The American Association for State and Local History has issued a call for proposals for its 2013 Annual Meeting in Birmingham, Alabama, and they’ve got a really terrific theme. Here’s what they have to say:

Birmingham is a city which has reoriented its history, inspiring international human rights movements. It is the perfect place to think & talk about how stories of ordinary people and extraordinary change inspire and inform us, our publics, and our programs and outreach.

Focusing on the famous names of history neglects the unnamed people who insisted on their rights, worked together, and who were anything but ordinary in their courage and resolve. Founded in 1871 as a transportation and industrial center of the New South, Birmingham was nicknamed the “Magic City” for its fast growth. And it was the center of a movement that caught the attention of the world and led to the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the Birmingham Pledge to eliminate prejudice. The 1963 Birmingham Summer transformed the city and changed the United States.

Session and Workshop proposals are now being accepted.

Fifty years after hundreds of young people stood solid for freedom. Fifty years after King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” articulated principles of nonviolence. Fifty years later we ask: If history is the example, the provocateur, and the context—how do we best use it today? How do you incorporate stories of ordinary people’s extraordinary lives in your institution? How can we build programs that deal directly with issues, making history interesting, relevant, useful, and human? What interesting and unusual techniques do you use to fulfill your organization’s mission? What kinds of program ideas are you trying out that are a little different than what you’ve always done? How do you encourage active involvement from your public? What have you tried that hasn’t been as successful as you want? How do you take the history your organization uses and connect it to people’s lives?  How is change reflected in your institution’s programs? What ideas and examples are there in local history that can inspire us?

Visit the 2013 AASLH Annual Meeting website for more information and to download a session proposal with instructions.

Proposals for sessions or workshops for the 2013 Annual Meeting must be submitted on a Call for Proposals form. You may submit the form via email, fax, or mail.

Deadline: November 16, 2012