Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
2020
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Ph.D., U.S. History
Committee: Dr. Amanda I. Seligman (Chair), Dr. Joe Austin, Dr. Joseph Rodriguez, Dr. Robert S. Smith (Marquette University)
Dissertation: “‘Accountable to No One’: Confronting Police Power in Black Milwaukee”
2011
American University, M.A., U.S. History, Public History Track
2006
Suffolk University, B.S., U.S. History
RESEARCH & TEACHING AREAS
Policing History / Urban History / Social Movements / U.S. Politics and Culture /
Public History / Digital Humanities / Oral History / Archival Records Management
EMPLOYMENT
Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Community Museum, Washington, DC
Oral History Collections Researcher and Digital Content Creator, DC Women in Conversation Project, 2022-Present
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Research Assistant and Digital Content Creator, “Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past” Initiative, 2021-2022. http://oursharedfuture.si.edu/race
Media Coverage:
“Smithsonian Begins Two-Year Racial Justice Initiative,” The New York Times, August 25, 2021
Peggy McGlone, “Ambitious New Smithsonian Initiative Aims to Help America Deal with the History and Legacy of Racism,” The Washington Post, August 24, 2021
Meilan Solly, “The Relationship between Race and Wellness has Never been More Pressing,” Smithsonian Magazine, August 23, 2021
Florida Holocaust Museum, St. Petersburg, FL
Collections Assistant, 2022
Marquette University, Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Outreach, Milwaukee, WI
Design Consultant, Wisconsin Community Activism Now Digital Archive, 2020-2021
Northwestern Mutual, Milwaukee, WI
Archivist and Collections Manager, 2014–2020
March on Milwaukee 50th Anniversary Project, Milwaukee, WI
Oral History Committee Chair, 2017–2018. http://200nightsoffreedom.org/
Media Coverage:
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, History Department, Milwaukee, WI
Project Assistant, Hmong Diaspora Studies Program, AY 2017–2018
Project Assistant, Cultures and Communities Program, AY 2014–2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017
Research Assistant, The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, AY 2013–2014
Project Assistant, The Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, AY 2012–2013
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Golda Meir Library, Milwaukee, WI
Archives Technician, American Geographical Society Library, 2012–2014
Web Developer, Digital Humanities Lab, 2013–2014
American University, Washington, DC
Senior Library Assistant, Bender Library, 2010–2011
Web Developer, History Department, 2011
PUBLICATIONS
Peer Reviewed
With Robert S. Smith. “Brew City Bellwether: The Changing Landscape of the Black Family in Milwaukee.” In Contemporary African American Families: Achievements, Challenges, and Empowerment Strategies in the 21st Century, edited by Dorothy Smith-Ruiz and Sherri Lawson-Clark, 123-140. New York: Routledge, 2016.
Public Scholarship
“Accounting for Medical Examiners in Historical Autopsies of the Carceral State,” The Metropole, April 1, 2021, https://themetropole.blog/2021/04/01/accounting-for-medical-examiners-in-historical-autopsies-of-the-carceral-state/
“In Encyclopedia of Milwaukee, edited by Margo J. Anderson and Amanda I. Seligman. Available online through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee at emke.uwm.edu:
“Betty Quadracci,” “Beulah Brinton,” “Blood Center of Wisconsin,” “British,” “City of Pewaukee,” “Digital Milwaukee,” Dorothy Enderis,” “Filipinos,” “Germantown,” “Hartford,” “Junior League of Milwaukee,” “Mary Blanchard Lynde,” “Milwaukee Magazine,” “Milwaukee NAACP,” “Milwaukee Press Club,” “Nelson P. Hawkes,” “Newhall House Fire,” “Public Service Building,” “Television,” “Village of Menomonee Falls,” “Village of Pewaukee,” “Village of Slinger,” “We Energies,” “Wisconsin Center,” “Yankee-Yorkers,” “YWCA Southeast Wisconsin,” and “YMCA of Metropolitan Milwaukee.”
