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Welcome to SAWH 2025
SAWH Triennial Conference
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SAWH2025
Pay It Forward
For the first time in SAWH history, graduate students and contingent faculty without institutional support can waive their registration fees thanks to SAWH members' generosity and the Pay It Forward campaign led by SAWH Past President Emily Bingham.
We are grateful to our membership for this extraordinary gift.
Scholarship. Sisterhood. Sustained Resistance.
Welcome to SAWH 2025
June 19-22, 2025
Bethune-Cookman University | Daytona Beach, FL
We are proud to announce the 13th Triennial Conference of the Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH), a four-day summit dedicated to exploring the complexities, triumphs, and tenacity of women’s lived experiences.
This year’s theme—“Unspeakable Challenges”— centers the obstacles faced by women, particularly those of color, as they navigate the intersecting roles of professionals, caretakers, scholars, and community builders.
Held in partnership with the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute for the Study of Women and Girls, the 2025 meeting offers a space for reflection, resistance, and renewal. Expect thought-provoking panels, transformative plenaries, tours of the Mary McLeod Bethune Home, and meaningful moments of connection under the Florida sun.
About SAWH &
the Triennial
About SAWH
The Southern Association for Women Historians (SAWH) promotes the history of women in the U.S. South and supports women-identifying historians in their scholarly and professional lives. Founded in 1970, SAWH provides a vital space for mentorship, intellectual exchange, and camaraderie across generations and disciplines.
About the Triennial Meeting
Held every three years, the Triennial is SAWH’s flagship convening, a summit that brings together historians, students, educators, activists, and public scholars to share research and reflect on the challenges—and joys—of their work. Attendees will experience:
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Scholarly panels and roundtables
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Mentorship workshops
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Keynote addresses and special lectures
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Social events and local excursions
The 2025 conference theme, “Unspeakable Challenges,” acknowledes the often-invisible burdens women carry as caregivers, professionals, and community leaders. This year’s meeting is especially historic, marking the sesquicentennial of Dr. Bethune’s birth, and honoring her enduring legacy of resistance, education, and empowerment. The Program Committee was co-chaired by Françoise Hamlin and Robin Morris and included Denise Bates, Beverly Bond, Lorri Glover, Pippa Holloway, and Briana Royster.
Host Campus:
Bethune-Cookman University
Founded in 1904 by the legendary Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, Bethune-Cookman University (B-CU) is a private Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located in Daytona Beach, Florida. Guided by the principles of faith, scholarship, and service, B-CU has long stood at the intersection of academic excellence and social transformation.
Dr. Bethune’s original mission—to provide educational opportunities to Black girls in a deeply segregated society—has since evolved into a vibrant, coeducational university offering a diverse array of academic programs while remaining grounded in its founder’s visionary ideals.
B-CU proudly houses the Mary McLeod Bethune Institute for the Study of Women and Girls, which serves as both a living legacy of its namesake and a forward-looking academic unit committed to advocacy, equity, and empowerment.
Towards this end, Bethune Institute:
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Serves as the official campus liaison for the 2025 SAWH Triennial
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Advances research, dialogue, and public programming on the lives and leadership of women and girls—especially from African American, Caribbean, and historically marginalized communities
B-CU is proud to co-host this national gathering of scholars in honor of its founder’s timeless vision.
Let’s make history, together.
Spotlight:
Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune
150 Years of Legacy | 1875–2025
Educator, entrepreneur, institution builder, advisor to presidents, and champion for racial and gender equity—Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was a force unlike any other. Her life’s work transcended classrooms and podiums; she built systems, moved policy, and created spaces where Black women and girls could not only learn but lead.
Born to formerly enslaved parents in 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina, Bethune believed early on that education was the key to freedom. With a single dollar and a fierce faith in the transformative power of learning, she began selling sweet potato pies and homemade root beer to fund her dream: a school for Black girls. That dream became the Daytona Literary and Industrial School for Training Negro Girls in 1904—which, through vision and sheer will, evolved into what we now know as Bethune-Cookman University.
Bethune’s influence reached far beyond Daytona Beach. She was the only woman of color present at the founding of the United Nations, a founding member and president of the National Council of Negro Women, and a trusted advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, serving as the most influential Black woman in his administration through her work in the “Black Cabinet.” She mobilized voters, uplifted youth, and advocated tirelessly for justice in education, labor, and civil rights.
