I’m all packed and ready to go to Minneapolis for the Berkshire Conference on the History of Women. Too bad my flight isn’t for another 3 1/2 hours! Historiann has a nice post that gives a brief history of the organization. Tenured Radical wrote some interesting recollections of the recent history of the Berks while waiting for her flight at Bradley, delayed three hours (hope that doesn’t happen to me!) She not only wrote about the “Big Berks” i.e. the major international conference held every three years, but also the “Little Berks” held every year.

Despite living near the Berkshire area, I have never made it to one of these, partly due to schedule, but also partly due to the fact that information about the Little Berks is hard to come by. It’s nice to see that the website is now up to date and gives information about the upcoming one, but I seldom get mailings about this, snail or electronic — shouldn’t this be a benefit of membership? I have a retired colleague, with whom I had dinner last week, who said she received no information about this year’s Big Berks until it was too late to make plans to attend. Anyway, looks like my schedule is free that weekend, I just hope it doesn’t cost a fortune since it’s at the Lakeville Inn in expensive Litchfield County — oh well, at least it’s reasonable driving distance.

I just received great news that Rutgers University Press will be giving me an advance contract for the history of emergency contraception book. Something to celebrate when I get to Minneapolis!