2006 "Little Berks" in Northampton, Massachusetts

The 2006 "Little Berks" meeting was held at the historical Hotel Northampton in Northampton, Massachusetts.
On Friday evening we heard from Toby Ditz of Johns Hopkins University. The title for her presentation was “Home and Away: Anglo-American Familial Letters & the Gendered Micro-Politics of Power in Eighteenth Century Advice to Youths.” Our afternoon business meeting was held at the Special Collections library at Smith College, thanks to Sherrill Redmon, Berks member and Director of the Sophia Smith Collection.. After dinner we reconvened back at Smith for drinks, dessert, and discussion. This year we had a panel presentation and discussion on the AHA report on the Status of Women in the History Profession with Mary Maples Dunn, Barbara Molony, and Jenny Brier.

 The Fall 2005 Berkshire Conference was held at one of the premier resorts of the 19th century. While earlier visitors came to Saratoga Springs for the curative powers of the spring waters, Berkshire Conference attendees came for a range of restorative and professional activities, including research discussions, hiking conversations, prize committees, professional issue forums and assessing the June 2005 "Big Berks" and planning for the next one. On Friday, we heard from Michele Mitchell, Jennifer Morgan, and Jennifer Brier about an anthology they are editing on the history of sexuality.

Spring 2004 "Little Berks" in Stockbridge, Massachusetts

The Spring 2004 Berkshire Conference in Stockbridge, Massachusetts saw the Berkshire Conference returning to one of the first conference sites for the organization, the Red Lion Inn. Research presentations included one by Shirley Lim, Mary Ann Villereal, and a discussion of strategies at various campuses for ensuring that gender, race and ethnicity are not ignored at the higher ranks of academic and administrative appointments and a report on the state of research in the fields of Gender, Women and Sexuality as well as planning for a West Coast Berkshire Conference were part of the weekend activities. Hiking, tours of local museums and houses and terrific meals were also a part of the event.

Spring 2003 "Little Berks" in Harriman, New York

The Spring 2003 Berkshire Conference met at Arden House, the Averell Harriman estate run by Columbia University in Harriman, New York. The facilities encouraged interaction among participants as they ate, hiked and made local excursions in a rural retreat setting. A few brave souls even contemplated swimming in the brisk waters on the Arden House grounds. Research presentations included emerging work in African American History in a panel organized by Jennifer Morgan. A wide-ranging discussion of women and tenure engaged most participants in the Saturday night presentation.

Fall 2002 "Little Berks" in Hudson Valley

The Mohonk Mountain House in the Hudson Valley, an 1869 Victorian Castle was the site of the Fall meeting after the Summer "Big Berks" at the University of Connecticut, Storrs. The chance to assess how the large the conference had gone and to begin planning the next conference, including the election of Vicki Ruiz as the next President of the Berkshire Conference formed the gist of the business meeting. Participants broke into smaller groups to discuss other matters over activities including hiking, golfing, croquet and badminton. Research presentations inluded a panel organized by Judith Zinsser.

Fall 1999 "Little Berks" in Rhinebeck, NY

The Fall 1999 weekend retreat was held at the Beekman Arms Inn, a landmark since the days of Rip Van Winkle, in Rhinebeck, NY from Friday, October 29 to Sunday, October 31. On Friday evening, Thavolia Glymph and Nan Woodruff, both from Pennsylvania State University, each presented papers on "Questions of Power: Race, Class and Gender in the Southern Countryside" from two quite different methodological and chronological perspectives. On Saturday evening Jane Caplan, Bryn Mawr College, showed slides to illustrate her talk on the history of tattoos in Europe, entitled "Now You See It--Now You Don't." Participants also enjoyed hiking above the Hudson and in the Innisfree gardens, bicycling in a nearby state park and on the bike trails of the Mills mansion, visits to the Wildenstein and to Hyde Park for the Roosevelt estate, as well as to the unforgettable outsider art creation, Wing Castle, and excursions for wine tasting along the Dutchess wine trail.