Head of University Public History and Robert Francis Engs Director Lemon Project

Head Of University Public History And Robert Francis Engs Director Of The Lemon Project

William & Mary Libraries seeks a Head of University Public History and Robert Engs Director of the Lemon Project to lead The Lemon Project: A Journey of Reconciliation, the university's flagship research and reconciliation initiative on its history of slavery, segregation, and their legacies. The role also directs the Bray School Lab, William & Mary's initiative, developed with the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, to interpret the history of the Williamsburg Bray School, one of the oldest surviving schoolhouses for the education of enslaved and free Black children in North America.

Reporting to the Director of the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC), the Head of University Public History serves as the principal steward and public face of both initiatives, connecting them into a coherent, university-wide program of inclusive historical interpretation. The Head of University Public History expands the narrative of slavery and its legacies at William & Mary through archival and genealogical research and descendant-community engagement, with findings housed in University Libraries.

As a founding member of the Universities Studying Slavery consortium, the Lemon Project holds a position of national and international leadership among institutions reckoning with their histories of enslavement. Supervising an Associate Director, Genealogist and supporting staff, the Head of University Public History holds oversight of the unit's research agenda, community-engagement strategy, publications, communications, budget, and records, and works with library colleagues, university partners, and descendant communities to illuminate the 300-year relationship between African Americans, William & Mary, and the Greater Williamsburg area.

Key Responsibilities:

Leadership, Research & Reconciliation

• Provide strategic and intellectual leadership for the Lemon Project, advancing its mission to research, document, and make public the history of African Americans at William & Mary and to repair the university's relationship with the communities it has harmed.
• Set the Lemon Project's research agenda in partnership with the Lemon Project team, advancing the continuing effort to uncover the full history of William & Mary.
• Lead the Bray School Lab and coordinate its research and interpretive work with that of the Lemon Project.
• Conduct and lead original archival and genealogical research on slavery, segregation, and African American life at William & Mary and in the Williamsburg community, emphasizing underrepresented voices and the legacies of enslavement and the Jim Crow era.
• Lead and oversee public-facing research and scholarship, and mentor students and junior researchers in historical methodology.
• Sustain the momentum of the Lemon Project and the Bray School Lab with partners including consortia and foundations and represent it in professional and scholarly venues.
• Convene and contribute to conversations across the university's history and reconciliation projects using the principle of shared authority.

Community & Descendant Engagement

• Set and lead the Lemon Project's community-engagement strategy, cultivating trust-based, reciprocal partnerships with descendant communities and with civic, cultural, and faith stakeholders—grounded in shared authority and responsive to community perspectives.
• Partner with community organizations, historians, genealogists, and educators to co-create programs and interpretive projects, including genealogical and descendant-research initiatives.
• Serve as liaison between the university and community partners, exercising sound judgment to navigate sensitive historical narratives and community concerns with care and integrity.

Public Programming & Education

• Lead the planning of signature public events for the Lemon Project and Bray School Lab, including an annual symposium and recurring online and in-person programming (for example, porch talks, genealogical research workshops, and commemorative observances).
• Design and deliver talks, workshops, exhibitions, and curriculum—convening on- and off-campus public…