6th Biennial Conference

The 6th Biennial Conference of the Society was held 4-7 March 2009 in Hamilton, Bermuda, to mark the 400th anniversary of the wreck of the Sea Venture, flagship of the Jamestown Third Supply voyage, which initiated the permanent settlement of Bermuda-- the second permanent English colony in the Americas.

Dear SEA Colleagues:

I’d like to extend my thanks to everyone who helped make the 6th Biennial Conference in Bermuda a success!

Vice President Susan Imbarrato (who kept absolutely everything on track and managed all the web issues, program postings, and found solutions to innumerable problems), Executive Coordinator Hilary Wyss (who managed all the money issues, including complicated money exchange and wiring challenges), Immediate Past President Dennis Moore (who helped solve program issues and provided wisdom and advice from running earlier conferences), and the rest of the Program Committee: Kris Bross (who organized the plenary event at Hamilton City Hall with Kevin McBride and Stephen Tucker; and who also marshaled her exceptional graduate students who staffed the Registration Desk and designed the program and nametags), Michael Drexler (who worked the timeline in the program), Sean Goudie (who organized and chaired the President’s Plenary Panel on West Indian studies), Mike Jarvis (who made the whole pre-conference day in St George’s happen and contributed his Bermuda and maritime expertise throughout), and Heather Miyano Kopelson (who also contributed her Bermuda expertise and made the trip to John Cox’s house in Orange Valley happen). I’m also grateful to Founding President Carla Mulford for proposing the Tribute to Leo Lemay and for providing her moving remarks; to Ritch Frohock for ensuring that the conference and its site were well covered in the SEA Newsletter; and to Ray Craig for keeping us all connected through the EARAM-L listserv.

I’d like to reiterate my thanks to the following supporters in Bermuda:

  • The Premier of Bermuda, the Hon. Ewart Brown, JP, MP, MD, for honoring us with his presence and remarks at the Closing Reception
  • The Bermuda Department of Tourism, which provided a generous grant that enabled us to charter the ferry and the buses—with special thanks to Mr Shane Mora for his help
  • Barcardi International Ltd, and especially CEO Mike Brennan, for hosting us for the superb Closing Reception, and also Ms Norma Thomson for setting everything up for us
  • The Bermuda Maritime Museum, and especially Dr Edward Harris and his staff, for sponsoring us for the tour and reception on Friday evening
  • The St. George’s Foundation and the World Heritage Center, and especially Ms Alison Outerbridge and her colleagues for guiding us through St George’s
  • Dr Lorri Glover for her presentation at the World Heritage Center on the wreck of the Sea Venture, and to her co-author Dr Dan Smith for contributing
  • Mr John Cox and his family for opening their 200-year-old house in Orange Valley to us and giving us a tour on Wednesday
  • The St David’s Islanders/Bermuda Indians Organization, especially Mr Brinky Tucker and Mr Stephen Tucker, for arranging for the Hamilton City Hall presentation and reception
  • Dr Kevin McBride and Mr Stephen Tucker, for their plenary presentation at Hamilton City Hall
  • The Fairmont Hamilton Princess, especially Mr Stanley Ray and Ms Deshae Sampson-Smith and their colleagues, for flawlessly managing the many details of a complicated conference

Thanks, too, to the following:

These Purdue graduate students for managing the Registration Desk, setting up the Graduate Student Breakfast, designing the program and nametags, and solving many odd problems:

  • Beau Gaitors
  • Joy Howard
  • Mark Leahy
  • Jonathan Morton
  • Megan Morton
  • Karen Salt

The members of the President’s Plenary Session, “Keywords in Early American Studies of the West Indies”:

  • Sean Goudie, Chair
  • Catherin Molineaux
  • Monique Allewaert
  • Nicole Alijoe

Thanks also to Jeremy Dibbell of the Massachusetts Historical Society Library, who sent a beautiful photo album covering the whole conference and then some.

And finally, thanks to all the panel chairs, presenters, respondents and audiences for doing and presenting excellent work throughout the program. I was especially impressed to see how many people filled the various sessions on Saturday, given the delightful weather that day. Even more impressive was the fact that well over 100 people attended the final 4 sessions right to the end, despite the fact that I’d scheduled the open bar reception at Bacardi at the same time. To stay for panels in lieu of free booze is a real testament to the high quality of the papers!

Onward SEA!

Yours,
Tom
--
Thomas W. Krise, Ph.D.
President, The Society of Early Americanists
Professor & Dean, College of the Pacific
University of the Pacific


John Speed (1542-1629), Mappa Aestivarum Insularum alias Bermudas dictarum. . . A Mapp of the Sommer Islands, Amsterdam, Abraham Goos, ca. 1626, The James Ford Bell Library, University of Minnesota