“For 2026: Wartime Transformations” will bring groundbreaking presentations about the Revolutionary War to Williamsburg Oct. 24-25, 2025. The conference will highlight new research on Black and Indigenous military service and the war’s continuing impact today. The conference coincides with renewed national interest in Revolutionary War history as communities nationwide prepare for semiquincentennial commemorations. Registration is available now through the Omohundro Institute.

“Wartime Transformations” is the fourth edition of a five-year conference series sponsored jointly by William & Mary, the Omohundro Institute and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to revisit the nation’s founding through critical scholarship, dialogue and public access. The conference brings together historians, public historians, museum professionals and history enthusiasts.

The conference features three specialized tracks: scholarly research presentations hosted by the Omohundro Institute, K-12 educator workshops through RevEd, and sessions on the historic Williamsburg Bray School via the Slate Seminar.

“As we enter the U.S. Quarter Millennium, the 250-year-old project to form a more perfect union is constant and ongoing. The alma mater of civic-minded leaders, William & Mary relentlessly pursues the skills of freedom through preeminent teaching, learning and research,” said W&M President Katherine A. Rowe. “In that spirit, we are delighted to join our close partners at the Omohundro Institute and The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation to host this year’s ‘For 2026’ series. Virginia is the place to come for inspiring new stories of the pursuit of liberty.”

“Colonial Williamsburg is proud to collaborate with W&M and the Omohundro Institute to offer this powerful conference series to a wide audience,” said Cliff Fleet, president and CEO of The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. “A deeper understanding of our history empowers all of us to be better informed and more effective citizens.”

‘Wartime Transformations’

The 2025 conference theme, “Wartime Transformations,” focuses on the sweeping and often unexamined consequences of the Revolutionary War. Leading scholars from across the nation will explore how wartime tumult reshaped law, diplomacy, religion, race, gender and the environment, offering fresh insights into the lived experiences of the Revolution and its multiple legacies.  

Highlights will include new research on Black and Indigenous military service, the environmental toll of war and the transformation of political and religious institutions. Topics invite deeper public reflection on the meaning of independence and offer timely insights as Americans grapple with questions about whose stories are told and how historical narratives shape national identity.

Strategic Cultural Partnerships at W&M, under the leadership of Ann Marie Stock, is the key W&M convener of the “For 2026” conference.

“With ‘Wartime Transformations,’ we continue our commitment to convening the perspectives of citizens and scholars alike in Williamsburg,” said Stock, presidential liaison for Strategic Cultural Partnerships. “This conference exemplifies how collaboration across institutions and disciplines can deepen our understanding of the American Revolution’s enduring impact. By engaging with the complexities of wartime change, we invite reflection, dialogue and discovery – hallmarks of ‘For 2026’ and of semiquincentennial commemorations.”

Public events showcase new research

Two evening plenary discussions will invite top scholars to address the public along conference themes. Both evening plenaries are free and open to the public, with no advance registration required. Seating will be first come, first served. Plenaries will also be available via livestream and will be recorded and made available following the event.

On Friday, Oct. 24, CWF will host historian Shirley L. Green. Green will deliver a lecture titled “Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence” at the Hennage Auditorium in the Art Museums of Colonial Williamsburg. Drawing from her recent book, “Revolutionary Blacks,” Green will share the story of William and Benjamin Frank, two freeborn Black brothers who served in the Second Rhode Island Regiment during the Revolutionary War. Their diverging military experiences offer a nuanced portrait of Black service and identity during the era of independence. Seating begins at 4:30 p.m.; the program starts at 5 p.m. A public reception will follow.

On Saturday, Oct. 25, at 5 p.m., Robert Parkinson, professor of history at Binghamton University, will present “Heart of American Darkness” at the Glenn Close Theatre in Phi Beta Kappa Memorial Hall on the W&M campus. Parkinson’s lecture revisits the 1774 Yellow Creek Massacre and its ripple effects through the Ohio Country and the Continental Congress. His talk considers how settler violence shaped early American political rhetoric and continues to influence the stories we tell about the Revolution. This event is also free and open to the public, with seating beginning at 4:30 p.m. and a reception to follow.

RevEd and Slate Seminar return

The Revolutionary Educators (RevEd) Teacher Summit, led by Mark Hofer will convene K–12 teachers, teacher educators, and museum professionals for professional development opportunities focused on interdisciplinary strategies for teaching the Revolutionary era. Highlights include a session on Black freedom in Norfolk led by Kara Lawrence, using digital mapping and community storytelling to reframe the geography of liberation; a hands-on workshop by Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation staff guiding educators through the wartime choices of historical Virginians; and a timely examination of Constitution-era compromise and antislavery advocacy.

Also returning is the Slate Seminar, convened by the W&M Bray School Lab. This year’s sessions will revisit debates over the teaching of writing at the Williamsburg Bray School, mark the 250th anniversary of Lord Dunmore’s Proclamation through the lens of Black Loyalist legacies, and explore the intersections of African American life with environmental stewardship. A special live edition of the Lab’s popular monthly Zoom series, “Bray School Stories,” will round out the Slate Seminar offerings.  

Omohundro Institute Executive Director and W&M Professor of History Catherine E. Kelly says, “We cannot celebrate American independence and the founding of the U.S. republic without understanding the great scope and the extraordinary human cost of the war that made these things possible. The OI is honored by this opportunity to explore the lived experience of revolution 250 years ago and advance national conversations about how those experiences reverberate into our own time.”

No-cost entry will be available for W&M students, faculty and staff, and Colonial Williamsburg Foundation employees at the registration desk during the conference. All registrants may choose to receive ticket vouchers for admission to Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area and Art Museums.

Since launching in 2022 as one of the nation’s first semiquincentennial events, ‘For 2026’ has laid important groundwork so that when America marks its 250th anniversary next year, the Revolutionary story will reflect experiences that earlier scholarship overlooked. The result: a founding narrative as complex and compelling as the nation it created.