One Student Historian’s Dedication to Preserving Memories of the Forgotten

Patrick Grey (G’29) never saw the field of history as a potential career path until he discovered his passion for teaching and storytelling during an oral history project in college.

“Once I gained experience from talking to people, getting to know their stories and how they view historical events, I knew history was a force for good,” said Grey.

After earning his undergraduate degree in history and Spanish at the University of Florida, Grey knew he wanted to immediately pursue a Ph.D.

“The situation in Florida, especially around the practices and pedagogy of teaching Black history has been difficult to say the least,” says Grey. “For a Ph.D., I wanted to go to an institution that would value the scholarship that I bring forth.”

After he applied and was accepted into the history Ph.D. program at Georgetown, Grey felt welcomed and supported by the faculty members, including Professors Adam Rothman and Chandra Manning, whom he hopes will mentor him throughout his studies.

“They were very enthusiastic about my work, and saw potential in me,” says Grey.

Giving Voice to the Unheard

Grey’s academic interest in history began in college where he was eager to learn more about the world, but specifically U.S. history in the 19th century. He sought out books and historiographies from past scholars, and saw history as a way to tell people’s stories.

Alongside the Mississippi Freedom Oral History Project in 2022, Grey traveled to Elaine, Arkansas. He interviewed descendants of victims of the Elaine Massacre in 1919 – the deadliest racial confrontation between African Americans and white supremacists in the history of the U.S. During this visit, he talked to a descendant of survivors of the massacre, William Quiney III, who still carried the aftereffects of this traumatic event experienced by his grandparents. This experience deepened his dedication to the field even further.

“Just by having that one-on-one conversation with someone, you can help them tell stories that would have been forgotten or ignored in plain sight,” he said.

At Georgetown, Grey plans to conduct research on the African diaspora, resistance to enslavement and the legacy of slavery in the Americas and the Caribbean. With the financial support of the Patrick Healy Graduate Fellowship, which annually recruits students from backgrounds underrepresented in doctoral programs who want to pursue careers in academia, Grey feels at ease to fully focus on his studies during the academic year.

“I receive a lot of support throughout the year, especially during the summer. This allows me to take advantage of the archives in the DC and surrounding areas to build my dissertation over time,” says Grey.

As he expands his academic portfolio, by enrolling in courses like Climate & Conflict with Professor John McNeill and taking advantage of content housed in the Maryland and DC archives, Grey plans to use his time on the Hilltop wisely – collecting resources to support his dissertation on histories of the African diaspora and and legacy of slavery in the U.S. and Caribbean.

Creative Writing as Self-Care

Outside the classroom, he is a creative writer. The writing process helped Grey overcome his stutter.

“Rather than stopping myself from talking, I chose to write creatively to organize my thoughts better and make myself a better historian,” he said.

He enjoys writing about his communities in Miami, Florida, and Lima, Peru. One of the stories Grey wrote was about his great-grandmother who lived in Peru. Called Sueños de la Canción de la Sierra (Dreams of the Song of the Sierra), the story won the Creative Writing Contest at the National Symposium on Spanish as a Heritage Language.

As a historian, Grey hopes to become a tenured faculty member and start an oral history program at his respective institution. He wants to invite other colleagues to seek answers from people who might have been historically overlooked. On the other hand, Grey also sees himself becoming an author, writing both historical and creative work.

“I want to speak to those who are eager to share their histories to help preserve those memories for future generations,” he says.

Connect with Patrick on LinkedIn.