Op-Eds
“Long before Sterling Brown’s Arrest, Milwaukee Struggled with a Policing Problem,” The Washington Post, June 3, 2018, https://wapo.st/2z6o92I
“’Not Examined, But Rectified’: Let Milwaukee Heed Khalif Rainey’s Advice,” Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service, August 17, 2016, http://bit.ly/2bAjxTY
ORAL HISTORY COLLECTIONS
2017-2018
“March on Milwaukee 50th Anniversary: 200 Nights of Freedom.” Oral History Committee Chair, Co-Creator and Interviewer. Developed in partnership with the Wisconsin Historical Society, UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Wisconsin Black Historical Society, Marquette University Libraries, and Milwaukee County Historical Society, 2017-2018.
2016-2017
“African Americans in the Milwaukee Police Department Oral History Project.” Creator and Interviewer. Developed in partnership with UW-Milwaukee Archives and Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum, 2016-2017. https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;view=text;rgn=main;didno=uw-mil-uwmmss0375
RADIO & PODCAST APPEARANCES
2020
“The History of Black-led Resistance to Over-Policing in Milwaukee,” Evoking History Podcast, August 2020, https://open.spotify.com/episode/67fmycmblE7ipFSOYtoKS5?si=5R-PwSAzT9K6D1cb3vA6Uw
2018
“UW-Milwaukee Project Aims To Organize Oral History Of Milwaukee Housing Marches,” Wisconsin Public Radio, March 30, 2018, https://www.wpr.org/uw-milwaukee-project-aims-organize-oral-history-milwaukee-housing-marches
DIGITAL HUMANITIES PROJECTS
2020-
Present
“Our Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past,” Initiative Website, Smithsonian Institution, Research Assistant, http://oursharedfuture.si.edu/race
2020-
Present
(In Development) Wisconsin Community Activism Now, Digital Archive, UW-Milwaukee, Design Consultant, https://wisconsincanarchive.org/
2017
“200 Nights of Freedom,” March on Milwaukee 50th Anniversary Project, Design Team Member, https://web.archive.org/web/20180330054020/http://200nightsoffreedom.org/
2015
UW-Milwaukee Cultures & Communities Program Website, College of Letters & Sciences, Web Designer, https://uwm.edu/cultures-communities/
2014
“Stitching History from the Holocaust,” Online Museum Exhibition, UW-Milwaukee Digital, Humanities Lab, Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Project Lead and Web Designer, http://liblamp.uwm.edu/omeka/stitchinghistory/
2014
“Transforming Justice: Rethinking the Politics of Security, Mass Incarceration, and Community, Health,” UW-Milwaukee, Center for 21st Century Studies Transdisciplinary Challenge Award project, Web Designer, https://uwm.edu/transformingjustice/
2014
Technology & Humanities Camp Milwaukee 2014, Web Designer, http://milwaukee2014.thatcamp.org/
2012
Technology & Humanities Camp NCPH 2012, Web Designer, http://ncph2012.thatcamp.org/
2011
“Community Documentation Initiative,” Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Community Museum, Co-Web Designer, https://web.archive.org/web/20150221223711/http://cdi.anacostia.si.edu/
2010
“American Enterprise,” Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Pre-Exhibition Website, Co-Web Designer, https://web.archive.org/web/20121023002210/http://americanenterprise.si.edu/
FELLOWSHIPS & AWARDS
2019
R1 Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship, UW-Milwaukee
2019
Governor’s Archives Award in Archival Achievement, Wisconsin Historical Society
2018
Distinguished Dissertation Fellowship, UW-Milwaukee
2017
Graduate Student Excellence Fellowship, UW-Milwaukee
2013
Graduate Student Travel Award, UW-Milwaukee
2012
Chancellor’s Graduate Student Award, UW-Milwaukee
2011
Top Graduate Student Poster, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting
2010
Graduate Student Fellow, National Museum of American History
2010
Academic Merit Award, College of Arts and Sciences, American University
2006
History Department Book Prize, Suffolk University
2005
History Department Book Prize, Suffolk University
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, History Department
