Team & Contributors

Curriculum Background
Primary Source
Team & Contributors

Primary Source is a nonprofit organization that authored and distributed the Making Freedom Digital Curriculum (2024). This digital curriculum has been a journey 25 years in the making with many contributors. We honor the dedication and foresight of the original authors and contributors of the Making Freedom Sourcebooks published in 2004 which served as the foundation for the 2024 digital publication. 

Primary Source Team (2024)
  • Elaine McNeil-Girmai, Ed. D, Contributing Author and Lead Editor of Making Freedom Digital Curriculum
  • Jennifer Boyle Nigro, Executive Director
  • Deborah Cunningham, Senior Program Director
  • Jill Stevens, Program Director
  • Susan Zeiger, Program Director
  • Daniel Osborn, Former Program Director
  • Christine Gonzales, Director of Outreach
  • Judith Katz, Director of Development 
  • Olivia Maduro, Program and Operations Manager 
Contributing Authors (2024)
  • Caroline Allison, Reading Public Schools
  • Halle Amore Bauer, Ethical Culture Fieldston School
  • David Bedar, Newton Public Schools
  • Laura Honeywood, Brookline Public Schools
  • Jen Martin, Brookline Public Schools
  • Meredith Moore, Kids for Racial Justice
  • Elsa Wiehe, Ed. D, Boston University African Studies Center
Digital Platform Developers 

Special thanks to Ryan Hovland and Jack Wooldridge of Climber Interactive LLC for their creativity, leadership, and deep commitment to this project. 

Supporters

This digital curriculum would not be possible without the generous support of our donors and educator community. In particular, we would like to thank the following major contributors to the Making Freedom Digital Curriculum:

  • Anonymous Family Foundation
  • The Cummings Foundation 
  • Primary Source’s HistoryThon sponsors and supporters, including Hester Brooks, Anne Covert, Kristin & Bill Martin, Caroline Michel, Rosemary & William Pisano,  Anna Roelofs, Anne & John Watt, Cheng & Tsui, Cushman & Wakefield, Eastern Bank, Reynders McVeigh Capital Partners, Trout Lily Foundation
Making Freedom Source Book Publication, Originally published in 2004 

The Making Freedom Series is dedicated to the memory of Clara Hicks, a former school principal in Newton, MA and a colleague at Primary Source. She served as a Project Administrator for this series and has left us a legacy of wisdom and joy.

Project Staff (2004)

Primary Source Staff (2004):

  • Anna Roelofs, Project Director
  • Kathy Bell, Librarian
  • Renee Covalucci, Picture Research
  • Abby Detweiler, Program Associate
  • Jim Diskant, Curriculum Specialist
  • Betty Hillmon, Kodaly Music Consultant
  • Eve Lehmann, Permissions Editor
  • Roberta Logan, Education Director
  • Rachel Margolis, Program Associate
  • Brande Martin, Program Associate
  • Liz Nelson, Editor
  • Charles Rathbone, Member of the Board of Directors
  • Kelly Scott, Program Associate
  • Martha Shethar, Photo Researcher
  • Ann Vick-Westgate, Editor
  • Interns: Lucia Carballo, Kendra Carpenter, Jessica Kyle Ellis, Mike Fearon, Tracey Graham, Mellon Fellow, Imani Hope, Meredith Katter, Nina Miller, Sam Schwartz, 

Special thanks to Marvin Karp, Benjamin Kendall, Jill Minot-Seabrook, and Anthony Parker for their advice and to Pam Matz, librarian at Harvard University.

Advising Scholars: Frances Smith Foster, Emory University; V. P. Franklin, Columbia University Teachers’ College (Evaluator); Paul Gagnon, Emeritus, Boston University; Gerald Gill, Tufts University; Robert Hall, Northeastern University; Heather Richardson, Public Historian; John Ross, National Center of Afro-American Artists.

Boston Contributing Scholars: Robert Allison, Suffolk University; E. Barry Gaither, Museum of the National Center for African American Artists, Boston; Robert Hayden, Independent Scholar; Betty Hillmon, Park School; James O. Horton, George Washington University; Lois Horton, George Mason University; Grey Osterud, Historian; Patrick Rael, Bowdoin College; Heather Richardson, Public Historian; Marilyn Richardson, Independent Scholar; Julie Richter, Independent Scholar.

Teacher-Authors: Wendell Bourne, Cambridge Public Schools; Ilene Carver, Boston Public Schools; Monny Cochran, Weston Public Schools; Julie Craven, Cambridge Public Schools; Andrea Doremus Cuetara, Boston Public Schools; Inez Dover, Newton Public Schools; Kathleen Drew, Cambridge Public Schools; Sharon Fleming, Abington Public Schools; Linda Forman, Framingham Public Schools; Richard Berry Fulton, Boston Public Schools; Deborah Gray, Community Educator; Andrea Gross, Westwood Public SchoolsJennifer Hames, Boston Public Schools; Deborah Hood-Brown, Cambridge Public Schools; Leslie Kramer, Cambridge Public Schools; Roberta Logan, Boston Public Schools; Peter Lowber, Malden Public Schools; Nicole Miller, Westborough Public Schools; Martin Milne, Eaglebrook School, Deerfield; Edward Morrison, Winthrop Public Schools; Melissa Nasella, Lincoln-Sudbury Public Schools; Karl Netter, Boston Public Schools; Catherine O’Connor, Newton Country Day School; Alexandria Pearson, Andrew Shen, Lincoln-Sudbury Public Schools; Laurel Starks, Milton Academy; Sandra Stuppard, Boston Public Schools; Deborah Ward, Wellesley Public Schools; Joseph Zellner, Concord Public Schools; Rachel Zucker, Burlington Public Schools.

*This list is based on the original publication in 2004 and all individuals listed include their name and role in 2004.

Primary Source

Team & Contributors