Keynote: Dr. Raymond Doswell
Dr. Raymond Doswell, Executive Director of Greenwood Rising, will keynote AMIA 2023. Raymond Doswell is a seasoned public historian, educator, and museum executive with close to 30 years of experience. He has worked collaboratively with regional and national entities such as museums, filmmakers, governmental organizations, public museums, manufacturers, colleges, and schools, advising and directing projects on history and culture. This work includes managing and advising the development of permanent and traveling history exhibitions. He has also traveled extensively as a public speaker on topics of African American history.
Doswell served as Vice-President of Curatorial Services at the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, where he managed exhibitions, archives, and educational programs, from 1995-2022. He was appointed Executive Director of the Greenwood Rising Black Wall Street History Center in January 2023.
Born in St. Louis, MO, Doswell grew up in E. St. Louis, IL. He graduated from Monmouth College (IL) in 1991 with a BA degree in History and training in education. He taught high school briefly in the St. Louis area before attending graduate school at the University of California Riverside. There, he earned an MA degree in History, emphasizing Historic Resources management. Doswell earned a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Kansas State University in 2008.
Greenwood Rising is a museum—an award-winning, world-class history center—that tells the story of Tulsa’s Historic Greenwood District in a holistic, experiential way. Its approach is narrative-centered that takes inspiration from other prominent facilities in the United States that chronicle the African American experience, including the Legacy Museum and the Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama, and the Underground Railroad Museum in Cincinnati, Ohio.
An independent board of directors oversees its planning, operations, and programs and operations. An Executive Director answerable to the board manages the day-to-day operations and collaborates with the board on strategic issues.
Greenwood Rising is not a part of any governmental entity—city, county, state, or national—and never has been such.
Greenwood Rising is the flagship project of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Centennial Commission (“TRMCC”). Its location on the southeast corner of Greenwood Avenue and Archer Street is the gateway to the celebrated Black Wall Street.
Greenwood Rising honors the icons of Black Wall Street, memorializes the victims of the Massacre, and examines the lessons of the past to inspire meaningful, sustainable action in the present. Its multimedia presentation includes voices of Massacre survivors and profiles of historic figures, all contextualized in the history of America.
This truth-telling and education for all are aimed at repairing lingering historical racial trauma–working toward restoration–and charting a new, vibrant, inclusive course for the future. Most importantly, it will allow visitors to commit to racial justice and reconciliation and will educate the youth of tomorrow on race relations.
Since its inception in mid-2021, Greenwood Rising has welcomed more than 60,000 visitors, not just from Tulsa and the State of Oklahoma, but from throughout the United States and foreign countries. Guests have included descendants of massacre victims, tourists, business and professional groups, elected officials, civic organizations, students, and scholars.