Biography: Jeremiah Ellis is an award-winning public history researcher, author, and seventh-generation Minnesotan dedicated to uncovering the deep roots of African American self-determination and excellence in the Upper Midwest. Rooted in his local ancestry—including great-grandparents who owned the historic Booker T. Restaurant on Rondo Avenue—Ellis utilizes institutional archives, community journalism, oral histories and meticulous genealogy to correct systemic erasure. An alumnus of the Roy Wilkins Community Fellowship, Ellis has extensive experience with this global convening, having moderated a simultaneously translated panel at the 5th World Conference at Federal Espirito Santo University and presented on, "The Overlooked Legacy: Black Women of the Twin Cities Ordnance Plant," at the 6th World Conference. At this year's conference, he will present an archival analysis of the suburban "Hughes Enclave" in and St. Paul's century-old Sterling Club, demonstrating how mid-century Black trailblazers strategically utilized professional excellence and deliberate land acquisition to build physical and institutional havens against Jim Crow segregation. Ellis was the Arthur C. McWatt Senior Fellow with the Ramsey County Historical Society and earned the prestigious David Gebhard Award from the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians. He serves as a St. Paul Heritage Preservation Commissioner, holds a Master of Public Administration, and is a dedicated husband and father.