Conferences
The Society sponsors an international conference typically every three years, with our last conference held in July 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. It also sponsors scholarly panels at major academic conferences in theatre and literature, which include Modern Language Association (MLA), Comparative Drama Conference (CDC) and the American Literature Association (ALA) Conference.
The Eugene O’Neill Society has sponsored several international conferences. These include: Eugene O’Neill “The Early Years,” 1984 (Suffolk University, Boston); Eugene O’Neill “The Later Years,” 1986 (Suffolk University, Boston); “O’Neill’s People,” 1995 (Suffolk University, Boston); Eugene O’Neill “The Bermuda Years,” 1999, Bermuda; 2003 in Tours, France; 2005 in Provincetown, MA; 2008 in San Ramon, CA and at Tao House; 2011 in New York City, 2014 in New London, CT, and in Galway,
In addition to the conferences already noted, The Eugene O’Neill Society has been associated with several other notable O’Neill-related conferences offered with the O’Neill Society’s support and participation. Three such conferences of particular importance occurred in Nanjing, China; Tokyo, Japan; and Han-sur-Lesse, Belgium, in 1988 at the time of the Centenary of Eugene O’Neill’s birth. Other related O’Neill events sponsored by the Eugene O’Neill Society have included celebrations of the actor Jason Robards’ O’Neill performances; panels with guests that included O’Neill actresses Ingrid Bergman, Colleen Dewhurst, Ruby Dee and Geraldine Fitzgerald; and celebrations of other major O’Neillians' work at O’Neill’s homes at Tao House in Danville, California; the Monte Cristo Cottage in New London Connecticut; Spithead in Bermuda; and Le Plessis in Tours, France.
Awarding of the Eugene O’Neill Medallion was instituted at the 1995 Boston International Conference of the Eugene O’Neill Society. The Eugene O’Neill Medallion is given to distinguished O’Neillians who have dedicated significant portions of their careers to furthering knowledge and appreciation of O’Neill. Award recipients have included: actors Jason Robards, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Brian Dennehy, Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, and John Douglas Thompson; directors
Jose Quintero, Arvin Brown, Theodore Mann and Robert Falls; author/scholar Travis Bogard; scholar Normand Berlin; scholar and curator Donald Gallup; scholar and Society "father" Jordan Miller; scholar and The Eugene O'Neill Review founding editor Fred Wilkins; O’Neill Biographers Arthur and Barbara Gelb; producer Paul Libin; and scholar/authors Stephen A. Black, Jackson R. Bryer, Robert M. Dowling, William Davies King, Zander Brietzke, and Thierry Dubost. Also awarded have been past EONS Secretary Diane Schinerrer, curators of Monte Cristo Cottage Sally Pavetti and Lois McDonald, past EONS Presidents Brenda Murphy and Kurt Eisen, Chairman of the Board Steven Bloom, and Founder of the Eugene O'Neill Center George C. White. In July 2022, the award was presented to the Eugene O'Neill Foundation of Danville, California, and the Irish Repertory Theatre of New York City.