About Us

P. GABRIELLE FOREMAN is the Colored Convention Project's founding faculty director, and an award-winning teacher and scholar of African American studies and nineteenth-century literary history and culture. She is the author of three books and editions as well as a score of highly-regarded articles and book chapters. Gabrielle is known for her collaborative work including an edition of Harriet Wilson’s Our Nig as well as dance/poetry performance pieces on Wilson, David Drake or “Dave the Potter,” and the Colored Conventions. Her forthcoming monograph is entitled The Art of DisMemory: Historicizing Slavery in Poetry, Performance and Material Culture. She is the Ned B. Allen Professor of English with appointments in History and Africana Studies and is a Senior Library Research Fellow at the University of Delaware. The Colored Conventions Project emerged from a graduate class Foreman taught in 2012. Since then she has worked closely with co-founders, graduate student leaders, UD librarian team members and national teaching partners to facilitate the entire project. She and CCP co-founders Jim Casey and Sarah Patterson are co-editing the forthcoming volume, Colored Conventions in the Nineteenth Century and the Digital Age.

JIM CASEY is a Perkins Fellow and postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Digital Humanities at Princeton University. He earned his PhD at the University of Delaware in 2017. Jim was part of the inaugural group that launched the Colored Conventions Project and since then has been involved in all aspects of the project, including Transcribe Minutes, Digital Archives, the Convention Database, exhibits, curriculum, grants, project management, public outreach, campus talks, and CCP's social media. He is co-editing the forthcoming volume, Colored Conventions in the Nineteenth Century and the Digital Age and completing a book titled The Invention of Editors, 1740-1872. More at jim-casey.com.

LAUREN COOPER is the project manager for the Colored Conventions Project. She has worked in publishing for more than 20 years, experiencing publishing’s evolution into the digital age, and how this transforms the way we communicate ideas, stories, and histories. She has worked primarily in the non-profit and education sectors, promoting underrepresented voices, communities, and histories. Lauren has a MLIS degree from the University of Maryland, College Park, with a specialization in archives and digital curation. She earned a B.A. from the Johnston Center at the University of Redlands, in Visual Sociology: Film and Societal Issues.

ANNA LACY is a Ph.D. candidate in History at the University of Delaware. Her research interests include the history of childhood, women’s and gender history, and the history of medicine in nineteenth-century America. Anna joined the Colored Conventions Project in September 2015 to help with the pipeline committee that prepares transcriptions for a database initiative. She co-chaired the digital archives committee and continues in that role as she also serves as the project coordinator.

DENISE BURGHER is a Ph.D. candidate in the English Department. Denise is interested in nineteenth-century literature written by women of the African diaspora but particularly the texts that come out of the Afro-Protestant world. She has been a co-leader of the exhibits team and the chair of the project's community and historic church outreach committee.

SAMANTHA DE-VERA received her MA student in the English Department at UD before moving on to Univerisity of California, San Diego's PhD program in history. She is interested in nineteenth-century incarceration of African American women and the ways free and fugitive Black women navigated white supremacist societies that limited and policed their lives. At UD and now at UCSD, she serves as the co-chair of the exhibits team and satellite partner. She enjoys creating visualizations.

MAISHA DUNCAN CAREY is a librarian at the University of Delaware where she focuses on instruction, organizational learning and development and serves as a liaison to Fashion and Apparel Studies. Maisha has a Masters in Library Science and B.A. in History from the University of Maryland, College Park. This year, Maisha joins CCP as a volunteer focused on Digital Archives and development.

DATEJIE CHEKO GREEN is a strategic media and communications specialist, scholar, journalist and organizer. Her work centres liberation praxis and the global histories and futures of African peoples, labour, and the news media. In early 2017, she interviewed CCP co-founders and organizers for her radio series #organizingstories. datejie interprets the CCM’s legacy as a model for borderless diasporic engagement and education today. She’s now contributing to CCP's digital strategies and Black Canadian diaspora outreach and co-chairing its communications committee. Follow datejie on Twitter @seeksolidarity.

