BOWLING GREEN, O. -- Andrew Carroll, the editor of the best-selling book, "War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars," will be the keynote speaker on April 3 at the annual Conference on Local History sponsored by the Bowling Green State University Center for Archival Collections.

Carroll directs the Legacy Project, a national, all-volunteer effort to preserve wartime correspondence before the letters are lost or destroyed. More than 75,000 letters, including e-mail from Afghanistan, have been collected since the project began in 1998. He will speak on "War Uncensored-War Letters: Extraordinary Correspondence from American Wars" during the morning session of the conference at 10 a.m.

John Sugden, author of "Blue Jacket, Warrior of the Shawnees," and Sandy Antal, author of "A Wampum Denied," will speak during the afternoon sessions of the conference.

Sugden, who holds degrees in history and social sciences from three British universities, will give a session at 1 p.m. on "Ingenious and Sound Politicians: The Shawnees and the Defense of the Ohio."

A regular contributor to academic journals, Sugden is known on both sides of the Atlantic. His books include "Tecumseh's Last Stand," "Sir Francis Drake," "Tecumseh, a Life," and his latest, "Blue Jacket, Warrior of the Shawnees," published in 2000.

Antal, a native of Hungary who grew up in Ontario, Canada, became a teacher and began writing after retiring from the Canadian Forces. Over the past 25 years he has conducted research chiefly related to the conflict on the Detroit frontier during the War of 1812. His 1997 book, "A Wampum Denied," received the American Library Association Choice Award. Antal will discuss a key player in the conflict during a 2:30 p.m. session titled "Henry Procter: A Matter of Honour and Policy."

All three authors will take part in a book signing. In addition, winners of the Local History Publication Award will be announced at the conference, which will be held at the French Quarter in Perrysburg.

Reservations to attend are $30 per person, which includes lunch. The deadline to register is March 28. For more details, call the BGSU Center for Archival Collections at 419-372-2411.

(Posted March 20, 2003 )