Record Keepers of Nation: Diverse Foundational Figures and Documents of the US

About the Event ↑

The Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage Program (Recovery) and the Association for Documentary Editing (ADE) invite proposals for a joint conference to be held October 8-10, 2026 in Houston, Texas. This first-ever collaboration between Recovery and ADE will bring together scholars, archivists, editors, students and community practitioners to explore how figures and documents—canonical, forgotten, official and grassroots—have shaped the histories, literatures and identities of the United States.

The conference theme, Record Keepers of Nation: Diverse Foundational Figures and Documents of the US, highlights the intersection, conflicts and compromises of people, papers, voices, archives and biographies of first nations, natives, settlers, immigrants and exiles that have forged collective memory and national narratives. The conference will emphasize recovery, preservation and dissemination of the historical records of various communities that expand and unsettle our understanding of the nation’s foundation.

Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage is an international program to locate, preserve and make available Hispanic culture of the United States in its written form since colonial times until 1980. The Association for Documentary Editing promotes the publication of a broad range of materials of historical value in print and digital formats and supports cooperation and exchange of ideas among a diverse community of editors.