Donnamarie Barnes, Director of History & Heritage at Sylvester Manor—the most intact plantation remnant north of Virginia—joined the Simmons Center to explore how stories of the land and its people are uncovered and reimagined through photography, storytelling, and preservation at this historic Long Island site.

At UNESCO’s request, the Simmons Center is leading a global project mapping anti-Black racism. After two years of collaboration with scholars and activists across Africa and the Caribbean, the project’s Steering Committee met at Brown in March 2024 to finalize the report, slated for publication in late 2025.

In May 2024, a research update on Archives of Slavery and Justice shared new findings on the free and enslaved laborers who built Brown University. Drawing on the Brown Family Business Records, the project reexamines archival materials to uncover names, relationships, and stories that reshape our understanding of the university’s early history.

For Patricia Santos, the Reimagining New England Histories Professional Learning Opportunity was more than professional development, it was a call to teach for justice. Through collaboration with the Curriculum Committee, she helped refine lessons that center Indigenous histories and contributions, ensuring that truthful, inclusive narratives reach classrooms year-round.

In 2024, the Human Trafficking Research Cluster marked major milestones: launching a new book on sex worker health in Rhode Island, continuing collaborative research with Red Canary Song, and preparing to debut “Liberation Atlas,” a digital map of policing violence against Asian massage workers in NYC.

Over the past year, the Race, Slavery, Colonialism and Capitalism Research Cluster deepened its impact through a spring workshop, student-led panels, and original research projects. Graduate and undergraduate fellows collaborated with leading scholars to examine racial capitalism and imperialism, while building community across disciplines and institutions.

As part of the 2023 Black Alumni Reunion, former Ruth J. Simmons Center fellows reflected on their journeys as leaders in curation, preservation, and interpretation. Sharing insights from their work in museums and cultural institutions, they discussed how the Center’s community and vision continue to shape public humanities and the pursuit of restorative justice.

At a conference honoring George Lamming, Professor Brian Meeks examined Lamming’s political vision for a unified Caribbean. Through his edited volume "On the Canvas of this World," Lamming brought together leading regional thinkers to imagine an expansive, inclusive anti-colonial future—one that continues to illuminate paths forward amid today’s global challenges.

During her fellowship with the Reimagining New England Histories project, Cheryll Toney Holley worked to amplify Black and Indigenous voices and challenge traditional narratives of the region’s past. Serving on exhibition, K–12 curriculum, and publication committees, she helped develop community-centered educational materials and public history projects.

Simmons Center Director, Anthony Bogues, reflects on the Center’s 12th year—a time marked by the loss of Professor Lundy Braun, the launch of our pilot MA in Integrative Studies focused in Public Humanities, and the opening of "In Slavery’s Wake", a major exhibition with the Smithsonian exploring Black freedom and the legacies of slavery and colonialism.

The Mass Incarceration Punishment in America Research Cluster explored the roots and impact of mass incarceration, emphasizing race and anti-Black racism. In 2023–2024, it hosted author talks, live oral histories with formerly incarcerated individuals, and built an archive centering incarcerated voices through its Mass Incarceration Lab.

A decade after opening, the Center was renamed for President Emerita Ruth J. Simmons in honor of her landmark efforts to uncover Brown’s historical ties to slavery. The renaming ceremony featured new campus signage and a special gift to Dr. Simmons: a custom box archiving a decade’s worth of exhibition catalogs, celebrating the Center’s public humanities mission.

The Unfinished Conversations series in Senegal explored the legacies of slavery and colonialism in Saint Louis and Orkadiéré by gathering stories often silenced by public memory. Guided by teranga (care and repair), the series highlighted struggles for freedom, religious resistance, land reclamation, and the survival of enslaved descendants. These testimonies now inform the exhibition In Slavery’s Wake.

The Unfinished Conversations Series is a global oral history and archival project documenting how the legacies of slavery and colonialism shape lives today. Led by the Simmons Center and Global Curatorial Project partners, it has recorded over 200 hours of interviews across four continents, centering community voices often erased from official histories.

During Family Weekend, 2023 Heimark Artist in Residence Renée Elizabeth Neely-TANNER presented an artist talk and exhibition exploring the legacy of the Great Dismal Swamp Maroons. Her work connected their resistance and freedom to the expressive possibilities of abstract art, inviting audiences to reflect on history through a liberatory visual lens.