BRANDI LOCKE is a graduate student in the English Department. Her research interests include 19th-century African American women's literature. Her focus is on activism and womanist writing, particularly within the Clubwomen's movement. Brandi is chair of the social media committee and enjoys the opportunity to connect the work of the Colored Conventions to other scholarly and activist communities.

ADAM McNEIL is a PhD Student in the Department of History at the University of Delaware. His research interests are in eighteenth and nineteenth century slavery studies and Black intellectual history. Adam currently co-chairs the Communications team in the 2018-2019 academic year.

CAROL A. RUDISELL is the Head of Reference and Instructional Services Department at the University of Delaware Library, and the subject specialist for History, African American Studies, Women's Studies and several other interdisciplinary areas. She holds master's degrees in History and Library Science (University of Wisconsin-Madison), and a B.A. in Psychology (Northwestern). Carol has served on the Advisory Board for the International Index to Black Periodicals and currently edits the African American section of Magazines for Libraries. Her initial involvement with the Colored Conventions Project began in Spring 2012 and she continues as project leader offering support for the grants and digital archives committees. She enjoys helping students fully engage with research materials, and especially likes advancing digital scholarship within African American studies.

CURTIS SMALL is a Senior Librarian and Coordinator in Special Collections at the University of Delaware Library. His MLIS degree is from Simmons College Graduate School of Library and Information Science. He also has a doctorate in French from NYU. Prior to becoming a librarian, Curtis taught French language and Francophone literature at the college level. Curtis is interested in the use of Wikipedia and social media platforms as tools for the enhancement of library instruction.

CALEB TROTTER began with CCP as undergraduate student pursuing a BFA in Fine Arts with a minor in Interactive Media. He received his Associate of Fine Arts - Graphic Design degree from Delaware College of Art and Design in 2011. He joined the Colored Conventions team in Spring 2014. Now as a graduate student in design and as the lead web designer with Cool Nerds Marketing, he joins the Project Manager in overseeing the site's migration from Omeka to WordPress. In the past he has been the senior undergraduate researcher in design and digital mapping. He also presented at the poster session of the Colored Conventions symposium. He is interested in how design and technology can be used to bring lost histories to new modern audiences.

KELLI COLES is a second year Master's candidate in the History department. Kelli's research interests include 19th century black material culture and historic interiors, girlhood studies, museum education and interpretive design. She is currently working on a project centering two girlhood embroideries made by young Black schoolgirls in the late eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth centuries. She joined CCP in Spring 2017 as a member of the Exhibits committee.

LABANYA MOOKERJEE finished her MA student in English where she was interested in researching the intersections of race/ethnicity and disability within the digital humanities. Labanya joined the Colored Conventions Project in spring 2015 and to help with web support and preparing transcriptions. With an avid interest in coding, she is excited to be a part of this innovative project. She is also a co-leader of the exhibits team. She is presently pursing a graduate degree in computer and information sciences.

MONET TIMMONS is a Ph.D. student in the English Department, as well as an African American Public Humanities Initiative (AAPHI) Fellow. Her research interests include 19th and 20th century African American literature with an emphasis on Black women’s literary production and historical memory. Monet joined the CCP Fall 2018 and is a member of the social media committee.

ARLINE WILSON is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of English at the University of Delaware. Her area of study is 19th-century American literature with a specific focus on African American literature, Gothic Literature, trauma, and cultural studies. Her work analyzes how eruptions of gothic language in African American writings, which are not considered quintessential gothic works by literary scholars, rhetorically function as embedded and encrypted forms of psycho-spiritual trauma. Arline joined CCP in the fall 2018 and works as a volunteer with the Digital Archives team.

