I am a historian, Dean, and nationally recognized public scholar whose work bridges archives, classrooms, and public history. My scholarship focuses on African American women as creators of textiles and seamstress laborers, both enslaved and free. My book manuscript in progress centers these women as architects of survival and culture, restoring them to the history of American labor. I am also co-editing a forthcoming book on the impact of AI in education, reflecting my commitment to understanding how technology is reshaping teaching, learning, and equity in higher education.

I have secured grants and fellowships from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, advancing projects in service learning, digital archives, and the preservation of African American heritage. My Mellon-funded work has included service learning initiatives that connect humanities education to career pathways, while my NEH Faculty Fellowship at Columbia University focused on AI, archives, and data, expanding how we think about digital preservation and access. I co-authored the National Register nomination for the home of Dr. Matilda A. Evans, South Carolina’s first Black woman physician, and I currently serve as a consultant on Mount Vernon’s new Washington exhibit opening in 2026.

My service includes membership on the State Board of Review for the National Register of Historic Places (South Carolina), the Board of the Penn Center National Historic Landmark on St. Helena Island (a cornerstone of Gullah-Geechee culture), and the Board of the Nineteenth Century Studies Association. I have also held leadership roles on national committees, including the Organization of American Historians’ Committee on the Status of Women in the Historical Profession and the Southern Labor Studies Association.

As Dean of Behavioral, Social Sciences & Global Learning at Bunker Hill Community College, the largest community college in Massachusetts, I oversee academic departments along with the International Center, the Center for Service Learning & Community Engagement, and the Commonwealth Honors Program. Since 2017, I have also served as Lead Scholar for the George Washington Teacher Institute, designing and leading national seminars on slavery, women’s work, and material culture.

My work has been featured on NPR, in SCETV documentaries, and at national conferences. I have delivered invited lectures at Monticello, Mount Vernon, and the National Council for History Education, and my public scholarship has been recognized with awards for teaching, mentorship, and diversity leadership.

At the heart of my vocation is my ancestral inheritance. I descend from families whose stories stretch from enslavement and freedom in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and North Carolina, from Cape Verdean migration to Native New England roots. Among my kin are my 4th great-uncles Prince Saunders, the educator and diplomat, and William Apes (Apess), the Pequot minister and author. Their legacies of advocacy and vision live on in my work today.