In its first year, the Slavery’s Financial History Research Cluster gathered Brown scholars to explore how slavery shaped global finance. Through guest lectures and collaborative discussions, the group emphasized "following the money" as key to uncovering new insights into slavery’s role in modern economic systems.

Art and the Freedom Struggle: The Works of Mumia Abu-Jamal (March 1–December 11, 2024) explores artistic expression under incarceration. Curated by Melaine Ferdinand-King, the exhibit draws from Abu-Jamal’s archive and features his art, poetry, and music centered on abolition, Black liberation, and community. The show includes events, a catalog, and a new essay by Abu-Jamal.

In Slavery’s Wake: Making Black Freedom in the World is a traveling exhibition exploring the global legacies of slavery, colonialism, and Black freedom-making. Featuring over 100 artifacts, images, and multimedia, it connects history, art, and descendant voices from The Unfinished Conversations oral archive. Co-curated by Brown and the Smithsonian, it will tour five countries from 2025–2028, fostering global dialogue.

Reimagining New England Histories is a four-year collaboration between Brown, Williams, and Mystic Seaport Museum that centers African and Indigenous histories in the region. Supported by a Mellon Just Futures grant, the project produced exhibits, publications, and curricula while building lasting, reciprocal relationships with community partners.

In 2023–2024, the Carceral State Reading Group served as a vital space for dialogue on captivity and repression, engaging with local and global crises. Anchored by Brown’s acquisition of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s archive, the group hosted a public symposium exploring resistance, political imprisonment, and organizing, with lasting materials now available for continued learning and action.

In 2023–2024, the Symbolic Garden of the Enslaved team adapted through their first winter, mulching with comfrey and collecting seeds. They hosted an African-inspired amulet workshop in spring and revitalized the garden in summer with new plantings and structures. They also began building a website to share the garden’s history, symbolism, and plant profiles with the public.

A decade-long global research effort led by Brown’s Simmons Center has culminated in In Slavery’s Wake, a landmark Smithsonian exhibition tracing the global legacies of slavery and Black freedom-making. Featuring 150 oral histories, hundreds of artifacts, and contemporary art, the show centers the voices of the enslaved and colonized. It runs through June 2025 before traveling to five countries.

Entwined: Freedom, Sovereignty, and the Sea is the culminating exhibition of the Reimagining New England Histories project. Co-created with Indigenous and Black communities, it reclaims maritime histories beyond colonialism and slavery, centering ancestral knowledge, survival, and ongoing sovereignty across 12,000 years of history.

This past semester, as part of the Simmons Center’s Community Engagement Initiative and K–12 focus, we hosted Providence Youth Student Movement (PrYSM) in Norwood House as they held their annual fall training series. This year’s series was called Liberation 101 and was led by Suonriaksmay Keo (she/her/hers), the Youth Engagement Director of PrYSM.

The Simmons Center is excited to welcome our first cohort of Public Humanities MA Students to campus in the fall of 2024. This cohort is expected to graduate in 2026.

As part of the Simmons Center’s 10th anniversary, the Marian Anderson String Quartet returned to campus with "On Being Enslaved"—a powerful recital tracing the journey from auction block to concert stage, uniting music with memory, resistance, and healing.

“There was a transnational flow of medical knowledge about how disease spread that increased between 1756 and 1866 and transpired not only at familiar hubs of medical research but also at sites of imperialism, slavery, war, and dispossession.” (Downs, Maladies of Empire, p. 5)

The Cluster hosted Dr. Michael Walker for a talk on his book, "Indefinite: Doing Time in Jail", exploring incarceration’s toll. Students archived letters, testified for reform, and amplified voices of those impacted by prison.

David Haas reflects on how Brown’s groundbreaking Slavery and Justice Report first drew his attention back to the university. He celebrates Dr. Ruth J. Simmons’ bold leadership in initiating a deep institutional reckoning and highlights the Simmons Center’s evolving role as a hub for interdisciplinary scholarship and public engagement

The Simmons Center, in partnership with the Tomaquag Museum, hosted a free 6-day Black & Indigenous Summer Institute for Rhode Island rising 10th–12th grade students. The Summer Institute is designed within a restorative justice framework that centers self-reflection, critical thinking, and reading against the grain to reframe how we understand history and heal our communities.

