On March 19?22, 2025, in Boston, Massachusetts, the Preserving the Recent Past 4 (PRP4) conference will offer a national forum to share the latest strategies for identifying, protecting, and conserving significant structures and sites from the recent past.

Thirty years after the inaugural Preserving the Recent Past conference, PRP4 will build upon its groundbreaking legacy with a new conference of concurrent presentation sessions, plenary talks, workshops, and tours. Since PRP’s first meeting in Chicago in 1995 (and its follow-ups in 2000 and 2019), many new resources have reached fifty years of age; innovation continues in the treatment of postwar materials and assemblies; and new survey and documentation techniques have emerged. Buildings and sites from the recent past reflect the dynamism, creativity, and tensions of the society that created them. They tell stories—of culture and community, of environmental change, of multiple and successive modern styles, design practices, innovative products, and movements of social consciousness and activism.

Prospective speakers are encouraged to submit abstracts of no more than 250 words for individual presentations or complete multi-speaker sessions on topics related to recent past preservation. A typical conference presentation length will be 25 minutes. Proposals related to structures and sites less than sixty years old are encouraged. Paper sessions will be organized based on the following tracks:

- History & Context

- Preservation & Advocacy

- Technical Conservation

To propose a presentation, please submit an abstract no later than September 15, 2024, using the submission form below. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Program Manager at info@hpef.us.