2018
Teaching Assistant (Instructor: Chia Youyee Vang), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam: History and Culture
2016
Teaching Assistant (Instructor: Robert S. Smith), Multicultural America
2016
Instructor of Record, African American History Since the Civil War
2015
Teaching Assistant (Instructor: Robert S. Smith), Multicultural America
INVITED TALKS
2022
Keynote, “‘Their Lies Already Fixed’: Race, Narrative, and Memory in the Policing of Milwaukee,” Michael Gordon Memorial History Graduate Conference, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, April 22
2021
“Grounded Ways of Knowing Wisconsin’s Black Lives Matter Movement,” with Eli Frank, Agnes Lopes Flores, and Paul Newcomb, Dr. Christina Heatherton’s Junior Colloquium in American Studies: Grounded Ways of Knowing” course, Barnard College, May 30
2020
“Milwaukee Fire & Police Commission: Accountable to Whom and for What? A Historical View,” Wisconsin ACLU, Milwaukee National Lawyers Guild, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, September 29
2020
“Smart Justice during COVID-19: The History of Policing,” Wisconsin ACLU, Milwaukee, WI, July 22
2020
“Why the Nation Erupted? Historicizing This Moment,” Panelist, Center for Urban Research, Teaching, and Engagement, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, June 11
2019
“Doing Public History in Milwaukee across Institutional and Grassroots Settings: Challenges and Opportunities,” Washington College, Chestertown, MD, December 19
2018
“Lessons from the Long Black Freedom Struggle,” March on Milwaukee 50th Anniversary, Body & Soul Healing Center, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November
2017
“A Prince Among Slaves,” Film Discussion Facilitator, UW-Milwaukee Muslim Student Association, February 22
2016
“Civilian and Police Relations in Milwaukee,” Medical College of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa, WI, August 1
2016
“The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution,” Film Discussion Facilitator, John Michael Kohler Arts Center, Sheboygan, WI, February 9
2015
“Museums and Memory on the Internet: Creating the Stitching History Digital Exhibit,” with Rachel N. Baum, E.J. Basa, and Allain Daigle, Jewish Museum Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI, February 25
CONFERENCE ACTIVITY & PARTICIPATION
Conferences Organized
2016
Communications and Logistics Assistant, Imagining America National Conference, Milwaukee, WI
2014
Co-Coordinator, The Humanities and Technologies Camp, UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
2014
Co-Coordinator, UW-Milwaukee History Graduate Student Conference, “Racial Formation, Racial Blindness,” UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
2013
Co-Coordinator, Midwest Labor and Working-class History Graduate Student Colloquium, UW-Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI
2012
Local Outreach Coordinator, The Humanities and Technologies Camp, Organization of American Historians and National Council On Public History Joint Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI
Panels Organized
2021
(Canceled) Co-organized with Ian Toller-Clark, “Towards a Liberated Black Milwaukee: The Strategic Evolution of Police Accountability Mobilizations in a Midwestern City,” Urban History Association Conference, Detroit, Michigan
2012
“Public History Online: Using the Web to Collaborate and Share,” Working Group Facilitator, Organization of American Historians and National Council on Public History Joint Annual Meeting, Milwaukee, WI, April 21
Papers Presented
2022
“Chicago in the Making and Unmaking of Police Power in Milwaukee: Toward a Regional History of Carcerality,” American Historical Association, New Orleans, LA, January 8
2020
“Black Cops, Cream City: Oral History and African American Policing in Milwaukee,” Oral History Association, Baltimore, Maryland, October 9
2020
(Canceled) “Beyond the Grave: African American Resistance and the Deceased,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C.
