Public and Academic Lectures

Lectures and presentations for public and academic audiences and workshops for community groups and churches. Sample presentation and lecture topics include:

• Slavery in the British North American Colonies

• Re-thinking the Civil Rights Movement

• From Civil Rights to Black Lives Matter

• African American Material Culture

• Student Activism in the 1960s-1970s

• History of the NAACP

• Jewish Refugee Scholars at Black Colleges

• African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement

K-12 Professional Development

During a decades-long career as a scholar and teacher of African-American and US history, Dr. Edwards has mentored and nurtured thousands of undergraduates and graduate students to achieve personal and career success.  She received teaching awards from the graduate school and liberal arts college at Drew University and twice received the university service award.  Believing in K-12 teachers as educational partners, she has worked as a consultant for the development of K-12 history curriculum and teacher training.  Known for a lecture style that inspires invigorating conversation and dialogue, she continues to use her expertise and talent as an engaging public speaker for general audiences on historical and contemporary topics.  She combines intellectual and scholarly knowledge with a profound personal commitment to elevating ways we should value each other as human beings.

• Civic organizations (e.g., libraries, museums, historical societies, YMs and YWs, sororities and fraternities)

• Religious groups (e.g., churches, temples, mosques, interfaith and ecumenical groups)

• Other not-for-profits (e.g., League of Women Voters, scholarship organizations)

• Colleges and Universities (e.g., University of West FL, Drew University, Montclair State University)

Manuscript Editing

Dr. Edwards has edited and reviewed manuscripts for academic and commercial publishers, including books for adolescents, textbooks, and scholarly monographs.  She has supervised the writing and editing of dozens of undergraduate honors theses and doctoral dissertations. She offers a range of services from developing ideas and outlines to proofreading, editing and revising for different types of writing, not only academic.  Some of her most recent work includes:  proofreading, organizing, and editing the introduction of a theology school doctoral dissertation; working with a team of scholars to develop the script for an exhibit of church history artifacts; and editing and proofreading employment cover letters. She is available to work with clients at any stage of manuscript and writing development.

Grant Consultation

• Dr. Edwards has written and directed grants for co-curricular academic programs and for community organizations and served on grant-writing teams, including the faculty and administrative group that secured National Endowment for Humanities funding for the DePaul University Library in Chicago, IL.  In addition to writing successful grants, she has served on the review committees of grant and fellowship agencies, among them, the National Endowment for the Humanities Education Grants; the New Jersey Council for the Humanities; and the Ford Foundation Fellowships. Her most recent grant consultations include a historical society grant on guilting as an expression of African-American life and culture and a grant to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Bethel AME Church in Morristown, NJ.  Her contributions to these grants included work on the concepts and the grant narrative.  She is available to work with clients at any stage of grant development