Featured Speakers

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Nancy Bercaw

Smithsonian Museum of African American History & Culture

Morning Keynote

Dr. Bercaw received her bachelor’s degree in history from Oberlin College and her masters' and doctoral degrees in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to accepting the position of Chair of the Division of Political History at the National Museum of American History, she curated of the Slavery & Freedom exhibit at the National Museum of African American History & Culture at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Additionally, Bercaw is the author of Gendered Freedoms: Race, Rights, and the Politics of the Household in the Mississippi Delta, 1861–1875. She edited Gender and the Southern Body Politic and co-edited the Gender volume of The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture.

Author Interview with The Journal of the Civil War Era

Luncheon Keynote

Dr. Patricia A. Edwards, a member of the Reading Hall of Fame, is a Professor of Language and Literacy in the Department of Teacher Education at Michigan State University. She is a nationally and internationally recognized expert in parent involvement, home, school, community partnerships, multicultural literacy, early literacy, and family/intergenerational literacy, especially among poor and minority children. She served as a member of the IRA Board of Directors (1998–2001), as the first African American President of the Literacy Research Association (formerly the National Reading Conference), and as President of the International Reading Association. She has published articles in highly refereed journals, and authored two nationally acclaimed family literacy programs: Parents as Partners in Reading: A Family Literacy Training Program and Talking Your Way to Literacy: A Program to Help Non-reading Parents Prepare Their Children for Reading. She has published seven books, including five books on family/parent involvement: A Path to Follow: Learning to Listen to Parents, Tapping the Potential of Parents: A Strategic Guide to Boosting Student Achievement Through Family Involvement, Children’s Literacy Development: Making It Happen Through School, Family, and Community Involvement and New Ways to Engage Parents: Strategies and Tools for Teachers and Leaders, winner of the 2017 Delta Kappa Gamma Educators Book Award. More recently, Dr. Edwards was named as the 2017-2018 Jeanne S. Chall Visiting Researcher at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Dr. Patricia A. Edwards

Professor of Language & Literacy

Michigan State University

Featured Speakers

Nellie Gorbea

RI Secretary of State

Rhode Island Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea made history when she was sworn in on January 6, 2015, becoming the first Hispanic elected to statewide office in New England. She has rapidly emerged on the national scene as a leader who is taking on some of the toughest issues and getting results, leading the way for other states across the country.

Gerrie Bastia

President, Epsilon Chapter, DKG

Workshop Presenters

Joe Wilson, Jr.

Actor

Mr. Wilson has a BA in Political Science from the University of Notre Dame, and an MFA in Acting from the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theatre. He is the recipient of the Sissieretta Jones Award for Cultural Literacy and the Arts, 2012 from the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society awarded to excellency in the arts (acting) presented “in recognition of those who have made outstanding contributions to the African American Community of Rhode Island.” He was also a Featured Artist in “Black Lavender,” Brown University, Providence, RI 2009-2010: an exhibit curated by Robb Dimmick and sponsored by the Rhode Island Council for Humanities, highlighting the historical contributions of black gay men in Rhode Island. Mr. Wilson is a native of New Orleans, LA and is a proud member of the Actor’s Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA .

Geralyn Ducady

Rhode Island Historical Society

Geralyn Ducady, has been working with teachers and teaching teachers and students how to use primary resource materials in their teaching and learning for over fourteen years. She recently joined the Rhode Island Historical Society as the Director of the Newell D. Goff Center for Education and Public Programs. Ms. Ducady previously worked at the Haffenreffer Museum as the Curator for Programs and Education for nine years where, focusing on using museum objects as primary resources, she oversaw, developed, and implemented museum and outreach programs for learners from preschool through senior citizens. Previous to her work at the Haffenreffer, she worked in the education department for four years at the San Diego Museum of Man, beginning as an intern and working her way up to Education Coordinator. In addition to the Museum’s regular school programs, she taught in a special School in the Park program where fourth grade students spent two weeks of school at each of several museums in Balboa Park.

Scott Berstein

Cranston East High School

Mr. Berstein has been teaching high school history for 16 years at Cranston East. He is passionate about history and politics - political history in general and the Civil Rights Movement in particular are his favorite areas of the discipline. His passion for the Civil Rights movement led to the development of a full year course in African American History in the U.S. Among his many passions is travel; he has visited all 50 states and traveled through many parts of Europe.

Ray Rickman

Civil Rights Activist

As a teenager, Ray Rickman marched with James Meredith in Mississippi and has been the lead plaintiff in six civil rights cases. He worked on a daily basis with Rosa Parks in the early 1970s. He lectures regularly on Black History, the civil rights era, and African American literature. Mr. Rickman is currently the president of Rickman Group where he serves as the Diversity trainer and lead consultant to Shape Up RI, the nation's leading community-based wellness group. In addition to his work at the Rickman Group, he has served as the host of the annual Black History series on Rhode Island Public Television, a board member of Preserve Rhode Island, chair of the RIHS Committee to Review the Issue of Slavery on the John Brown House, and a member of the Providence Task Force to Design the College Hill African American Historic Tour. He also served as the President of the RI Black Heritage Society from 1991-1993.

