Florida Council for History Education (FLCHE) is pleased to present our 10th annual conference at the Mission Inn Resort & Club, Howey-in-the Hills, Florida. Please join us as we share our organization’s mission to promote history in education as a way to appreciate the progress and awareness of past and present events. Conference presentations will reflect the theme, Innovation in History. All sessions will focus on building content knowledge, promoting history education and disciplinary literacy, and the use of primary sources.
FLCHE aligned our conference theme with the 2027 National History Day theme to support teaching and learning needs for next year's contest!
Dr. Frank Cogliano
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Presentation title: Why Jefferson Still Matters
A specialist in the history of the American Revolution and the early United States, I have taught at the University of Edinburgh since 1997. I am the author or editor of twelve books, including: A Revolutionary Friendship: Washington, Jefferson and the American Republic (2024; finalist for the 2025 George Washington Book Prize), Emperor of Liberty: Thomas Jefferson’s Foreign Policy (2014), The Blackwell Companion to Jefferson (2012), Thomas Jefferson: Reputation and Legacy (2006). My Revolutionary America, 1763-1815: A Political History is now in its fourth edition (a colleague at another UK university said of it, “My students plagiarise your book more than any other!”) My next book (with Peter S. Onuf) Thomas Jefferson Survives: American Independence in His Time and Ours will be published by Liveright Press in June 2026. I am the editor of The American Revolution at 250: Twenty-Four Historians Reflect on the Founding which will be published by the University of Virginia Press in April 2026. Along with Patrick Griffin, Christa Dierksheide and Eliga Gould I edit the Revolutionary Age series for the University of Virginia Press.
I am committed to engaging a wide audience with the study of history. For many years I was a workshop leader for school teachers, and I co-host the American history podcast The Whiskey Rebellion with David Silkenat of the University of Florida. I am the president of the Open History Society in Edinburgh, a public history organization based in Scotland. I make regular media appearances, commenting on U.S. history, politics and international relations, for the BBC and other outlets. I have featured in five episodes of the BBC’s flagship program In Our Time, as well as BBC Radio 4’s You’re Dead to Me. I was the historical consultant for Glass Entertainment’s 6-part documentary Thomas Jefferson, which aired on the History Channel in the US and globally in 2025. I am currently the historical consultant for a 2-part documentary on the American Revolution which will air on the BBC’s Lucy Worsley Investigates in May 2026. That documentary will also air on PBS in the United States.
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Presentation title: George and Martha Washington: The Founders 250 Years after Independence
Dr. Lynn Price Robbins earned her undergraduate degree in journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and an MA and PhD in U.S. History from George Mason University. She served as an Assistant Editor for both the Papers of Martha Washington and the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, resulting in The Papers of Martha Washington (2022) and George Washington’s Barbados Diary (2018) from UVA Press. She has also published an essay on Martha Washington in Women in George Washington’s World (2022) from UVA Press and an essay on George and Martha Washington’s family life in
an upcoming UVA Press book on teaching through George Washington. Lynn is the co-host of two podcasts, 2 Complicated 4 History and Revolutions in Retrospect. She is currently the Head of Research for Primary Source Media, a full-service audio and video production company.
Dr. Lynn Price Robbins
Dr. J. Michael Francis
Presentation title: I Kiss Your Majesty's Hands and Feet: Native Petitions and the Strategies of Resistance in Early America
Dr. J. Michael Francis is Professor of History and the Hough Family Endowed Chair of Florida Studies at the University of South Florida, St. Petersburg. He earned his PhD in History in 1998 from the University of Cambridge. Dr. Francis has written and edited five books, as well as numerous book chapters and articles. Since 2016, he has served as Executive Director and as Chief Academic Officer of the digital history project La Florida: The Interactive Digital Archive of the Americas (www.laflorida.org), and as Senior Research Associate for Native Bound/Unbound.
Dr. Francis has received more than two dozen national and international awards, including a four-year appointment as a Research Fellow at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, a Jay I. Kislak Fellowship at the Library of Congress in Washington, and a Major Initiatives Grant from the National Archives.
Dr. Francis serves on the Florida Historical Commission and the National Register Review Board. In 2021, Spain’s King Philip VI bestowed upon Dr. Francis the Officer’s Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic, one of the country’s most prestigious civil orders.
CONFERENCE CHECK-IN AND MATERIALS
Conference Check-in is available at the Mission Resort + Club Conference Center on:
- Friday, July 24 from 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM; 6:15 PM – 6:45 PM at Sip and Scholarship
- Saturday, July 25 from 8:15 AM – 8:55 AM
Specific check-in location to be determined. You will receive your name tag and conference materials at check-in. Property map will be provided at check-in.
Friday, July 24, 2026
8:30 AM – 3:00 PM
GWTI 250 Regional Program-South in partnership with FLCHE
10400 County Road 48, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida 34737
Registration information is forthcoming.
Throughout 2026, Mount Vernon and the George Washington Teacher Institute (GWTI) will host a series of regional programs for teachers across the United States. These training programs are designed for K-12 teachers educating students in formal classroom settings and will be completely free to attend. FLCHE is proudly partnering with GWTI to provide one of these regional programs.