AYOMIDE ADEOTI is a junior undergraduate student, with a major in Exercise Science and a minor in Africana Studies. She is interested in the effects of exercise and treatment from the perspective of African Americans and Black Women's Sexuality. Along with being a member of the communication and social media committee of the CCP, Ayomide is also the community service chair of the Black Student Union, President of Africana Honor Society, a mentee in the Center for Black Cultures Each one Reach One program and the College of Health Sciences Mentor Program.

QUADER'A HENRY is a senior undergraduate student with a major in Africana Studies and a minor in Sociology. Her research areas include race and crime (mostly in urban spaces). During this past summer, she completed crime research on Wilmington, Delaware with Dr. Davis of the Political Science department. She joined CCP this past fall and is on the Exhibits committee, a member of the Black Student Union (BSU), a member of the Ankh Maat Wedjau Honor Society (AMWHS), and a mentor at Gallaher Elementary School through Big Brothers Big Sisters.

BRIANA RICHARDSON is a junior undergraduate student majoring in Africana Studies and Social Studies Education at the University of Delaware. Her goals include teaching African and or African American history in a high school setting and opening her own high school one day. Briana joined CCP during the Fall 2018 semester to enhance her researching skills and further her knowledge of African American history. She is also the secretary for the Ankh Maat Wedjau Honor Society (AMWHS).

ALYSSA ASHLEY. A strong believer that you should love what you do, Alyssa brings passion and dedication to her role as the social media assistant for the Colored Conventions Project. Alyssa is excited about the opportunity to contribute to the CCP team where she has been learning about American history through the preservation of African American archives. Before joining CCP, Alyssa worked at Zadig et Voltaire and at Marina Maher Communications in New York as the consumer group’s public relations intern. At UD, she is a Senator for the College of Arts and Sciences, HBO Campus Agent and an Elite Daily contributing writer. Alyssa’s strength in cultivating and maintaining close media relationships has enabled her to continue in the field of public relations. Originally from New York, Alyssa’s love for adventure brought her to UD where she is an undergraduate aiming to achieve a Bachelors of Arts in Communications.

SIMONE AUSTIN is a graduate student in History and Museum Studies. She also received her undergraduate degree at University of Delaware in Political Science with a Global Studies concentration; and in Black American Studies with a Black Art, Literature and Cultural Studies concentration as well as a minor in African Studies. She joined the Colored Conventions team in Spring 2014. She has a love of history and an interest in Black Liberation. She is most interested in providing access to information that is not easily accessible.

ETHAN BARNETT, co-chair of CCP's communications committee, is a Ph.D. student in the History department at University of Delaware. Barnett graduated from CUNY Brooklyn College in 2017, where he was a CUNY Pipeline Fellow and student in the CUNY Baccalaureate for Unique and Interdisciplinary Studies program with concentrations in Human Rights and Social Justice. His research focuses on 20th century African-American history. He’s interested in mapping the numerous demonstrations, protests, and actions in New York City between 1948-1978. Barnett also has a strong interest in public scholarship, experimental films, and the digital humanities.

ERIC BROWN graduated with a dual degree in English and Plant and Soil Science. He first learned about and became interested in the Colored Conventions movement while taking a course on 19th-century African American literature with Professor Foreman. Contributing to the Colored Conventions Project has been a rewarding experience for Eric in many ways: it has deepened his knowledge of United States history and the history of political activism, and it has demonstrated some of the advantages and challenges that digital technology poses on academic research. Eric has researched the history of the original printed copies of the minutes of these conventions, and helped locate digital copies of previously unavailable convention minutes. He ow works with Bryan Stevenson's Equal Justice Initiative and will be pursuing a career in the law when his two year internship comes to a close.