Her leadership was rooted not just in credentials, but in character. Her ability to speak truth to power—while lifting up others—was her enduring genius. She often said:
“I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you a thirst for education.”
As we gather for the 2025 SAWH Triennial, we do so in sacred alignment with the sesquicentennial of her birth—a national observance of a woman whose story is not simply historical, but instructional. Her life offers a blueprint for resilience, purpose, and vision under pressure. She is not a relic of the past, but a compass for the future.
Her legacy lives on—in the halls of B-CU, in the archives she preserved, in the homes of those she mentored, and in every one of us who carries her vision forward, especially in times of unspeakable challenges.
We do this work—in her name.
Featured Events
Join us for a special evening celebration kick-off— Documentary Film & Dessert Hour
Thursday, June 19, 2025 | 6:30PM
President's Banquet, Second Floor, Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center
The event will feature a director’s cut documentary film screening of the acclaimed “Shaking It Up: The Life and Times of Liz Carpenter”
Followed by Q&A with members of the film’s production team:
Producer/Director/Liz’s Biographer and Daughter Christy Carpenter—and—Associate Producer/Film’s Lead Advisor/ Distinguished Professor and Historian—Jessica Brannon-Wranosky, PhD
“Liz’s humor was part of her power.”
— Dan Rather, "Shaking It Up"
Liz Carpenter's voice was sharp, strategic, and often hilarious.
As a journalist, LBJ White House advisor and official—including Chief of Staff and Press Secretary to Lady Bird Johnson, co-founder of the National Women’s Political Caucus, and relentless advocate for the Equal Rights Amendment as co-head of ERAmerica—hers is the story of blazing professional trails while pushing forward an agenda for political engagement, women’s rights, and the environment that remains highly relevant today.
The film offers a rare look into Carpenter as an indomitable force in 20th-century American politics through archival footage and interviews from those who knew her, journalists who covered the history as it was made, and scholars who study this remarkable past.
Following the screening, indulge in a Dessert Hour featuring sweet potato pie, lovingly served in homage to Mary McLeod Bethune’s earliest fundraising efforts. In her school’s early days, Bethune sold pies to support her students and vision—a tradition of sweet resistance and resourcefulness we continue today.
This gathering promises nourishment for both the mind and spirit—equal parts memory, laughter, and legacy.
Plenary Speaker:
Dr. Noliwe Rooks
A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Life and Thought of Mary McLeod Bethune
Friday, June 20, 2025 | 7:30 PM | Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center Atrium
This SAWH Triennial plenary session proudly features Dr. Noliwe Rooks, a trailblazing scholar, cultural critic, and the current Chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. Rooks brings her sharp insight and deep reverence for Black women’s intellectual legacies to bear in her newest and widely celebrated book:
A Passionate Mind in Relentless Pursuit: The Life and Thought of Mary McLeod Bethune
Published as part of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.’s Significations series, this book offers a fresh and deeply personal portrait of Bethune—not just as an educator and political powerhouse, but as a thinker, philosopher, and visionary leader whose writings and speeches remain radically relevant today.
Rooks skillfully draws from Bethune’s public addresses, private letters, and published works to construct an intimate look into the inner world of one of America’s most formidable Black women. The result is an intellectual love letter to Bethune’s unyielding commitment to justice, education, and Black futures.
This keynote promises to be a powerful anchor for the 2025 meeting, embodying the spirit of our shared pursuit: truth-telling, radical reflection, and visionary sisterhood.
“Rooks has done what few historians have dared: she invites us to think with Bethune, not just about her.”
– Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
Plenary Speaker:
Dr. Wesley Hogan
Protecting Fugitives and Outlaws: The Ethics of Documenting Reproductive Care Providers in the Post-Dobbs Era
Saturday, June 21, 2025 | 4:00 PM | President’s Banquet, Second Floor, Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center
The overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 had enormous consequences for the personal lives of everyone who can get pregnant in the U.S., as well as for U.S. politics overall. Less well understood is the immense impact on the medical profession, particularly on OB/gyns.
How can medical practitioners maintain the practice of evidence-based medicine in this dramatically changed legal environment? The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, for instance, has led to the immediate deaths of women in South Carolina and Texas. Abortion bans have also impacted reproductive medicine well beyond abortion care.
