Call for Proposals on “Resisting the Revolution” for 2027 Conference

The Sons of the American Revolution annual scholarly conference in 2027 will focus on “Resisting the Revolution: Militant Loyalism During the War for Independence.” Organizers are now inviting scholars to propose papers on that topic.

This conference will be co-sponsored by the Purdue University Department of History and will take place in West Lafayette, Indiana, on 4–6 June 2027.

The announcement says:

This conference will examine the role of Loyalists in shaping the course and character of the American Revolutionary War. Loyalists included men and women, genteel and ordinary people, and White, Black, and Indigenous supporters of the Crown. They participated in every facet of the American struggle for independence, from covert resistance and intelligence gathering to military mobilization, occupation, and outright violence. By attending to the diversity of Loyalist experience, the conference seeks to complicate and enrich our understanding of the Revolution and the civil war at its center.

Proposals may address any aspect of this broad subject, including the motives and meanings of Loyalism; local and regional variations in Loyalist resistance; intelligence networks; vigilantism, policing, prisoners, and the dynamics of retaliation; Loyalist military mobilization and the Provincial Corps; Black Loyalists and the politics of freedom; Indigenous Loyalists, diplomacy, tactics, and sovereignty; women, the homefront, and the management of property under occupation; neutrality and disaffection; Loyalist diasporas throughout the British Empire; the costs of Loyalism, including casualties, confiscation, and compensation; and the afterlives of Loyalist resistance in memory, art, literature, and public history.

The conference organizers welcome proposals from academic historians, graduate students, public history practitioners, and members of other disciplines. Proposals consisting of a 300-word abstract and a C.V. of no more than two pages are due by 1 Sept 2026. Those proposals should be emailed to Dr. T. Cole Jones at colejones@purdue.edu with the subject line “2027 SAR Annual Conference Proposal.”

Scholars selected to deliver papers will be required to submit full-length, relatively polished drafts of approximately 6,000 to 8,000 words for pre-circulation by 15 April 2027. Organizers are looking ahead to an edited collection from a university press. The S.A.R. will cover conference presenters’ travel and lodging expenses and provide a $500 honorarium.