CLAYTON COLMON is the associate director of the Center for Digital and Online Learning at UPenn's College of Arts and Sciences and a Ph.D. candidate in the department of English at the University of Delaware. From 2012-2017, he chaired the CCP Grants Committee. His research is located at the intersection of Utopian Studies, African American Studies, and Science Fiction Studies; it examines how writers and musicians of color use technology—both real and imagined—to reposition themselves in social discourse. Clay sees the Colored Conventions Project as foregrounding the lived histories of African-American activists and writers whose individual difficulties with racism, sexism, and slavery have inspired present struggles for equality and freedom.

JESSICA CONRAD is a Ph.D. candidate in English where she studies nineteenth-century American print and material culture. She is interested in the ways disenfranchised groups used print and material culture to create political subjectivity. Her dissertation asks how boycott and thrift culture literature uses a rhetoric of moral materialism to intervene in the marketplace. A founding member of the Colored Conventions team, Jessica enjoys mining the archive for social networks that animate communities of convention delegates. She helps to create, edit, and manage site content and works with undergraduate researchers.

AMANDA COOPER-PONTE is an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware pursuing a B.S. in English Literature, and a minor in advertising. She joined the Colored Conventions team in the summer of 2013 as a member of the Research Group. She is deeply interested in exploring the way that technology supports the revival of lost history, and encourages the spread of knowledge and ideas.

RASHIDA DAVIS is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at the University of Delaware. Her research interests include artificial intelligence, accessible technology, intelligent tutoring systems, and natural language generation. Her current research involves creating effective tutorial responses for deaf students learning written English. Her primary passions include supporting and mentoring academically talented students from diverse backgrounds, particularly the next generation of STEM professionals from under-represented groups. She joined the Colored Conventions Project in early 2015 to help organize the data so that it can be accessed and queried easily for analytical purposes. She is one of the CoDa team leaders.

PORTIA FLOWERS is a PhD candidate in Biomechanics and Movement Science at the University of Delaware with a research focus in knee biomechanics. Her research examines the biomechanical and functional outcomes of total knee replacements and their influence on the need for future surgery. She joined the Colored Conventions team in the spring of 2014 as a member of the research group. She is passionate about unearthing information about African American history and invested in finding interesting ways to visualize such materials to make them even more interesting to the public.

COLETTE GAITER is Associate Professor of Visual Communications in the Art Department at the University of Delaware. She works on graphic design for the Colored Conventions site--advising staff, students and others who make the site work visually. Since starting to make art and design with computers in 1982, and in interactive multimedia since 1990, her work has been shown internationally in numerous galleries, museums, and public institutions. She also writes about activist graphic design, particularly the work of Emory Douglas, artist for the Black Panther Party. "All Power," her video about Douglas’s work, was shown in the exhibition Cinema Remixed & Reloaded: Black Women Artists and the Moving Image Since 1970. www.digidiva.net. Advisory Board.

CASSY M. GALON is currently an undergraduate student in Art, with a concentration in Visual Communications. She was a Service Learning Scholar in 2012 and was recently honored with a Women of Promise award in 2013. Cassy is interested in bringing buried African American history to digital life and was part of the original graphic and site design team.

EMILY GESSMANN is currently an undergraduate at the University of Delaware pursuing a degree in History and German, in addition to a minor in Women's Studies. She is interested in Women's History in Europe and North America, and has ambitions to attend graduate school. Emily became a part of the Colored Conventions project in the spring of 2013 to gain more knowledge about the digital humanities. As a local Delawarean, she looks forward to graduating from her state’s university in the spring of 2014.

JENNY GOLDSMITH is a fifth-year undergraduate at the University of Delaware. She is a history major, with a museum studies minor. Jenny joined the Colored Conventions Project in Fall 2016 as part of the social media committee.

HARRISON GRAVES graduated with a Masters degree in English from UD in 2017. Exploring and interrogating slavery, freedom, mobility, agency, resistance, and redemption, he is particularly interested in the ways in which Black authors and artists explore, imagine, and create ephemeral moments of freedom through different modes of expression. For the Colored Conventions Project, Harrison was a team member for the grants committee and the project photographer from 2015-2017. He is now in the PhD program in English at Northwestern University.