Our team began interviewing reproductive care physicians in the South in January 2023. We will share excerpts from our interviews, and summaries of our quantitative studies’ findings. How can we address the ongoing ethical challenges of this project? How has our project minimized harm to those physicians we interview? What data security and ethical protocols are we evolving to prevent our work from becoming weapons against the very physicians whose work we document? Finally, as universities in the South come under scrutiny from state legislatures about the nature of their knowledge-production in science, history, and medicine, how can we make sure that those working in the South are able to tell their own stories?
Wesley Hogan, faculty lead of the Reproductive Care Post-Roe project, Duke University, will share the findings that she and her team have made. Her team includes Anika Vemulapalli, graduating senior, two-year project veteran; Alicia Yang, graduating senior, two-year project veteran; Sarah Hasan, graduating senior, data sub-team member; and Anushri Saxena, graduating senior, two-year project veteran.
Sisterhood & Sun Beach Social: An Afternoon of Reflection & Renewal
Sunday, June 22 | Afternoon
After the final sessions close, we’ll make our way to a nearby beach for a moment of peace and purpose. This isn't just a farewell—it’s a spiritual cooldown at the shoreline.
As we gather in turquoise and white, we reflect on the unspeakable challenges we carry, and the community that carries us. We gather to exhale, to laugh, and to lay down the weight of the world—if only for a little while.
Bring your swimsuit, towel, water bottle, and something to remember this moment by.
Come as you are. Leave as you’re meant to be.
SAWH Triennial Conference
A Few Topics of Interest
Reproductive Rights
Historically Black Colleges and Universities — HBCUs
Sex, Sexuality and Gender
Immigration
Venues & Campus Map
Main Locations:
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Harrison-Rhodes Building – Academic Sessions
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Mary McLeod Bethune Performing Arts Center – Film Screening (President’s Banquet) | Rooks Keynote & Reception Atrium
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Phase II Dormitory – Free on-campus housing for attendees
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Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation & Historic Home – Limited campus tours
Lodging & Travel
Official Host:
On-Campus Housing (FREE!)
Phase II Dormitory offers modern, suite-style rooms available free of charge to registered attendees.
Bring with you:
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Twin XL bedding
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Towels & toiletries
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Shower curtain
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Water bottle
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Towel, swimsuit & sunscreen
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Flip flops or shower shoes
Check-in:
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Thursday, June 19 by 12 noon - 6 PM & 9 PM - 11 PM
Check-out:
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Sunday, June 22 by 5 PM
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Optional late check-out: Monday, June 23 - 8 AM - 12 PM
Host Hotel:
Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach
Rock Out. Rest Up. Wake to the Waves.
Your Triennial stay just got legendary.
We are proud to partner with the Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach as the official host hotel for the 2025 SAWH Triennial Meeting. Located just 2.5 miles (a 7-minute drive) from the Bethune-Cookman University campus, this luxury oceanfront resort blends upscale comfort with rock-and-roll flair—making it the perfect backdrop for unwinding after a day of scholarship and sisterhood.
Hotel Features Include:
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Private balconies with Atlantic Ocean views
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Beach access just steps from your room
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Oceanfront pool & hot tub
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Full-service Rock Spa® & Salon
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The iconic Sessions Restaurant and lobby bar
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Rock Shop® for souvenirs and gear
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Live music and curated vibes, nightly
Whether you’re catching the sunrise from your balcony or enjoying a post-session cocktail by the pool, Hard Rock offers the perfect balance of relaxation and excitement.
Triennial Special Rate: Book by May 20!
A limited block of rooms will be reserved for SAWH attendees. Book early to secure your stay!
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Special Triennial Rate: City View Room (up to 4 guests) $199.00/night plus nightly resort fee of $39.00 and 12.5% applicable taxes. Or Ocean View Room $269.00/night plus nightly resort fee of $39.00 and 12.5% applicable taxes.
Parking Info: Free with booking
Explore Daytona:
Local Attractions & Cultural Highlights
Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation & Historic Home
640 Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Newly renovated and lovingly restored, the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation & Historic Home stands as a deeply sacred space and a National Historic Landmark that offers an intimate window into the personal and professional life of one of the most consequential women in American history.
