Hello! My name is Jaimie!
I am a historian specializing in eighteenth and nineteenth-century Black New England life. My work broadly interrogates histories of freedom and unfreedom in Massachusetts. I enjoy working with groups to discover strategies for uncovering marginalized histories, what we can learn about histories of resistance, the importance of remembering often unsavory and painful histories of slavery and unfreedom, and how to present complex and challenging histories for general audiences.
Since 2022, I have been an assistant professor in the Department of Ethnic, Gender, and Disability Studies at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah. I teach interdisciplinary undergraduate courses that explore themes in Black Studies, US religious history, and feminist theory and history.
I previously served as the Research Fellow at Old North Illuminated, the secular non-profit organization that preserves and interprets the history of Boston’s Old North Church. Old North is the oldest extant church building in Boston. It is also the home of the steeple lanterns that, on April 18, 1775, announced the approach of British troops “by sea,” across the Charles River. At Old North, I researched some of the African and Indigenous peoples who were part of the church’s early history. I documented my findings in the award-winning video series Illuminating the Unseen.
I am a member of the editorial board for the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Gender and Women’s History. I have shared my research through published articles and essays in various venues, such as H-Net Early America, “American Examples,” Black Perspectives, Global Black Thought, and Anglican & Episcopal History. My first scholarly monograph, We Will Live: Black Christian Feminists in Eighteenth and Nineteenth-Century New England, is under contract with the University of Massachusetts Press.
I serve on the boards of the Conference of Churches, Old North Illuminated, and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC). I have worked with the BJC Center for Faith, Justice, and Reconciliation to create a youth curriculum called the Neighborhood Love Quest! The Neighborhood Love Quest is an interactive civic education program designed for youth aged 10-14 to teach them about faith, why religious freedom is an essential right in the United States, how to promote religious freedom for all people, and, most importantly, how to advocate for themselves and their neighbors.
Before pursuing my career as a professional academic, I attended Divinity School and am an ordained minister in the American Baptist Churches, USA. Working with faith communities that are passionate about learning their history and advocating for justice for people of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, and immigration statuses excites me.