Participants in GWTI 250 regional professional development programs will gain a greater understanding of George Washington's impact on our nation’s founding and the skills to build stronger ties between their students and the 250th anniversary of the United States.
Providing students with historical insights about our first president and the tools for democratic participation gives them the opportunity to reflect on American identity, shape their reflective patriotism, and become conscientious contributors to our shared civic communities.
Registration cost:
The program is completely FREE to educators teaching grades K-12 in the United States.
Event includes breakfast, lunch, resources, collaborations with like-minded educators and historians, and guest speakers/historians.
Dr. J. Michael Francis, Sip and Scholarship Keynote
Friday, July 24, 2026
6:15 PM – 7:45 PM
Welcome Reception / Sip & Scholarship
Mission Resort + Club at the El Gitano/Patio del Sol
10400 County Road 48, Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida 34737
Florida Council for History Education is hosting an evening of libations and stories from the past! Join us at the historic Mission Resort, as historian Dr. J. Michael Francis shares narratives of historical events through an informal and interactive lecture, with a celebratory “America’s 250!” style dinner and beverages.
$40.00
Event cost includes dinner.
Self-parking is complimentary for all resort guests.
Registration for this event closes on 7/10/26.
Saturday, July 25, 2026
Mission Resort + Club Conference Center
10400 County Road 48. Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida 34737
8:15 AM – 4:45 PM
PARKING
Self-parking is complimentary for all resort guests.
Registered conference participants receive a complimentary continental breakfast at La Hacienda at the Mission Resort + Club on July 25, beginning as early as 6 AM (tip not included). Please enjoy breakfast prior to 8:15 AM, as our conference begins at that time. *A hot breakfast is available for a nominal fee.
Conference Schedule at a Glance
| Registration and Exhibitor time | 8:15 am | 8:45 am |
| FLCHE Board Welcome | 8:50 am | 9:00 am |
| Keynote Speaker 1 | 9:00 am | 9:45 am |
| Session 1 | 9:55 am | 10:40 am |
| Session 2 | 10:50 am | 11:35 am |
| Poster Session, Exhibitor Time, and Raffle Ticket Purchase | 11:35 am | 11:55 am |
| LUNCH at La Hacienda (dietary restrictions will be accommodated) | 11:55 am | 12:25 pm |
| Poster Session, Exhibitor Time, and Raffle Ticket Purchase | 12:25 pm | 12:40 pm |
| Keynote Speaker 2 | 12:45 pm | 1:30 pm |
| Session 3 | 1:40 pm | 2:25 pm |
| Session 4 | 2:35 pm | 3:20 pm |
| Break, Exhibitor Time, and Last Opportunity for Raffle Tickets | 3:20 pm | 3:40 pm |
| Session 5 | 3:40 pm | 4:25 pm |
| Raffle Winners and Closing Announcements | 4:30 pm | 4:45 pm |
| Early-bird Rate (includes 1-year membership, reciprocal membership to NCHE, and breakfast and lunch):
*Cost will increase to standard registration rate on June 1 ($130.00) |
$110.00 |
| Spouse (includes breakfast and lunch; does not include membership) | $75.00 |
| Full-time Student (includes breakfast and lunch; does not include membership) | $65.00 |
Documentation for In-Service Credit is provided!
**Please note: You are not registered for the conference until you have submitted payment.
Registration fee is non-refundable.
Please proceed to payment by clicking the button to continue.
FLCHE T-SHIRTS
Purchase a Florida Council for History Education T-Shirt! Pre-order by 7/21 and your shirt will be waiting for you at check-in, or purchase your shirt at the conference (limited sizing available).
Sizes Small-X-Large - $20.00
XX-Large $22.00
Purchase T-Shirts with Registration
CONFERENCE RAFFLE TICKETS
We are excited to announce that our popular raffle will take place once again at this year's conference! As a conference attendee, you can purchase raffle tickets for the chance to win some amazing gifts.
Raffle items include Gift Baskets, Books, Collectible Items, a Complimentary Registration to FLCHE's and NCHE's Annual Conferences, and more!
For a limited time, we are offering “Early Bird” raffle tickets.
Purchase 25 tickets for $20 before July 20, 2026!
Not to Worry...
If you wait until you get to the conference to purchase your raffle tickets, we will still have them available for only $1.00 each!
Florida Council for History Education holds registration SC-04988 with the Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800) 435-7352 WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.
Comimg Soon! Check back to see our raffle items....More items to come....
Hotel Accommodations
The FLCHE Conference preferred hotel is:
Mission Resort + Club
10400 County Road 48. Howey-in-the-Hills, Florida 34737
Booking:
Book here: Reservations
Hotel Phone: Tel: (352) 324-3101
Rooms:
Room Rate - $129
Reserve by June 22, 2026 to receive these discounts.
Discounted golf and other amenities!
Click here to see all amenities offered: http://www.missionresortandclub.com
Get Social
Check-in and post about your experience at our conference events!
Don't forget to use the hashtags #FLCHE2026 #Innovationinhistory #HistoryEducationMatters
And be sure to follow us @FLhistoryed