We seek a third paper on women’s spaces of leisure and/or retreat in New York State for a panel session at the 2012 Conference on New York State History, being held at Niagara University on June 14-16, 2012. We are also seeking a chair/commentator. This session will explore places and spaces in New York State where women have spent time outside the bounds of their ordinary day-to-days lives, and what these places of retreat offer historians of women. Monica Mercado’s paper examines the experiences of women attending the Catholic Summer School of America at Cliff Haven, in Plattsburgh NY. Modeled on the Chautauqua movement, the Catholic Summer School functioned as a co-ed site that allowed women to participate--albeit temporarily--in a new upper middle-class intellectual and cultural life during the 1890s. Megan Springate’s paper explores the history of Wiawaka Holiday House, the oldest continuously operating women's retreat in the United States. Founded in 1903 as a place where women working in nearby textile mills could escape the city for a vacation at discounted prices, Wiawaka is currently the subject of an archaeology project Springate is conducting at Lake George, NY (for more on her research site see http://www.wiawakaproject.com/). Diverse theoretical perspectives and innovative methodological approaches to the topic are welcomed. We are also open to research from any time period in New York State history. Potential sites of interest include women's social clubs, artist's retreats, YWCA's, women's sports teams, and scouting. If you wish to be a panelist, please submit an abstract of up to 300 words, your paper title, and a short biographical paragraph to Monica Mercado ([log in to unmask]) and Megan Springate ([log in to unmask]) by Thursday, December 15. If you are interested in serving as a commentator, simply contact us. Our panel proposal is due to the conference organizers by the end of December. Best, Monica and Megan * * * Monica Mercado PhD Candidate, Department of History Fellow, Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality University of Chicago [log in to unmask] Megan E. Springate, RPA Doctoral Student, Department of Anthropology University of Maryland [log in to unmask]