Jessica's passion is continuing to research and collaborate with communities and individuals who have historically been marginalized, both in her coursework, Graduate Research Assistantship with MTSU's Center for Historic Preservation, as well as through her work at Middle Passage Ceremonies and Port Marker Project, Travellers Rest Historic House Museum, and personal public history endeavors.

On April 5, 2025, Jessica's three years of dissertation research culminated in the unveiling of the Lewis Quarters historical marker, commemorating the 155th anniversary of the land's purchase by seven formerly enslaved ancestors. These founders were also Clotilda survivors, and their descendants still proudly live on this sacred land today. This chapter of Jessica's work blossomed into a deep community collaboration led alongside Joycelyn Davis, a sixth-generation descendant and the central figure in her Africatown chapter. The featured Lagniappe Daily article from Mobile offers additional context and reflection on this powerful moment in public history, where Joycelyn, Jessica, and other key stakeholders were interviewed.

Researcher Jessica Hanson has been studying Black Bottom since 2021. Her dissertation centers Black women preservationists and placemaking, with a focus on sites tied to Zora Neale Hurston. This Tennessean publication offers more insight into the historical marker honoring the razed neighborhood - a project Jessica proposed, which has since been approved by the Metropolitan Historical Commission's historical marker program. Click here to see the entire article published recently in The Tennessean.

On April 12, 2024, Jessica presented her research at Tennessee State University's 10th Annual Africa Conference. Her panel's research theme was Oppression and Resistance Formation. Click for Google Slides.

On March 24, 2023, Jessica presented at the 47th annual National Council for Black Studies Conference. As part of the Performing Race, Place, and Space in Africana Research panel. Her specific presentation was called "Beyond the Blackest Landscapes: Placemaking Through Wessyngton Plantation & Africatown's Descendants." It is a chapter of a forthcoming book compiled and edited by Dr. Adebayo Oyebade entitled "Rethinking Enslavement in the African World: Interrogating the Past and Confronting the Present." A portion of this chapter's research also surrounds Jessica's dissertation on highlighting Black women preservationists in locations where Zora Neale Hurston fulfilled placemaking. Please visit Jessica's dedicated NCBS page to learn more about the presentation.

During the NCBS 2023 conference, Jessica attended an unforgettable and inspiring roundtable discussion on Restorative Justice through the Preservation of Black History and Cultural Sites. The panel featured speakers from the Trust for Public Land, the Florida Restorative Justice Association, and Lizzie Robinson Jenkins, the founder of Real Rosewood Foundation Inc., who performed a captivating song. Jessica had the privilege of meeting Jenkins, who continues the legacy of her aunt Mahulda Carrier, a survivor of the Rosewood incident, who had served as a Rosewood school teacher for eight years prior to the tragedy in 1923. Jenkins now carries the responsibility, entrusted by her mother Theresa Brown Robinson, to share the truth about her aunt and Rosewood's harrowing, racially violent events. Read to learn more.

These are examples of presentations Jessica wrote that accompanied research done during her public history coursework.

- African American Soldier-Amputation Account: Primary Source #1 AnalysisX

- Women & the U.S.S.C.-Louisa May Alcott Account: Primary Source #2 AnalysisX

- Confederate Medicine-Dr. Stout Account: Source #3 AnalysisX

- More Amputation: Peleg Bradford Jr. Account: Primary Source #4 AnalysisX

- African American Sickness & Health: Wessyngton/Washington Account: Primary Source #5 AnalysisX

- Post War Developments: The Hunley Account Primary Source #6 AnalysisX

These are examples of presentations Jessica collaborated with fellow graduate students on that accompanied research done during her public history coursework.

- Old Jefferson Trail of Tears Site/Segment PresentationX

- Ethics and Justice in Public HistoryX