Originally constructed in 1915 and gifted to Dr. Bethune by early supporters of her educational mission, the home became both a center of leadership and a site of living history—a place where Bethune hosted dignitaries, organized political strategy, and shaped the lives of countless students and activists.
Today, the home houses a remarkable collection of original furniture, photographs, personal artifacts, and archival materials from Bethune’s life and career. It also serves as the headquarters of the Mary McLeod Bethune Foundation, which preserves her legacy of service, civic engagement, and Black women's leadership.
As we mark the 150th anniversary of Dr. Bethune’s birth, Triennial attendees will have the unique opportunity to walk through the very rooms where Bethune dreamed, wrote, prayed, and organized. This site is more than a museum—it is the beating heart of her legacy.
Soft tours will be available throughout the duration of the SAWH Triennial. We encourage all attendees to make time for this powerful experience.
“This house is sacred ground. The walls whisper of a woman who believed in the power of faith, education, and organized resistance.”
Daytona Beach Boardwalk & Pier
12 N Ocean Ave., Daytona Beach, FL 32118
A lively waterfront attraction just steps from the Atlantic, offering classic arcade games, rides, restaurants, and unforgettable ocean views. Perfect for a post-session stroll or evening hangout.
Museum of Arts & Sciences (MOAS)
352 S Nova Rd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
One of Florida’s largest museums, MOAS features diverse exhibits—from fine art to science to regional history. Includes the Charles and Linda Williams Children’s Museum and the Cici and Hyatt Brown Museum of Art (home to the world’s largest collection of Florida-themed art).
Southeast Museum of Photography
1200 W International Speedway Blvd,
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Located on the Daytona State College campus, this museum is one of only a few dedicated entirely to photography. It showcases international and regional work with powerful visual storytelling.
Daytona International Speedway & Motorsports Attractions
1801 W International Speedway Blvd,
Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Explore the legendary home of the Daytona 500 with behind-the-scenes tours, interactive exhibits at the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America, and iconic photo ops at Victory Lane.
Black Heritage Walking Tour
335 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
Follow in the footsteps of Civil Rights leaders and community trailblazers. This self-guided or scheduled walking tour highlights significant Black churches, schools, and homes that helped shape Daytona Beach’s history of resilience and progress.
Howard Thurman Home
335 South Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, Daytona Beach, FL 32114
The childhood home of theologian and Civil Rights visionary Dr. Howard Thurman, this site honors the legacy of one of the most influential spiritual thinkers of the 20th century. His teachings on nonviolence and inner liberation shaped leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and continue to inspire movements for justice today.
Conference Essentials
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Free Wi-Fi campus-wide
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Free Parking on campus
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Campus Police available onsite
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All vehicles must carry personal insurance
Points of Contact
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Registration & Logistics: TBD
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Housing Coordinator: TBD
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Campus Host Liaison: Dr. Crystal A. deGregory
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SAWH President: Dr. Michelle Haberland
Colors of the Conference
Celebrate the 2025 SAWH Triennial in true coastal style with our official colors: SAWH turquoise and white, accented by the deep, scenic Daytona Beach blue.
Whether you're headed to a panel, a plenary, or a stroll by the shore, show up in your colors—and in your joy! Don’t forget to pack your swimsuit, towel, and sunscreen, along with your favorite water bottle to stay cool and hydrated throughout the weekend.
Dress for sunshine, sisterhood, and scholarship. We can’t wait to see you shimmering in style under the Florida sun!
Messages of Welcome
Michelle Haberland, Ph.D.
President,
Southern Association for Women Historians
William Berry, Ph.D.
Acting President and Provost
Bethune-Cookman University
Crystal A. deGregory, Ph.D.
Campus Host Liaison,
SAWH Triennial 2025
Mary McLeod Bethune Institute for the Study of Women and Girls
Bethune-Cookman University
Registration
A Late Registration Fee of $25 will apply for those who register after May 23, 2025.
For the first time in the SAWH history, Graduate Students and Contingent Faculty without institutional support can have their registration fees waived thanks to the generosity of SAWH members, the Pay It Forward campaign led by SAWH Past President Emily Bingham.
Please note there are no refunds for this conference.
The SAWH Conference has been made possible by the support of the following institutions:
