Black Collections Symposium

Special Projects Coordinator, Arizona Historical Society

Todd Bailey is a proud Gen X Arizonan. Growing up in the valley Todd began studying as a classically trained dancer at a young age. A true art lover, he paints, and draws, and has even designed costuming. Having accomplished 30+ years in show business, from Television, stage shows in NYC, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and European Cities, performing with artists like Quincy Jones and Harry Belafonte, Sheila E, Tom Jones and many others. 
 
After Todd retired from dancing professionally, he continues to teach and choreograph around the valley, producing "Troubadour Cafe" and working in the large scale events market.  As a caretaker to his family members Todd always speaks of the difficult, yet rewarding and cathartic experience that has been caring for aging parents, and working full time at the Arizona Heritage Center Museum in Tempe as a Special Projects Coordinator. The Arizona Historical Society location has held its flagship event, the Juneteenth Celebration, on Father's Day, where, as Todd adds performance to education, people actively connect through the power of Arizona history. As many projects Todd is involved in, it is important to note that Todd has been doing outreach for kids for years as well. Most recently, teaching Ballroom dance to 5th grade classes in South Phoenix for the past 15 years. 

2024 Community-Driven Archives Fellow, COO of Courageous Conversations LLC

Taelor Bishop is a community advocate, passionate about preserving history and capturing the stories of marginalized communities.
Currently pursuing a degree in Behavioral Health Sciences, Taelor focuses on researching barriers that prevent people of color from engaging in work within their own communities such as post-traumatic slave syndrome and other systematic issues. Outside of academia, they dedicate their time to working with the Disabled and Deaf+ communities, developing programs and instituting opportunities for advocacy while also supporting their families and loved ones.

History Professor, South Mountain Community College

Summer Cherland is a professor and oral historian at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix, Arizona. She teaches African American, Mexican American, and American history. She researches and writes on civil rights in the Southwest, race and social justice movements in public education, and teaching methodologies. She is the co-founder of the South Phoenix Oral History Project, and along with her students has written a documentary, a historic driving tour, and articles about the community. She is the host of the South Phoenix Oral History Project podcast, and her most recent publication is “Student-Centered Oral History: An Ethical Guide” (Routledge, 2024). She is currently finishing a book of historic  South Phoenix photographs (Arcadia, forthcoming 2025). 

Assistant Dean, Arizona College of Nursing, Owner and Consultant of Taz & Co Consulting

Dr. Tadzia Dennis is the owner and consultant of Taz & Co Consulting. She has earned five degrees in her educational career, including AA in General Studies, BS in Hotel/ Restaurant Management, M.Ed. in Career and Technical Education, an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, and a Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration. She has over 20 years of higher education experience in student affairs, leadership, academic affairs, and was awarded Faculty of the Year in 2016. 

Dr. T. is extremely passionate about her students and higher education doing all she can to support them and help them succeed in their educational journey.

Community-Driven Archives Fellow

Shantia Estes aka Shantia Elise (they/she) is a 4th generation Black Arizonan, Queer chef, writer, musician, and certified teaching artist. Shantia has taught workshops for a range of age groups, mainly focused on creative writing with some visual art woven in. Their first chapbook, “The Privilege of Softness,” was published in 2021 through fiikbooks as an offering to her first students at Durango Juvenile Center. Shantia’s work centers healing relationships with Self and loved ones, and building community through honest conversations around how antiblackness impacts our daily lives, and how we are deserving of joy anyway. 

Nancy Liliana Godoy is the Director of Community-Driven Archives Initiative and Associate Archivist of ASU Library's Chicano/a Research Collection. Under her leadership, the CDA team is reimagining and transforming 21st century academic libraries and archives by developing innovative solutions to dismantling power structures that lead to erasure and trauma for BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities. Godoy has received several grants including one from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation ($450,000) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services ($534,975) to engage and empower historically marginalized communities in Arizona. She is the recipient of the Rising Star Award (Arizona Humanities 2017), the ASU Catalyst Award (Arizona State University 2019), the Outreach Services Award (Arizona Library Association 2019), and the Movers and Shakers - Advocates Award (Library Journal 2020), and the Archival Innovator Award (Society of American Archivists 2022).

Naco Heritage Alliance Interim Executive Director/Professor Emertius of Architecture University of Arizona

R. Brooks Jeffery is Professor Emeritus of Architecture in the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture (CAPLA) with an emphasis on Heritage Conservation. Since 1988, his teaching, research, and outreach projects have advanced heritage conservation as part of a comprehensive ethic of environmental, cultural, and economic sustainability throughout the world, including the Middle East, Latin America, and the American Southwest. At CAPLA, he has also held the positions of Associate Dean, Chair of the Heritage Conservation Graduate Program, and Director of the Drachman Institute.  

Jeffery has authored/co-authored over 50 peer-reviewed articles, books and technical reports, including “Cross-Cultural Vernacular Landscapes of Southern Arizona” (Vernacular Architecture Forum, 2005, co-edited with Laura Hollengreen),  “From Azulejos to Zaguanes:  The Islamic Legacy in the Built Environment of Hispano-America” (Journal of the Southwest, Spring/Summer 2003), A Guide to Tucson Architecture (University of Arizona Press, 2002, with Anne M. Nequette), “Joesler & Murphey:  An Architectural Legacy for Tucson” (City of Tucson, 1994) and “Yemen:  A Culture of Builders” (American Architectural Foundation, 1989).  Jeffery has been a principal investigator on numerous grants and contracts from local, regional and national agencies, totaling over $2 million.   

Jeffery also served as Associate Vice President for Research Infrastructure at the University of Arizona’s Office of Research, Innovation & Impact (RII) from 2016 until his retirement in 2022.  He was responsible for RII’s portfolio of research space, new construction, – including the $85M Applied Research Building (ARB), and $99M Grand Challenges Research Building (GCRB) –  core facilities as well as the development of a campus-wide research and innovation infrastructure strategic plan.  Prior to this, he was responsible for advancing innovative research in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, as well as select museums, centers and institutes that report to RII. Jeffery also served as co-lead of UA Strategic Plan Pillar 3 – “Arizona Advantage:  Advancing our Land Grant Mission to Drive Social, Cultural and Economic Impact.” 
In addition to his administration, teaching and research responsibilities, Jeffery collaborates with governmental and civic agencies on preservation issues locally, regionally, and nationally while serving as a board member on the University of Arizona Historic Preservation Advisory Committee, Arizona Historic Sites Review Committee, and the National Council for Preservation Education.  He has received numerous awards including the “Director’s Partnership Award” (2015) and the “Excellence in Resource Stewardship Award” (2006), both from the U.S. National Park Service.  At the state level, he’s been honored with three “Governor’s Heritage Preservation Honor Awards” (2012, 2014, 2022) and Tucson’s highest preservation honor, the “Alene Dunlap Smith and Paul C. Smith Award” (2007) from the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission for the “high level of dedication and long-term commitment toward historic preservation in our community”. He was also awarded the 2008 Common Ground Award from the Metropolitan Pima Alliance for his involvement in the Wilmot Library Planning Charette advocating for the preservation, rather than the proposed demolition, of a landmark Modern design as part of an overall sustainable development proposal.

Currently, Jeffery is working as a consultant and start-up executive director of the non-profit Naco Heritage Alliance where he is spearheading strategic planning efforts and launching the rehabilitation of the 17-acre Camp Naco site in the Cochise County border town of Naco AZ.  In 2022, Camp Naco – Arizona’s cornerstone of Buffalo Soldier history –  was listed on the National Trust’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places and subsequently received $8.1M in grants from the Arizona Governor’s Office and the Mellon Foundation for the rehabilitation of its 20 historic adobe buildings and the development of community programming to sustain them.

Camp Naco Alliance Board Chair/Tonto National Forest Archaeologist

Margaret Hangan earned her BA in Anthropology from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA in 1989. She worked as a seasonal archaeologist until entering a graduate program at California State University, Bakersfield in 1996. Margaret started work as a graduate Student Intern with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in 1998, completed her MA Thesis in 2003 and became the Archaeologist for the El Centro Field Office of the BLM. In 2004 she was hired as the Forest Archaeologist and Tribal Relations Specialist for the Cleveland National Forest in San Diego, then transferred to the Kaibab National Forest in Arizona in 2007 and worked as the Forest Archaeologist for 15 years. In 2021, she accepted a position as the Large Project Archaeologist on the Tonto National Forest and is currently the Acting Tonto Forest Archaeologist. 
 

Lead Experience Designer, Community Partners, Enterprise Technology Arizona State University

Olivia Herneddo is an interdisciplinary artist, performer, and experience designer, working at the nexus of creative technology, social opportunity, and self-actualization. As Lead Experience Designer at Arizona State University, she co-designs inclusive, challenge-based learning experiences that harness emerging technologies to address pressing real-world issues. Olivia’s work prompts human creativity to leverage both proven and emerging technologies in solving problems that are persistent or forecasted.

Her artistic practice thrives at the intersection of technology and performance. In 2022, Olivia directed and performed Hello, World!—an immersive production for young children featuring 360-degree projection and sound—debuting at the i.d.e.a. Museum in Arizona, with an excerpt performed at The National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NYC. She holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Digital Media from ASU's Herberger Institute, a BFA in Expanded Media from the University of Kansas, and a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Baker University. Olivia is also an alumna of the ASU Gammage Teaching Artist program, certified in Kennedy Center arts integration methods, and resides in Arizona with her steadfast husband and magical daughter. 

Associate Director for Engagement, Inclusion, and Reparative Archiving in Special Collections and University Archives, University of Maryland

Lae’l Hughes-Watkins is the Associate Director for Engagement, Inclusion, and Reparative Archiving in Special Collections and University Archives at the University of Maryland. She is the creator of the reparative archive framework, an educator, and an advocate for social justice, equity, and inclusive archives. She is the founder of Project STAND. Project STAND is a radical grassroots archival consortium project between colleges and universities around the country to create a centralized digital space highlighting analog and digital collections emphasizing student activism in marginalized communities. Project STAND aims to foster ethical documentation of contemporary and past social justice movements in underdocumented student populations. STAND advocates for collections by collaborating with educators to provide pedagogical support, create digital resources, and host workshops and forums for students, information professionals, academics, technologists, humanists, etc., interested in building communities with student organizers and their allies, leading to sustainable relationships, and inclusive physical and digital spaces of accountability, diversity, and equity. The project has received over $800,000 in grant funding from IMLS and The Mellon Foundation.

Hughes-Watkins also serves as a Co-chair for the 1856 Project, a chapter of Universities Studying Slavery, which recently received a $200,000 Mellon grant to create a Reparative Histories and Social Justice Research Incubator. She is a 2019 ARL Leadership and Career Development Program fellow and a 2019 Mover and Shaker. She recently published a chapter in the book "Archives: Power, Truth, Fiction," editors Andrew Prescot and Allison Wiggins, printed by Oxford Press.
 

Ri Lindegren, Faculty Associate, Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, Arizona State University, Owner of Dances with Tech LLC

Ri Lindegren is passionate about all things movement, performance, and technology. Ri specializes in cultivating social somatic play spaces across movement genres that support imagination and embodied connection. Ri received her MFA in Dance and Interdisciplinary Digital Media and Performance from Arizona State University, and a BFA in Anthropology/International Studies/Gender Studies. She has a background as a yoga, dance, mindfulness, and somatic facilitator through many lineages and movement genres. Ri founded Dances With Tech LLC, a socially conscious media company that provides creative producing services in addition to performance and event videography, photography, online media support, and media education for the performing arts and movement practitioners. Ri's current passion project is The Feelings Playground, a playground for adults to feel their feelings, funded by the Phoenix Office of Arts & Culture and AZ Commission on the Arts. 

