As Michael Hattem noted in his post on Monday, the McNeil Center for Early American Studies, along with a handful of other prestigious organizations, is hosting what promises to be a monumental conference on the American Revolution this weekend in Philadelphia. Titled, “The American Revolution Reborn: New Perspectives for the Twenty-First Century,” it is a combination of roundtable discussions with prominent historians as well as pre-circulated papers from up and coming scholars. (I’m about halfway through the papers, and they are terrific.) There will certainly be lots of important ideas to discuss, and we’ll have several followups (including a post and a podcast) to help digest what went down.

But conferences aren’t all about the presentations; they are also about geeking out with fellow historical nerds. In line with that tradition, we would like to invite any readers (or potential readers) of the Junto to join us for a bit of conference socializing following this Friday’s festivities. Following the reception held at the Library Company of Philadelphia which starts at 5:30 pm, a group of us Juntoists, along with anyone who would like to join us, will head out for dinner and drinks. The specific location is yet to be determined, but we will likely remain in the downtown Philly area.

To make sure we keep a grasp on the number of people attending, mostly to know if we need to make a reservation, please state your interest either in the comments or in an email to benjamin DOT e DOT park AT gmail DOT com.

We hope this will be the first of many Junto socials, and hope that, if you are in the area, you will be able to attend.