Participant Biographies

Panel 1: “The Evolving History of Virginia’s Central State Hospital, 1869-2025: Panel discussion”

Moderator: Adrienne Fikes, Friends of Virginia’s Central State Hospital board member.
Dr. King Davis, President of the Friends of Virginia’s Central State Hospital
Dr. Ronald Forbes, Vice President of the Friends of Virginia’s Central State Hospital

Panel 2: “Exploring the History of Enslavement in North Carolina and Virginia”

Moderator: TBA

Maverick Easton Huneycutt, “Memories of Enslavement and the North Carolina WPA Ex-Slave Narrative Collection”

Gaila C. Sims, “Sparking Freedom: Enslaved Resistance in Fredericksburg and Stafford, Virginia”

Audrey McDowell, “Tracing Jordans from Eastern North Carolina to Colonial Era Virginia”

Tyrone S. Goodwyn, “Enslaved Indigenous in Central Virginia. The Power of the Grapevine Against Institutional Slavery”

Panel 3: “Reclaiming Our Story”

Moderator: Lisa Winn Bryan
Lorenzo Dickerson
Dr. James Harrison
Michael Johnson
Michelle Oliver
Horace Scruggs

Panel 4: “Strength in Sisterhood: The Power of a Council of Women in Navigating Life, Family, and Career”

Moderator: Shené V. Owens, Ph.D.
Eltonette Harris, Ph.D.
Stephanie L. Sutton
Tasha Turnbull

Panel 5: "Exploring Black Americans through Disability, Relationships, Religion, and Conversations"

Moderator: TBA

Robert Monson, “Black Disabled Resilience in an Age of Waiting”

darlene anita scott, “Relationship Goals: The Liberating Power of Intimacy In What We’ve Become”

Trey Ferguson, “Black Resilience through Theology”

Gabrielle Kubi, “Conversations in Color: Conceptualizing University-Based Black Girls’ Development of an Intersectional Awareness of Misogynoir”

Panel 6: “Prenatal Through Postpartum: The Renaissance of Black Maternal Health”

Moderator: Devonne Winston, MPH, MB, HTL (ASCP)cm, CIC

Moira Offord, M.S.
Ashley Nelson, M.S

Panel 7: “Descendant Power | Mobilizing for Community and Advocacy”

Moderator: Jessica Harris
Star Reams
Laura Morgan Roberts

Panel 8: “Jackson Ward: The Birthplace of Black Capitalism"

Moderator: Faith Norrell
Faithe Norrell
Enjoli Moon
Sesha Moon

Panel 9: “Resilience and Healing Through History and Communities”

Moderator: TBA

Dawn Henderson, “Using a Community Assessment to Cultivate Resistance, Healing and Love”

Lynette N Stewart, “Family First: The Bedrock of Black Resilience through Cultural Practices and Collective Action”

Robin Jeser Wootton, “Can you meet me at Log Cabin Beach: a history of Grove and its resilience”

Orisade Awodola, “The Pennington Project”

Panel 10: “Undefeated by Eminent Domain: The Lee Family Rebuilding after Displacement in WWI”

Moderator: Mary Lassiter
Rosa Lee
Curtis Lassiter Sr.
Berrender Johnson

Panel 11: “Piney Swamp: A Place of Black Resistance, a Site of Black Landedness, a Subject of Cooperative Research”

Moderator: Sara Lewis, Fairfield Foundation
Darold Cuba, PhD (ABD), Founding Chair of the Cambridge AntiRacism Forum (CARF) and MarronageOrg, Cambridge University, UK
David A. Brown, PhD, Director, Fairfield Foundation
Nathaniel Glasgow, GIS Technician & Archaeologist, Fairfield Foundation
Apostle Markita Brooks, Pastor, Truth in the Spirit, Historic Antioch Baptist Church

Panel 12: “We've Come Full-Circle: How Two Families Separated by Slavery are Back Together Again"

Moderator: Malerie Gamblin, M.Ed.
Ellicia Bragg Chau
Corinne Chau
Herbert Bragg

Panel 13: “Healing Through the Arts: Music, Stories, and Dance”

Moderator: TBA

Horace J. Scruggs, III, “Song: The Tie That Binds”

Vincent Sneed, How Teaching African American Music Can Create Equitable Schools”

Valerie-Alfisha Valentine, ‘No Fish Allowed in this Area’

Valerie A. Winborne, “Alchemy of Being: Black Memory, Movement, and the Dance of Survival”

Panel 14: “The Resilience of Black Women”

Moderator: TBA

Jill Found, "Didn't I Bring You Up?:" Maintaining Family at Betsy's South Carolina College”

Ivey Kline, “Contesting Slavery, Articulating Selfhood: Black Virginian Women’s Freedom Suits in the Nineteenth Century”

Karen A. Ford, “Lessons from Janie Porter Barrett: Past to Present”

Panel 15: “Partnership Model for Historical Preservation that Empowers Communities: The Cape Charles Rosenwald School Restoration Initiative and the W&M Public Policy Program”

Moderator: Paul Manna
Tevya Griffin
Dianne Davis
Matthew Nwaneri

**Panel 16: "Writing The Williamsburg Bray School: A Study in Community Resilience and Partnership”**

Moderator: Maureen Elgersman Lee
Janice Canaday
Johnette Gordon-Weaver
Burnell Irby
Theodora "Teddi" Ashby

Panel 17: "Lemon Project Graduate Student Panel"

Kelly Conway
Monet Watson
Bennett White

Panel 18: “This Represents Opportunity:” Black Resilience and the Legacy of Mitchelville”

Moderator: Madie Critchfield Fischetti
Dr. Katherine Seeber
Ahmad Ward

Panel 19: “Aspiring for Change: Community Transformation Through "Coming to the Table"

Moderator: Hayat Bain
Danita Rountree Green
Laura Hill
Roslyn Ella Honesty

Panel 20: “Initiatives for Memorialization & Institutional Accountability”

Moderator: Christine Cynn
Ashley Burks
Arya Hanjagi
I-Kamilah Hiwott
Maryam Shaw
Victoria Vidal

Panel 21: “Highlighting Undergraduate Research at William & Mary”

Moderator: TBA

Martha Holler, “Envisioning Change: Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's American Utopia in "Iola Leroy"

Abigail Swanberg, “Diversity on DOG Street”

Jennifer Putzi and Micah Hutchings, “Mary Virginia Montgomery's Diary: Education and Resilience in Reconstruction Mississippi”

Panel 22: “Healing Through Truth: Exploring the Intersection of Historical Narratives, Reparations and Mental Health at Virginia Theological Seminary”

Moderator: Ebonee Davis-Hayes
Maddy McCoy
Simone Jacobs

Panel 23: “Reclaiming the Narrative: Rediscovering the Black History of Smith's Fort”

Moderator: Elyse Werling
Faith Page
Rev. Dr. James Harrison

Panel 24: “Resilience Through Cooperation – William & Mary Cultural Heritage Immersion Program (CHiP)”

Moderator: Tonia Meredith
Olivia Blackshire
Eliza Fernandez
Elle Kim