Executive Director of the Dunbar Pavilion

Freda Marshall is a spirited leader and a proud graduate of Wilberforce University, where she earned her degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology. She furthered her education by obtaining a Master of Arts in Counseling from Liberty University, laying the foundation for a career focused on both individual and organizational transformation. With nearly two decades of experience in organizational development, Freda has honed her skills in fostering growth, development, and impactful change within diverse settings. As the Executive Director of the Dunbar Pavilion, she has been instrumental in advancing its mission to preserve Black history and culture while creating spaces that serve as catalysts for community engagement and empowerment.

In addition to her leadership role, Freda is an emotional intelligence practitioner and a certified performance coach, leveraging her expertise to help individuals enhance their self-awareness, emotional management, and overall performance. Her coaching philosophy integrates emotional intelligence with practical strategies, enabling her clients to thrive both personally and professionally.

Freda’s commitment to service extends beyond her professional life. She is a dedicated member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., where she continues to engage in sisterhood and service to her community. As a mother of two and nana to five, family is at the heart of her values, and she draws inspiration from them in her work and advocacy efforts.

A passionate advocate for social justice and equity, Freda is driven by her vision of creating an ecosystem of collective wealth within the Black community. Her tireless efforts to promote empowerment, education, and economic opportunity are a testament to her dedication to building a brighter future for those serving after her.

Vice President, Black Family Genealogy and History Society

Rosalind “Roz” Matthews is a native Californian who began her genealogical journey in 1990 at the Family History Center and Library in West Los Angeles, California. Roz retired after 31 years as a Communications Division Supervisor at the Los Angeles Police Department. In 2013, she made Arizona her new home.

Roz is an avid researcher and family historian. Her passion for researching in manuscript collections and Civil War pension files are her favorites. She frequently attends the Salt Lake Institute of Genealogy (SLIG) in Salt Lake City, Utah, and the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute (MAAGI).  Roz has taken research trips to the National Archives and the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. She has also taken research field trips to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Roz believes in service to the genealogy community. She has held Board positions at the following Societies in Arizona: Secretary, Arizona Genealogical Advisory Board (AZGAB), Director of Fundraising, West Valley Genealogical Society (WVGS), Facilitator/President Avondale/Glendale Chapter of the Family History Society of Arizona (FHSA), Bylaws Chairperson and Vice President of Black Family Genealogy and History Society (BFGHS). Roz has given presentations, held monthly workshops, and Special Interest Group sessions in the above societies for nine years.

L. Greg McAllister, Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, Northern Arizona University
Greg McAllister is a historian, musician, and artist who strives to bring a greater understanding of race unity through the intellect and the arts. He is currently a faculty member in the Ethnic Studies Program at Northern Arizona University, where he teaches courses on African American studies, the history of racial formation in the United States, and race relations in American films. His research has focused on the history of African and Native American relations in the Southwest during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His current teaching and research include examining the writings and speeches of Hubert Harrison, Malcolm X, and Martin Luther King in relation to issues of the 21st century.

Coordinator for Graduate Student Experience within the Graduate College at ASU and an Honors Faculty Instructor in Barrett, The Honors College

Dr. Dontá McGilvery is the first Black male to graduate from Arizona State University with a PhD in Theatre. A scholar-practitioner, an ordained pastor, and a nationally recognized transformational leader, Dr. Dontá's research and practices are primarily located at the intersection of higher education, the local community, and the Black church. His research and practice merges theatre techniques and liberation theological approaches to amplify the voices of vulnerable populations. 

Prior to his current role at ASU, he served as Dean’s Fellow and Coordinator in ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts (HIDA). Two of his proudest contributions include the creation of Shifting the Gaze-- an in-house journal that illuminates the experiences of HIDA's marginalized communities, and his work advising HIDA student activist groups. 

