The American Association for State and Local History just released its program for its annual meeting on September 18-21, 2013 in Birmingham, Alabama this year and it’s full of educational sessions, workshops, and field trips for people who work, volunteer, and love historic sites, including:

• A tours of historic sites in Birmingham, Montgomery, and Florence
• A visit to the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church on the week of the 50th anniversary of the bombing that killed four girls.
• A workshop on interpreting slavery at historic sites and museums
• A breakfast for professionals working  in historic house museums with the provocateurs who wrote The Anarchist Guide to Historic House Museums.
• Sessions on interpreting women at historic sites, incorporating the arts, integrating African American voices into historic plantation tours, strategic planning through scenarios, and the creation of heritage trails.

Lots of events happen at the same time so it’s always hard choosing, but this year’s meeting is being held in partnership with the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, so along with the sessions that focus around historic sites, there are also many sessions on community engagement, organizational leadership, interpretation of controversial topics, and the incorporation of new perspectives.   It’ll be a good meeting and I plan to be there, so I’m taking advantage of the early bird discount that ends this Friday, July 26. Registration is $325 for members, but this week it’s only $235 (staff of institutional partners get this same low price until August 16, so you have a few more weeks).  For more information, visit AASLH.org.