View Video of the Keynote from Lynn Nicholas, author of "Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe’s Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War"
&
View Video of Panel 1, "Unfinished Business: Holocaust Restitution"

View Photos from the Conference

Read an Article Summarizing the Conference in DoDLegacy's Cultural Resources Update Newsletter

Oct 23 Conference

“Culture and Conflict: the U.S. and the 1954 Hague Convention”

Oct 22 Membership Meetings

LCCHP & The US Committee of the Blue Shield Hold Separate Membership Meetings, Followed by a Joint Reception
 

Pre-registration for this event is now closed, and the event is very close to sold out.  We should have a few onsite registration slots available at the National Trust Friday morning, on a first-come, first-served basis.

In March 2009, the United States ratified the 1954 Hague Convention on the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict raising serious questions about implementation and next steps for the U.S. military and for this country generally.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation and U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield present a conference, “Culture and Conflict: The United States and the 1954 Hague Convention,” to consider the domestic and international ramifications of U.S. ratification.

The conference will begin with an evaluation of the continuing efforts to restitute art works looted during the Holocaust and not recovered in the immediate aftermath of World War II, particularly in light of the June 2009 Prague conference on the status of restitution efforts throughout Europe and the United States. The program will then turn to what government organizations, particularly the U.S. military, are doing to ensure compliance with the Hague Convention and to avert or mitigate cultural damage in future conflicts.  The final panel will discuss what more the U.S. must do to protect its own cultural heritage in event of conflict, the prospects for future ratification of the Hague Convention’s First and Second Protocols, and the role of the Hague Convention ratification within U.S. public and cultural diplomacy.

DATE:
October 23, 2009 Conference (Fri) - 8:30am-5:00pm
October 22, 2009 Annual Membership Meetings (Thu) - 2:30pm-5:00pm

LOCATION:

National Trust for Historic Preservation
1785 Massachusetts Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20036
www.preservationnation.org

KEYNOTE:

• MAJ James Ahern, Force Development Plans Officer, U.S. Army Civil Affairs and Psychological Operations Command, Ft. Bragg, NC
  
• Monica Dugot, Senior Vice-President and International Director of Restitution, Christie’s, New York
• Robert Edsel, author of "The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History" and of "Rescuing Da Vinci"
• Patty Gerstenblith, President, Lawyers’ Committee for Cultural Heritage Preservation, and Distinguished Research Professor, DePaul University College of Law
• Ann Hitchcock, Senior Advisor for Scientific Collections & Environmental Safeguards, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Richard Jackson, Special Assistant to the Judge Advocate General for Law of War Matters, U.S. Department of Defense, and Army Colonel (Ret.)
  

• Thomas R. Kline, Partner, Andrews Kurth LLP and Assistant Professorial Lecturer, George Washington University, Museum Studies Program
• Marc Masurovsky, Historian
  
• W. Hays Parks, Senior Associate Deputy General Counsel, International Affairs, Office of General Counsel, Department of Defense
• Michael Peay, Assistant Legal Advisor for Public Diplomacy, U.S. Department of State
• Laurie Rush, Director, Legacy In Theater Heritage Training Program, Office of the Secretary of Defense; Army Archaeologist, Ft. Drum,  NY
• Karl von Habsburg, President, Association of National Committees of the Blue Shield, and Cultural Property Protection Officer, Austrian Army
• Corine Wegener, President, U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield; Associate Curator, Decorative Arts, Textiles, and Sculpture at The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and MAJ (Ret.)  U.S. Army Reserves
• Jane Gray Yagley, ESF #11 National NCH Coordinator, Office of Environmental Policy and Compliance, Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior
• Nancy Yeide, Head, Department of Curatorial Research, National Gallery

CLE CREDITS:

CLE Credits are now available for attendance at the conference. You will be eligible to receive 4.5 CLE credits and will register at the conference. The cost will depend on the state for which you wish to receive the credit. If you have any questions, contact Jennifer Dabson at jdabson@wcl.american.edu or 202 274-4077.

REGISTRATION:

FULL CONFERENCE SCHEDULE:

View Hourly Schedule for Oct 23 Culture & Conflict Conference