AUDREY HAMELERS was Digital Humanities and Web Services Librarian at the University of Delaware Library. She received her M.S. in Library and Information Science from Drexel University, and her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Central Florida. She provided assistance implementing design and functionality changes to the Colored Conventions website and its Omeka content management system. In addition to her work at the University of Delaware, Audrey was a consultant Technical Content Specialist working on PubMed Central at the National Center for Biotechnology Information.

VANESSA HATTON is currently a sophomore at the University of Delaware, with a major in Psychology (B.S), and a minor in Spanish. Vanessa works as a Resident Assistant in Louis L. Redding Hall, as well as a Lab Assistant in the Close Relationships and Health social psychology lab. Vanessa’s passion lies with social sciences, social constructs, and history, and how both of those interweave to create the society we live in today. Vanessa aspires to go on to graduate school at the University of Chicago, where she hopes to obtain her Master’s and PhD in Social and Cultural Psychology. Later on, she hopes to work as a researcher for a higher-educational facility. In CCP, Vanessa has helped work to design an assessment report of CCP’s most recent Symposium, which included analyzing surveys of the attendees and reporting on the desirable aspects of the symposium, and what attendees wanted to see more of.

JORDAN HOWELL received his Ph.D. in English with research interests in eighteenth-century British literature and print culture, book history, bibliography, bibliometrics, and archival science in 2017. He participated with Colored Conventions Project in February 2014 thru August 2016 and served as the database management coordinator, working with University of Delaware librarians to ensure project sustainability. He also served on the Grants Committee.

LOVELY LACEY is an undergraduate student majoring in Sociology with a concentration in Health and Health Services with a minor in Public Health. She first learned about and became interested in the Colored Conventions movement while taking a course on 19th-century African American literature with Professor Foreman. Lovely works in Exhibits helping to create visually appealing narratives and establish connections between people of the Colored Conventions. As a UD Scholar she hopes to develop a deeper understanding the passion it takes to do research. Along with working with the Colored Conventions project Lovely works in the Admissions office as a Diversity Enrichment Leader, and serves on the executive board of service trip organization called RLHAB that focuses on service in the residence halls and alternative spring breaks.

PAUL LESICA, a native of Rockland County, New York, is a junior at the University of Delaware, where he majors in History and Education. As an undergraduate researcher for the Colored Conventions Project, Paul located and organized information about delegates such as those involved in the 1855 California state convention. He was especially interested in discovering more information about delegates who had a profound impact on conventions and learning more about nineteenth-century history.

MONICA LINDSAY grauduated with degrees in English and Sociology. She presented at the poster session of the Colored Conventions symposium. Along with being an undergraduate researcher with the Colored Conventions Project, Monica is the Co-President of Sisters on the Move a registered student organization dedicated to mentorship and health programing for minority female students in both the collegiate and high school levels. She is also a First Year Seminar Peer Mentor and an Each One Reach One Mentor at the University of Delaware where she helps first year students and first generation students transition into college. Monica is in law school now and hopes to open up her own not-for-profit organization dedicated to legal education and legal access. | View Abstract

HANS LOUIS-CHARLES is a PhD candidate in the Disaster Science and Management program at the University of Delaware and a Research Associate at the Disaster Research Center. His current research interests focus on international responses to disasters; development and disaster recovery; population displacement and civil infrastructure systems. With his previous experience and knowledge using Geospatial Information Systems (GIS), Hans is excited about the opportunity to contribute to CCP’s mapping and spatial analysis capabilities.

KIRA LYLE is an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware pursuing a B.A. in Anthropology, and a minor in history. She joined the Colored Conventions team in the fall of 2016 as a member of the Digital Archives committee. In her work with the Digital Archives Committee Kira has been involved in the discovery of and classification of documents associated with the Colored Conventions movement, including petitions, memorials, and minutes. Kira is passionate about applying an anthropological mindset to issues affecting modern marginalized populations, specifically women and people of color. She is especially interested in conducting research and compiling comprehensive collections of information, and is excited to refine these skills in her work with the project.