Instructional Specialist Senior, School of Music, Dance and Theatre, Arizona State University

Jisun Myung is a performance artist and musician. She worked with the National Theatre of Korea, National Traditional Opera Company of Korea as a part of the directing team. In the USA, she worked as music director for various productions and has been playing for dance classes as an instructional specialist at Arizona State University. Her most recent work is the Miyeokguk (seaweed soup) Project - A performance of identities of Korean women diaspora and their reproduction stories (AZ Commission on the Arts grant 2022).

IMLS program coordinator

My name is Ah’sha Notah. I am a citizen of the Navajo Nation. I am a recent graduate of the American Indian Studies program here at ASU as of December 2022. I originally grew up in Colorado Springs, CO and moved to Mexican Springs, NM, and then Phoenix, AZ. I received my associates in Tribal development and Certificate in Tribal Court Advocacy at Scottsdale Community College in 2018. My overall aspirations are to help build my local community in any positive way I can. One of my future goals is to either attend law school or nursing school within the next five years.

PhD candidate Arizona State University

Arturo P. Perez Lopez is a PhD student at Arizona State University, specializing in the Civil Rights and Black Power movements, with a particular focus on the civil rights history of the Southwest. His current research centers on the civil rights history of Phoenix, particularly in South Phoenix. Drawing on oral histories and traditional primary sources, he documents the everyday lives and activism of local residents. His work broadens the understanding of the civil rights movement in the region, challenging the negative portrayal of South Phoenix as a crime-ridden area. Instead, he highlights its rich history of activism and presents it through the lens of one interviewee who described it as the “best kept secret in the city.” 

Assistant Professor of African American Studies in the Ethnic Studies Program at Northern Arizona University

Anthony Pratcher II is a historian from the Salt River Valley. While his public scholarship explores space and race in the American Southwest, he has co-edited a textbook on planning history, Planning Future Cities (Dubuque, IA: Kendall-Hunt, 2017), with Walter Greason, and is currently completing a new manuscript, Searching for my People: Black Arizonans and the Making of the Metropolitan Southwest, under contract with University of Arizona Press. His work has been published in the Bulletin of the History of Medicine, Pennsylvania Magazine of Biography and History, Southern California Quarterly and Technology and Culture. He earned a Ph.D. in American History from the University of Pennsylvania and received a B.A. in History from Howard University. He served as an Assistant Teaching Professor and Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, the Honors College and is a proud graduate of Deer Valley High School in Glendale, Arizona. 

Assistant Archivist Black Collections, Arizona State University Library

Jessica Salow is the Assistant Archivist of Black Collections at Arizona State University (ASU) Library. She obtained her Masters in Library and Information Science (MLIS) from the University of Arizona and is an alumna of Arizona State University. In 2022 she was awarded a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services titled “Centering BIPOC Memory Keepers and Advancing Equity and Inclusion” designed to attract a more diverse workforce for the Library and Information Science field. Additionally, she is the recipient of the 2022 Archival Innovator Award from the Society of American Archivists and the 2023 Catalyst Award for inspiring and igniting transformation and inclusion at Arizona State University. She is also an American Library Association’s Emerged Leader Class of 2024. Her current work focuses on specialized reference and instruction as well as creating a robust collection of primary and secondary resources that document the lived experiences of Black people living and thriving in the state of Arizona. She currently resides on the ancestral homelands of the Akimel O’odham people of Arizona.

Assistant Archivist, Community-Driven Archives (CDA) Initiative

Jasmine Torrez is the Assistant Archivist for the Community-Driven Archives (CDA) Initiative at the Arizona State University (ASU) Library. She has a Master of Arts in Library and Information Science from the University of Arizona and is a Knowledge River alumna (cohort 20). Her undergraduate degree is in fine arts from California Institute of the Arts. Jasmine has a history of professional experience as a teacher in elementary education and fine arts. Her work with CDA includes implementing archival knowledge into programs like CDA Escuelita, which focuses on BIPOC K-12 students as the future of archives, and finding creative methods in which to support lifelong learning for community members.