A conference exploring memory, representation, and reconciliation around slavery and transatlantic legacies.
April 23 & 24, 2026
The Debra Lee Keynote Panel on Day One and Sessions on Day Two will be available both in person and online. If you plan to join us in person, please register by the end of the day Tuesday, April 21.
This conference explores how port cities across the Atlantic world commemorate their histories related to slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The conference addresses evolving narratives within institutions such as museums and educational centers, as well as community engagement around the legacies of slavery inside and outside museums.
Accompanying the conference is the exhibition Sites of Remaking: Port Cities and Our Present, on view in the Simmons Center gallery March 30–October 24, 2026. The exhibition explores themes of freedom-making, resistance, place-making and the legacies of slavery through works by three Rhode Island-based multi-disciplinary artists: Jazzmen Lee-Johnson, Kia Lenise and Spencer Evans. Curated by Ivie Orobaton, A.M. Candidate in Public Humanities, Brown University.