GISELLE MALENCHEK is an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware who majors in Communication Interest and minors in Interactive Media. Giselle contributed to web design, particularly by working to make the site more accessible and user-friendly. She hopes to work as a professional web designer in the near future.

KAYLA MARTIN is a third year Dean's Scholar student at the University of Delaware. Her major is Liberal Studies with a concentration in racial health disparities and seeks a minor in Medical Humanities. Executive Secretary of "We're First," a registered student organization and an associate for student centers, Kayla places importance on student involvement and advocates for student equity. In the future Kayla hopes to become a medical coordinator that teaches cultural competency. She was introduced to the Colored Conventions Project through Dr. Foreman, an English professor of hers. As a Church and Community Outreach Committee member Kayla has participated in working with Scripto and Basecamp software to uncover black history pertaining to delegation and networking. She has been esponsible for identifying historical documents related to the Colored Conventions Movement, familiarizing churches and outside communities with black American history, digitizing historical documents through exhibits, constructing call and email scripts for efficient communication.

KELSEY MELLOW graduated from UD in 2014 with a double-major in Art Conservation and Art History with a minor in Chemistry. As an undergraduate student in conservation, she was thrilled to be part of a project working towards preserving and transferring archives from a revolutionary time in history into a more accessible online resource. Kelsey was a member of the grants working committee, helping to locate proper funding to support the Colored Convention Project’s aims.

OLIVIA MENDES is an undergraduate student pursuing a History major at the University of Delaware. She works with the Project's communications committee, specifically working with the CCP Twitter account. She joined in Fall 2016 after receiving an email about the organization and automatically wanted to get involved! In addition to the CCP, Olivia is a Blue Hen Ambassador and a member of Phi Sigma Pi National Honor Fraternity.

GWENDOLYN MEREDITH is a CCP senior undergraduate researcher and an undergraduate studying Cognitive Science with a Speech Pathology concentration with a minor in Human Development and Family Studies at the University of Delaware. She first learned about the project during an American Literature class taught by Professor Pfaelzer and has been with the project for two years. Currently her role within the project is data mining archival research for exhibits. She is also an active member in Gamma Sigma Sigma, a service sorority on campus. After graduation in 2017, she will attend graduate school in speech pathology.

OLIVIA MEUNIER completed a Master’s in English at the University of Delaware in 2012. She was a contributing member of the fabulous, inspiring working group that launched the Colored Conventions Project. She also produced a paper that served as a starting point for articulating the project's mission, methodological and theoretical frameworks, editorial policies, and directions for future work. Olivia currently works at a private non-profit mental health center as a case manager. In this role, she assists underserved consumers of mental health care to access resources that support their independence in the community.

EILEEN MOSCOSO received an MA in English from UD and hails from central Arkansas. Her research interests include nineteenth-century African American and American Literature, race as a performance, and material culture studies. Her undergraduate thesis, "Williams Wells Brown: Repurposing Blackface Minstrelsy," examines performative types of resistance on the slave plantation in Brown's novel Clotel; or, The President's Daughter. A Student Undergraduate Research Fellowship awarded by the Arkansas Department of Higher Education funded research for this project at UNC Chapel Hill in Wilson Library Special Collections. She was delighted to be a part of the Colored Conventions Project—a movement she learned about as an undergraduate. She first served on the grants committee and then as co-chair of the digital archives committee.

NATHAN NIKOLIC graduated from the English department at the University of Delaware. He became interested in the Colored Conventions Project while taking a class on 19th century African American literature. He worked mostly with archival research to assist in table­making and mapping. He also presented at the poster session of the Colored Conventions symposium. Nathan is now pursuing PhD in comparative literature at the CUNY Center in New York City where is also involved in social justice advocay.