2018
“In King’s Name: The League of Martin’s Struggle to End Police Racism in Milwaukee,” Association for the Study of African-American Life and History, Indianapolis, IN, October 5
2016
“Brew City Bellwether: Lessons from Milwaukee, WI,” National Council on Black Studies Annual Conference, Charlotte, N.C., March 17
2014
“All Eyes on the Block: Racial Liberals and Community-based Crime Control in Milwaukee during the Mass Incarceration Era,” Urban History Association Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, October 10
2014
“‘Fighting Back against the Crime Menace,’ Liberal Integrationists and the Criminalization of Milwaukee’s Urban Spaces during the Reagan Era,” Organization of American Historians Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA, April 13
2014
“A Conflicted Reality: Liberal Integrationists and the Criminalization of Urban Space in Milwaukee,” University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Graduate History Conference on Race and Ethnicity, Milwaukee, WI, February 15
2013
“The Fight to Make Higher Education Relevant to Black College Students in Milwaukee,” Association for the Study of African American Life and History Annual Meeting, Jacksonville, FL, October 3
2013
“Perceptions, Strategies, and Consequences: Addressing Crime in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park Community, 1980-1992,” UW-Milwaukee Urban Studies Program Annual Student Forum, Milwaukee, WI, April 27
2013
“‘Partiality Invested with Power:’ Race, Police Brutality, and the Death of Ernest Lacy,” Midwest Labor and Working Class History Graduate Student Colloquium, Milwaukee, WI, February 15
Roundtable Discussant
2019
“Federalism and Policing under the ‘First White President,’” The Labor and Working-Class History Association, Durham, NC, May 31
2017
“To Defuse a ‘Powder Keg’: Historicizing the 2016 Milwaukee Uprising,” Roundtable Organizer, The Labor and Working-Class History Association, Seattle, WA, June 23
2015
“Historicizing the Channels and Landscapes of Power and Struggle in the Neoliberal City,” The Labor and Working-Class History Association Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., May 30
2013
“Teaching Digital History and New Media,” Working Group, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Ottawa, ON, April 19
2013
“University-NPS Partnerships and the Benefits of Creative Space: Placing Arlington House in Transnational History,” Roundtable, The Future of Civil War History: Looking Beyond the 150th Conference, Gettysburg, PA, March 14
2011
“Interpreting the Lives of People of Color at Arlington House,” Poster Session, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Pensacola, FL, April 8
Service
2013
Digital Drop-in Consultant, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Ottawa, ON, April 19
CAMPUS PRESENTATIONS
2019
“Doing Public History Across Grassroots and Institutional Settings: Challenges and Opportunities,” UW-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Humanities Lab, Milwaukee, WI, December 16
2015
“Directions in Digital Humanities: ‘Stitching History from the Holocaust: A Digital Humanities Lab Project,’” with Rachel Baum and Ann Hanlon, UW-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Humanities Lab, Milwaukee, WI, March 4
2014
“Digital Humanities Methods: Omeka and Neatline,” UW-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Humanities Lab, Milwaukee, WI, November 12
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
2016
“From Marshall Clark to Dontre Hamilton: Connecting Racial Terror Lynchings and Anti-Black Police Violence in Milwaukee,” Walking Tour, Milwaukee, WI, August 15
PUBLIC HISTORY INTERNSHIPS
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC
Anacostia Community Museum, Web Developer, Paid Internship, May 2011–October 2011
National Museum of American History, Web Developer, Paid Internship, August 2010–May 2011
Milwaukee County Historical Society, Milwaukee, WI
Processing Assistant, Brewery Collection, June 2010–August 2010
National Park Service
Arlington House, The Robert E. Lee Memorial, Arlington, VA, Furnishing Plan Developer, National Park Service, January 2010–May 2010
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Great Falls, MD, Historical Interpreter
Museum of African American History
Museum of African American History, Boston, MA, Research Assistant, Gathering Place For Freedom exhibit, January 2006–May 2006
UNIVERSITY SERVICE
UW-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Humanities Lab Advisory Board, 2015-2016
Associate Developer/Lab Consultant, UW-Milwaukee Libraries Digital Humanities Lab, 2013-2015
Digital Drop-in Consultant, National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, Spring 2013
Graduate Student Liaison, UW-Milwaukee History Graduate Affairs Committee, 2012-2013
Digital Humanities Consultant, UW-Milwaukee Digital Futures Grant, Spring 2012
LANGUAGES
English, fluent
Spanish, conversational
DIGITAL SKILLS
Proficiencies: HTML, CSS, WordPress, Omeka
Familiarities: PHP, JavaScript, Drupal
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Current
American Historical Association
Organization of American Historians
National Council on Public History
Past
Urban History Association
Labor and Working-Class History Association
Association for the Study of African American Life and History
Will Tchakirides, PhD 