36th Annual Conference Call for Papers!

Our 36th Annual NC Maritime History Council Conference will be held at Tryon Palace, New Bern on November 19-21, 2026! Information on how to submit a paper to the conference and the conference theme can be found below. The deadline to submit a paper abstract is September 18, 2026!

Finding Common Waters: NC and US

The year 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, a transformative moment that severed ties between Great Britain and its North American colonies and set the course for the emergence of the United States. This semi-quincentennial is being commemorated across the nation through programs that reflect on the meaning and making of the American experience. In North Carolina, this history is especially rich and complex. From early resistance to British authority at Brunswick Town and Wilmington in 1766, to pivotal Revolutionary-era events such as the Edenton Tea Party, the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, the Halifax Resolves, and the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, the state played a significant role in the struggle for independence. At the same time, the Revolution unfolded as a civil conflict within North Carolina, dividing Whig Patriots and Tory Loyalists, which shaped our early state’s communities in lasting ways. Yet, these events did not occur in isolation… they were fundamentally shaped by North Carolina’s maritime landscape – its network of rivers, sounds, and coastal inlets that connected inland communities to the Atlantic World. These waterways facilitated the movement of goods, people, and ideas, making them critical to both resistance and loyalty during the Revolutionary era. More broadly, this maritime environment has long underpinned the state’s development, from the lifeways of its earliest American Indian inhabitants to patterns of colonization, trade, warfare, and cultural exchange. North Carolina’s history, in this sense, is inseparable from the waters that have linked its communities to not only one another, but also to the nation formed 250 years ago and the world forever changed when we became the United States.

In recognition of this milestone, the North Carolina Maritime History Council invites presentation proposals for its 36th Annual Conference, which will be held on 19-21 November 2026 at Tryon Palace, New Bern, NC. The theme, “Finding Common Waters: NC and US,” encourages participants to explore maritime histories that recognize North Carolina’s contribution to the formation and evolution of the United States. We especially welcome proposals that examine North Carolina’s maritime past within broader regional, national, and international contexts. Possible topics include maritime dimensions of the American Revolution and Civil War; American Indian maritime traditions and trade networks; naval history and shipbuilding; maritime labor, including enslaved and free workers; cultural and social histories of coastal communities; fisheries, industry, and environmental change; underwater archaeology and submerged cultural resources; heritage, memory, and public interpretation of maritime history.

While the conference committee accepts papers on all aspects of maritime history and archaeology related to the Carolinas, we especially encourage papers that speak to the conference theme as outlined above. Presentations (formal and informal) by students, both undergraduate and graduate, and independent researchers or members of the community are all welcome and encouraged.

NOTE: Papers should generally connect to the Carolinas or Mid-Atlantic region, but we also invite all maritime historians within the state to share their research in a special session to promote dialogue between historians working to promote our shared maritime history!

To submit a paper, each individual or group should email the title, authors/presenters, affiliations, and a 150-word abstract to the Conference Committee of the NC Maritime History Council, ncmhcboard@gmail.com. The deadline to submit an abstract for consideration is Friday, September 18, 2026.

Cover Image: "Marion Crossing the PeeDee," by William T. Ranney, 1850, oil on canvas, modified with NCMHC logo.