CALEB OWENS is an undergraduate student pursuing majors in History, English, and Philosophy. Since joining the Colored Conventions Project, Caleb works with the Project's communications and social committee. He hopes to share knowledge about the Colored Conventions with others. In addition to the CCP, Caleb works as a reporter with the university's independent student newspaper, The Review.

DANYA PILGRIM completed an M.A. in History and Museum Studies certificate at the University of Delaware. She is now a doctoral student in American Studies at Yale University. She became involved in the project through Dr. Foreman's course in nineteenth-century African American literary history, criticism and print culture. Pilgrim works in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America with a focus on social and cultural history, race and gender. Her other interests include early American domestic arts and foodways, public history and digital humanities. Pilgrim wants to broaden the ways and means used to recover the histories and lives of people of African descent through a particular interest in digital mapping. She contributed to site design and building the public 1859 National Colored Convention Exhibit. She also participated in several campus presentations on the CCP.

MARIE RIEMERSCHMID is a sophomore at the University of Delaware studying Communications and Spanish. Marie joined Colored Conventions as minute taker and now does research on missing minutes.

ALLISON ROBINSON is a second year fellow at the Winterthur Program in American Material Culture at the University of Delaware. She is also a Ph.D. student in History at the University of Chicago on leave to develop her object research and identification skills at Winterthur. Allison's research interests include twentieth century women's political and labor history in the United States studied through the products of their labor. Her current focus is on dolls made during the Great Depression. She joined the Colored Conventions Project in fall 2017 to contribute to the collections and bibliographic databases.

MARISSA ROSS is a sophomore at the University of Delaware studying English with a concentration in Creative Writing. She first learned about the Colored Conventions Project while taking an African American Literature class with Professor Foreman and became interested in joining the team after attending one of the symposiums in 2014. She has a passion for reading and wants to help younger students discover the same joys she has discovered and help them achieve their full potential in school. On campus she works with the Student Television Network as a writer and researcher for one of the new shows being produced this year. Currently Marissa is a member of the Social Media Team and works to spread the word about the impressive work being done by CCP and gain the interest of the public.

ELIZABETH SOBELL is an undergraduate English Education student at the University of Delaware. Recently introduced to the world of digital humanities and database research, Elizabeth started working with the Colored Conventions team as a research intern in June of 2012. As she became more involved with the project, the thrill of unearthing information buried deep within archives and digital resources sparked her profound interest in discovering and distributing public history. She served as the Senior Undergraduate Research Advisor for the Colored Conventions Project, supervising and training undergrad team members and volunteers to guide them through the ins and outs of using digital databases.

AMOS TARLEY JR. is an undergraduate student at the University of Delaware. He studies English with a minor in Black American Studies. Amos is a member of the Colored Conventions Project's historic church outreach committee and is working on building relationships and gathering information about historic Black churches. He is also a UD Scholar.

BRETT TIELMAN-FENELUS is a student in the Alfred Lerner School of Business at the University of Delaware, pursuing a dual degree in International Business and Economics, with a minor in Spanish. He joined the Colored Conventions team in Spring 2014. Originally driven to the project through his love of cultural interaction, he serves as the project's secretary and assists in planning, mapping, and project organization.

GERTI WILSON graduate from the University of Delaware in 2015, majoring in Political Science, with a concentration in Public law, and minors in Legal Studies and English. She is passionate about civil rights for underrepresented populations and social justice. Gerti believes everyone deserves a voice in our justice system, and is specifically interested in public policy for women of the African diaspora from a global perspective. Gerti joined the Colored Conventions Project in the summer of 2013. She now is a legal assistant at the Center for American Progress.

JAMES WOHR graduated from UD in 2017 with a major in English and a minor in Public Policy. He first learned about the Colored Conventions Project through Professor Foreman in Spring 2015 and joined the next year. He has been a part of the Pipeline/Digital Archives committee and enjoys applying his knowledge and passion for African American history to his work.

