Brown professor Elena Shih spent years embedded in anti-trafficking organizations across Thailand and China, expecting to document the rescue of sex slavery victims. Instead, her award-winning research revealed a troubling reality: many "rescued" women were never trafficked at all, the rehabilitation programs often caused more harm than good, and the lucrative "slave-free" products sold to well-meaning Americans were built on a carefully crafted narrative that had little to do with what these women actually needed. Her findings challenge the entire anti-trafficking industry and raise uncomfortable questions about who really benefits from the business of rescue.

Simmons Center Slavery & Finance Research Cluster Fellow, and Simmons Center Faculty Advisory Board Member, Seth Rockman’s latest book, Plantation Goods: A Material History of American Slavery, has earned widespread acclaim, including recognition as a 2025 Pulitzer Prize finalist in history. The book, more than 15 years in the making, examines the everyday objects—like shoes, cloth, and tools—produced in New England and shipped south to sustain the economy of slavery. By analyzing these artifacts and even recreating some through hands-on weaving, Rockman uncovers how such goods connected Northern industry to Southern bondage, embodying both opportunity and oppression.

The Simmons Center welcomes a new cohort of six Public Humanities MA Students to campus in the fall of 2025. This cohort is expected to graduate in 2027.

“The Tally” (Voyage of the Slaving Brig Sally 1764–1765) and “Voices from the Middle Passage” are now part of the Simmons Center’s permanent collection and are on view at the Center after being generously donated by the artist, Pamela Pike Gordinier.

In July 2025, we welcomed 15 High School students for a week of learning, reflection, and community-building focused on the often-untold histories of Black and Indigenous peoples in New England. Brown’s Simmons Center, NAISI, and the Tomaquag Museum led courses on the 13th Amendment and The War for the Dawnland, with guest speakers and space to reflect on these important stories.

Historian Mack Scott, Visiting Assistant Professor of Slavery and Justice at the Simmons Center, describes himself as an “actualist.” His varied research interests share a common thread—mending ruptures in the fabric of dominant historical narratives through stories that have been neglected or erased. His goal is a more complete history—one that strives to document what actually happened.

Newport, Rhode Island, is often celebrated for its Gilded Age mansions and seaside charm, but the city also has a rich and enduring Black history. The latest season of HBO’s The Gilded Age highlights Newport’s thriving 19th-century Black community, exploring the lives of property owners, entrepreneurs, and socially prominent families whose stories have often been overlooked. Historians and consultants for the show draw on primary sources to illuminate how Black Newporters shaped the city’s social, cultural, and economic life during this transformative period.

Taneisha Wilson reflects on the passing of Professor Lundy Braun

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 Race, Medicine, and Social Justice Cluster reflects on a year of impactful scholarship and the profound loss of Dr. Lundy Braun. Co-led by Dr. Braun and Dr. Taneisha Wilson, the Cluster advanced critical work on racism in medicine and will continue to honor Dr. Braun’s legacy through ongoing events, research, and transformative public health advocacy.

Hosted by the Simmons Center and NAISI, "In Conversation" brought together Black and Indigenous scholars, educators, and community historians for two days of dialogue on teaching and preserving these intertwined histories. The symposium fostered collaboration across disciplines and communities, centering knowledge sharing, listening, and learning.