UMass Boston

Dr. Williams’ most recently published book is: The Georgia of the North: Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey, Rutgers University Press, 2024.

Dr. Williams delivers book talk, The Georgia of the North: Black Women and the Civil Rights Movement in New Jersey, at The Book House, Long Branch, New Jersey August 8, 2024.

Dr. Williams participated in a Panel Presentation, “Exploring the Depths: Psychology of the Black Woman,” Two River Theatre, Red Bank, New Jersey, June 20, 2024.

Dr. Williams delivered a paper, “People are Dying!” Working Class Black Women and the Origins of the Environmental Justice Movement, The Global Conference on Women and Gender, Christopher Newport News, Virginia, March 23, 2024.

African American Women Leaders of the Civil Rights Movement Montclair Public Library, February 14, 2023, "Adult School: African American Women Leaders of the NJ Civil Rights Movement."

Dr. Williams is a research historian on this Documentary Project: “My Buddy: The WWII 369th Documentary Project”, Hawaii News Now story on the project March 6, 2019

Dr. Williams' latest Book: A Seat at the Table

Dr. Williams is the host of several podcast shows:

• This Week in Black History, Society, and Culture
• New Books Network Intellectual History Channel
• Black in Boston and Beyond Podcast

The Trotter Institute disseminates its research via reports, policy briefs, and its journal, the Trotter Review. The subjects covered by the Trotter Institute include Affirmative Action, Arts & Literature, Business & Economic Development, Conference Proceedings, Demographic Studies, Education, Health, Housing & Community Development, International Issues, Labor & Employment, Media, Round Table Reports, Social Policy & Social Change, Trotter Review Abstracts, and Eagle Forward & Eagle's Flight Archive.

Resilience (Trotter's policy brief series) 

Resilience 1, No. 1 (April 2020). Quito Swan. "Covid-19: Black Skins, No Masks." This issue addressed racial disparities in the impact of COVID-19 in neighborhoods across Boston.

The Trotter Review

The Trotter Review was first published in 1987. Past issues of the journal can be found on ScholarWorks, a service of the University of Massachusetts libraries. 

Trotter Review Vol. 22 (2014): "Appreciating Difference"

Trotter Review Vol. 21 (2013): "Reclaiming Humanity in and out of the Cell"

Trotter Review Vol. 20 (2012): "Gaining Political Ground in the Twenty-First Century"

Trotter Review Vol. 19 (2010): "Where is Home? Immigrants of Color in Massachusetts"

Trotter Review Vol. 18 (2009): "Niagara, NAACP, and Now" commemorated the 100th anniversary of the NAACP.

Black Studies Matter

We are happy to announce BLACK STUDIES MATTERS, our collaborative four-part series of virtual Black History Month events.

"Literature, Culture, and Activism"

• "Literature, Culture, and Activism in the African American Freedom Struggle" by Peggy Trotter Dammond Preacely

Presentations & Other Publications

• Second International Colloquium on African Studies. March 24-26th, 2021
• The African World & The Black Pacific.
  • The African World & The Black Pacific. Sponsored by the William Monroe Trotter Institute March 26, 2021
• Gentrification Comes For Harriet Tubman House
  • Local residents are protesting the sale while the nonprofit that owns it says selling it is crucial for its survival.
• Black Radical: The Life and Times of William Monroe Trotter
  • William Monroe Trotter (1872–1934), though still virtually unknown to the wider public, was an unlikely American hero.
• Changing Faces of Greater Boston
  • This report includes a case study on the challenges and legacies of African Americans in Greater Boston.
• Revolutions Won't Be Televised: The Mind of Gil Scott-Heron
• William Monroe Trotter | Thomas Jefferson's Monticello
• The Hidden History of Boston
  • Though arguably America's most historic city, Boston also claims its share of little-known events.
• The Life and Times of Phillis Wheatley
  • Barbara Lewis talks about the time in which poet Phillis Wheatley lived.
• A Historical Overview of Poverty Among Blacks in Boston
  • Read the Hayden Report.
• The Living Archive: African American Poetry Panel #2
  • Read Barbara Lewis's remarks regarding black poetry in the 21st Century
• Basic Black Program: Black Art and Audiences
  • A program on the arts in the African American community
• Report on Black Lives in MA urges local community action
  • Trotter Institute Director Barbara Lewis cites a demographic turnaround.
• The Black Comparative Experience in Mass. 2015 Final Report
  • This comparative research report highlights of African Americans Asian Americans, European Americans, and Latino Americans.