The moment I saw the call, I knew I wanted to join the Simmons Center tour guide team. Having previously given tours about racial slavery in Providence, I find it a great way to push myself to communicate better. Public historians like myself bring archival research to a public audience, with a strong emphasis on creating clear, engaging dialogue on challenging subjects. It requires flexibility; the ability to pivot according to the audience’s needs. This is a great example of that work; there is preparation, there is writing, and then there is the conversation. Standing there with a group next to the landscape of history, the bricks, the plaques, the documents, and pulling stories out makes the many hours of research and editing worthwhile. The questions people ask help me continue to improve the tour. And even more gratifying is when I hear how others are using what they learned during our tours, taking it in another direction, and the ways that these conversations have afterlives.

It can be challenging talking over lawnmowers, dodging frisbees and getting wet from the rain. But it has been a great privilege to engage others in these onsite dialogues about the history of  racial slavery and justice at Brown and beyond. Understanding the ways our present moment was built, over time, and how echoes of the past are still with us today adds to my life and work, and I am thankful to do it.

Traci Picard ’23 A.M.
Slavery & Legacy Walking Tour Guide

As a Ph.D. candidate in the History department, my proctorship with the Reimagining New England Histories (RNEH) project has been an invaluable part of my graduate experience here at Brown. While I was able to touch base with the exhibition and education components of the project, I worked primarily with the publications committee to get the print and digital publication off the ground. As a graduate student, getting exposure to the backend work that goes into making a publication can be rare. Over the course of this academic year, I was able to support the creation of the RNEH publication from drafting the call for contributors, narrowing down the list of editors, and proposing avenues for community outreach. I cannot emphasize enough on the genuine sense of shared purpose fostered by the Simmons Center & community stakeholders. Everyone involved in the publication and the RNEH project as a whole has worked with the knowledge that our work has the potential to play a significant role in shaping a  fuller, resilient, and vibrant history for New England. History is, at its core, a storytelling profession. To be able to be part of the creation of a platform for the Black, Indigenous, and Afro-Indigenous stories of New England has been a precious thing.

Imen Boussayoud ’26 Ph.D.
Reimagining New England Histories Graduate Proctor