In a joint project with the International Institute of Social History, the Cluster unites scholars from across continents. Since 2021, the group has met in Amsterdam and Jamaica to examine racial capitalism, colonial rule, and slavery’s lasting impact, fostering global discussions on these interconnected histories.

The Stolen Relations project, launched in 2015 at Brown University, seeks to recover and reinterpret the often hidden histories of Indigenous slavery, offering a fresh perspective on the colonial past and its lasting impact.

Dr. Brenda Allen, President of Lincoln University, recounts her early role as Associate Provost and Director of Institutional Diversity and Allen's key role in guiding the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice through complex debates over slavery’s legacy, ultimately helping produce a landmark report grounded in intellectual rigor and institutional courage.

Amanda E. Strauss reflects on the powerful connection between art and archives through Jess Hill’s quilt “Oh Say, Can You See: America and Its Birth” (2022). Now part of the Hay’s permanent collection, it is displayed on its grand staircase. For Strauss, the piece captures the layered history the Center explores and evokes personal memories of her own beginnings in textile storytelling.

From 2022–2023, the Reimagining New England Histories committee collaborated with educators and scholars to create K–12 lessons centering Black and Indigenous experiences in New England. Their work reframed Thanksgiving, highlighted mariners’ histories, and launched a student podcast contest to challenge colonial narratives.

In 2023, the HTRC celebrated the launch of "White Supremacy, Racism, and the Coloniality of Anti-Trafficking", an anthology exploring how anti-trafficking efforts are rooted in systemic racism and colonial power structures. The cluster also premiered "Fly in Power", a documentary on Asian migrant massage workers, highlighting labor exploitation and racial justice.

Libby Heimark reflects on Dr. Simmons’ transformative presidency and enduring influence. From championing need-blind admissions to confronting Brown’s historical ties to slavery, Simmons combined courage, strategic vision, and scholarly integrity. Her leadership led to the creation of the Center for the Study of Slavery and Justice which has become a global model for institutional reckoning with historical injustice.

In Spring 2023, the Simmons Center welcomed three Providence high school students to its Student Enrichment program, supporting youth-led social justice projects. From African American fashion to youth activism and Ethnic Studies in medicine, students explored local history, conducted research, and engaged with community partners.

As part of the Simmons Center’s 10th Anniversary series, writer and ritual performance artist Cherise Morris ’16 returned to Brown for the premiere of the cosmic matter of Black lives. Through poetry, prayer, and ancestral wisdom, Morris invited audiences into a ritual performance exploring diasporic healing, ecological harmony, and racial justice.

In 2022–2023, Allyson LaForge, supported by the Simmons Center, led key efforts to inventory 10,000 cultural Belongings at the Tomaquag Museum. She helped adapt the museum’s cataloging system to reflect Indigenous knowledge systems, laying the groundwork for a major move and future use of Traditional Knowledge Labels.

To mark its 10th anniversary, the Center presented 'Racial Slavery, Marronage, and Freedom', a retrospective featuring Edouard Duval-Carrié, Jess Hill, and Rénold Laurent. Each artist, a longtime collaborator of the Center, debuted new work exploring resistance, memory, and the legacy of slavery through bold, layered visual storytelling and reflection.

In 2022–2023, the Carceral State Reading Group deepened its study of political imprisonment, focusing on Brown’s acquisition of Mumia Abu-Jamal’s papers. Members attended conferences, built relationships with activists, and collaborated with student and community groups on campaigns like Stop Cop City.

In 2022–2023, Decolonization at Brown (DAB) underwent vital restructuring to ensure sustainability, refocusing efforts and recruiting new members. Despite mid-year challenges, DAB hosted key events, including a screening of "What is this Place" and a discussion with Azad Essa on "Hostile Homelands".

Inspired in part by cultural theorist Stuart Hall, Unfinished Conversations (UC) is a new form of curatorial practice, public engagement, and programming to collect, give voice to, and provide a platform for untold histories, memories, and narratives related to the history of racialized slavery and its afterlives.

In 2022–2023, (De)Cypher: Black Notes on Culture and Criticism explored Black culture through study groups and conversations with working-class artists. The journal refined its methodology, culminating in a forthcoming edition, and hosted Cyphering While Black, a multimedia series featuring live discussions with independent hip-hop artists.