Community, Conflict, Conversation 

Hosted by 
The Henry Ford, Dearborn, Michigan

Conference Venue and Lodging at Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, Michigan

ALHFAM’s 2026 Annual Meeting and Conference examines community and conflict in ways that help living history practitioners engage in conversations that facilitate learning and lead to understanding and healing.

The Henry Ford, the host institution, is a large museum complex that includes the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, Greenfield Village, and the Ford Rouge Factory Tour. As the largest cultural attraction in Michigan, it is an ideal venue for ALHFAM 2026. Its historical resources document more than 250 years of colonial and U.S. history, from the 1700s to the present. THF's Greenfield Village, one of the largest open-air museums in the United States, will be full throttle during June 2026, having just opened a new historic house: the Jackson Home from Selma, Alabama, from which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and others mobilized to secure voting rights for African Americans.

“Community, Conflict, Conversation” begins with workshops, grows through presentations and events that engage all attendees, and culminates in conversations that will sustain living history into the foreseeable future. Convening just days before the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence on July 4, 2026, the ALHFAM conference extends these conversations worldwide.

ALHFAM 2026 partners include the International Association of Museums of Agriculture (AIMA), the National Collaborative for Women in Historic Sites (NCWHS), Tillers International and local hosts for the Helping Hands and other workshops. 

The Student Center at Eastern Michigan University is conference headquarters, where sessions, meetings and other conference events will occur. Lodging will be available in new and refurbished EMU residence halls, and meals will take place in the EMU Dining Hall.

Workshops and tours will feature local museums, historic sites, cultural attractions and organizations that support ALHFAM-related work. The site visit day features a signature summer event at The Henry Ford, Greenfield Village’s Motor Muster, and offers opportunities to tour the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. The Henry Ford also invites ALHFAM attendees to consider joining THF presenters and sharing their expertise during the site visit day. This option requires advance registration (see below).

The call for proposals asks you to join in the conversation by sharing your knowledge and skills with the ALHFAM community. Click on the link below to learn more about themes and explain how your session topic relates.

Session and Workshop Proposal Submission Form: Deadline November 15, 2025

Please click this link to fill out the Google form for session/workshop proposals.
Or download the fillable PDF and email it in. 

Optional: Register to participate in a Motor Muster vignette or pop-up presentation in the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation: Deadline November 15, 2025

Please click on this link to fill out the Google form to register to take an active role in The Henry Ford programming during the site visit day on June 20.

You can learn more about vignette opportunities during Motor Muster at The Henry Ford and other opportunities to share your talents by reading more HERE.

Conference Co-Sponsors