004. The CWWH Breakfast was, once again, the funnest thing we do all year. We awarded the Jensen-Miller "Best Article" prize to Ann Gabbert (pictured right) and the Irene Ledesma Prize to (camera-shy) Maritza De La Trinidad.
	above, right to left: James Brooks and Jensen-Miller Prize winner Ann Gabbert; also (in bubble wrap) the traditional J-M prize, a signed "Storyteller" figurine

above: Nancy Taniguichi describes her latest project The breakfast was also an opportunity to catch up with our friends. In an annual event that is unique to CWWH, we went around the room hearing what everyone had been up to over the past year, hearing reports of tenure granted to dissertations completed to grandchildren recently arrived.

2003 Western History Association / Coalition for Western Women's History Conference:

The 43rd Annual WHA Conference, "The Boundless West: Imagery and Popular Culture of the American West," took place in Fort Worth, Texas on October 8 to 11, 2003. For more on WHA 2003 Conference, go to:

For the CWWH, the Fort Worth conference was an exciting and profitable event. Among the highlights:

At the CWWH Breakfast, David Rich Lewis of The Western Historical Quarterly (the journal of the Western History Association) invited members of CWWH to submit articles on western women's history for a special issue devoted to Women in the West. The deadline for submission was 2 August 2004.

An estimated 200+ attended the 2003 CWWH Breakfast in Fort Worth, where they had the opportunity to share an actually edible breakfast, honor Irene Ledesma and Jensen-Miller prize-winners, make new friends, and hear what members have been up to over the past year.

The CWWH Silent Auction was a great success, raising over $1,500 for future events, awards, and prizes. We thank everyone who contributed items and everyone who bid on items. 2004 will be even better!

The CWWH has openings for volunteers on several of its committees. If you would like to take a more direct role in the organization, please contact Steering Committee Chair Mary Ann Irwin at the_Irwinator@comcast.net.

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