ARIANA WOODSON graduated from the University of Delaware in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in International Relations, concentrating in Diplomacy and specializing in the Asian Region, and minoring in Asian Studies and Japanese. She joined the Colored Conventions team during the spring of 2013 from her love of history and interest in resurrecting lost knowledge. She is most interested in discovering the ways in which people of the past connect with one another to inspire various ideas and effects of our day.

Former Faculty and Staff Project Members

SARAH LYNN PATTERSON teaches African American Literature in the Department of English at UMass Amherst. She specializes in 19th-century African American (women's) literature, print culture and Black histo-digital studies. Sarah's work examines Black intellectual cultures and ideals, particularly through the lens of Black women's educational philosophies in literature, 1856-1910. Sarah was a co-founder and co-director of the CCP whose project specialities included undergraduate research, exhibits, curriculum development and assessment. She is co-editing the forthcoming volume, Colored Conventions in the Nineteenth Century and the Digital Age. 

TRACY JENTZSCH serves in the Program Coordinator for the Museum Studies. Tracy received a BA from Notre Dame University of Maryland, completed graduate course work in publishing at George Washington University, and her M.A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Delaware. She also earned the Museum Studies Certificate at UD, and a Certificate in Marketing Strategy & Planning from NYU. She is currently working on a doctorate in Educational Leadership. Her interests are in Digital Humanities, and Museums & Technology. Tracy is the social media manager for the MSST program and serves as the webmaster for the Museum Studies website, and is currently serving as the Regional Digital Humanities Coordinator for UD’s Interdisciplinary Humanities Research Center. You can follow Tracy on Twitter @Tracy_Jentzsch, tweeting about Digital Humanities and Ed Tech.

DAVID J. KIM is a visiting assistant professor in digital humanities at the Univeristy of Delaware and the project manager of the Colored Conventions Project. His research and teaching interests include race and gender in the US, new media studies, and archival theory and practice. Prior to Delaware, he was Andrew Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at Occidental College where he co-developed and taught courses for the Center for Digital Liberal Arts, Critical Theory/Social Justice and History. Alongside of his academic work, he has developed numerous digital archives projects with cultural organizations in New York and Los Angeles.

CHARLOTTE A. MARSHALL is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Psychology at Widener University. Her research explores the psychological, emotional, and academic well-being of college students. She is specifically interested in how individual well-being is linked to community well-being. She joined the Colored Conventions Project in the spring of 2014 as a member of the grant writing committee and in 2015 she became involved in the evaluation and assessment team. She is excited to be working with such a talented group of scholars. Former Project member, current advisory board.

MEG MEIMAN received her Ph.D in English from the University of Delaware, with research interests in digital humanities, nineteenth-century American literature, digital curation, and book history. Her dissertation focused on the interface design, literary theories, and bibliographical principles at work in publicly-accessible collections of nineteenth-century literary history. Advisory board.

MOLLY OLNEY-ZIDE is the Discovery Services Librarian at the University of Delaware Library. She received her M.S. in Library and Information Science from Drexel University and her B.A. in English from Boston University. Her library experience includes special collections cataloging at both the University of California at Santa Barbara and at Hagley Museum and Library (Wilmington, DE). Her focus for the Colored Conventions Project is on creating consistent, discoverable, and permanent digital copies of the Project's documents.

LINDA STEIN was a reference librarian at the University of Delaware Library with subject responsibilities for English and American literature, comparative literature, theatre and fashion. She received her B.S. in Consumer Services and M.A. in English from the University of Delaware and her M.S. in Library Science from Drexel University. Linda's research interests include nineteenth- and twentieth-century American literature. She is the co-author of Literary Research and the American Realism and Naturalism Period: Strategies and Sources (Scarecrow Press). She provided assistance to the Colored Conventions Project research team and was the web editor of the library research guides available to CCP participants.