Robb Dimmick

Actor, Director & Playwright

Mr. Dimmick, a professional actor, director, and playwright, holds a M.Ed. in integrated arts from Plymouth State University. As a public scholar and talented designer with a strong bibliophilic background, Dimmick has managed multiple RICH and RISCA funded grants, including Black Lavender; A. Lincoln Portrait; Hidden from History: Slavery in Rhode Island; Finding Bannister and, most recently, Sissieretta Jones: “The Greatest Singer of Her Race.” He was associate director of the nationally acclaimed Kearsarge Arts Theatre for thirty years. As co-founder of Jazz is a Rainbow based at RISD, Dimmick manages and artistically directs their annual jazz intensive for urban teens. As a curator, he has the unique distinction of being a guest curator at Brown University’s esteemed John Hay Library, endowed by Abraham Lincoln’s personal secretary, on multiple occasions. There he has installed exhibits on Lincoln, Langston Hughes, Lydia Maria Child, Roger Williams, and two exhibits on Black Men. Dimmick guest-curated the landmark exhibit: Creative Survival: Black Foodways in Rhode Island from 1726 to Present at Johnson Wales’ Culinary Arts Museum, the first of its kind in the nation and the Museum’s most highly attended. Dimmick is the archivist and curator for RIBHS' new gallery based at the John Brown House, with its inaugural exhibit Sing for Your Supper: Black Song and Food in Rhode Island opening to a capacity crowd.

Richard Martin

East Providence High School

Mr. Martin uses Rhode Island when discussing the Triangular Trade and economic development and the role of the Black Regiment in the American Revolution in his African American history course at East Providence High School. As a classroom teacher since 1979 he first taught African American history at the middle school level in the 1990's, moving to East Providence High in 2000. Mr. Martin has a Masters degree in African and African American Studies from Rhode Island College and currently teaches African American history and an EEP Africana Studies 200, the first in the state. He has had the pleasure of teaching Af Am 200 at RIC and Foundations of Education at Providence College. He is also an avid comic collector and convention enthusiast. (I don't dress up!)

Joyce Stevos

DKG & Rhode Island College

Dr. Joyce Louise Caldwell Stevos, President of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society is a Rhode Island native. She is a graduate of Classical High School, holds 3 degrees from Rhode Island College, and is an adjunct professor in Educational Studies at Rhode Island College.

As a teacher and supervisor of Social Studies in the Providence Public Schools, Dr. Stevos was a leader in implementing the study of Black History, the Holocaust, the Armenian Genocide, and law-related education. She was the primary designer of the Government and Law Magnet at Central High School and the Teacher Academy at Mt. Pleasant High School. Dr. Stevos was the Director of Strategic Planning and Professional Development in the Providence Public Schools where she worked with teachers and administrators to begin and implement the first wave of educational reform in the District.

For 25 years, Dr. Stevos worked with different publishing companies in writing and critiquing history and civics texts for middle and high school students. After retiring from the Providence School Department Dr. Stevos worked as a consultant with Trinity Restoration, Inc to develop and incorporate the Trinity Academy for the Performing Arts Charter School that opened in 2009 for students in grades 7-12. Dr. Stevos is currently president of the Board of Trustees.

In giving back to the community, Dr. Stevos has served as President of the Urban League of RI, was an incorporator and officer of the Rhode Island Black Heritage Society, and has served on the Boards of the Providence Public Library, the Providence Preservation Society, and the Heritage Harbor Board. She is a member and Regent of the Narragansett-Cooke-Gaspee Chapter of the National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution.

Lorén Speares

Curator, Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum

Ms. Spears is an educator, essayist, artist, and two-term Tribal Councilwoman of the Narragansett Tribe. Loren has taught for over two decades and in 2010 she was chosen as one of 11 Extraordinary Women honorees for Rhode Island in the field of education. Spears has devoted much time to strongly advocating for integrating more Native history and experiential learning into school curricula. She currently works as the Executive Director and curator of the Tomaquag Indian Memorial Museum. The museum was the site of a private, state-certified school, the Nuweetooun (Narragansett).

Onna Moniz-John

Curator, The Mobile Museum of Black History

The Mobile Museum of Black History

Marjory Gomez O'Toole

Managing Director, Little Compton Historical Society

Ms. O’Toole has been the Managing Director of the Historical Society for over a decade. She is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Public Humanities at Brown University. For the last three years she has been conducting primary source research that sheds light on the lives of Little Compton’s enslaved and forcibly indentured men, women and children who lived and worked in the community from 1674 to 1816.

Sarah Weed

Former George Hail Librarian

Ms. Weed was director of the George Hail Library in Warren for 10 years and was a Regional Librarian for the Providence Public Library for seven years. She holds a BA in the History of Art & Architecture from the University of Illinois, Chicago Circle and a Masters of Library Science from the University of Rhode Island. She has lived in Warren since 1980.

Patrica Mues

Free-lance writer and blogger

After retirement from a career as a copywriter and many years in Providence, Ms. Mues lived in Escondido, CA where she managed a branch of the Mingei Museum/San Diego and then became a political activist writing a daily blog on city politics. She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of California Berkeley. Patricia lives in Warren in an 18th century house that may well have been built with profits from the slave trade.

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