Kayci Merritte moves through the history of Nantucket by examining select materials from the NHA’s archive as part of the Food for Thought Lecture Series at the Nantucket Whaling Museum. Her focus is on “Black presence,” or how Black people on Nantucket are glimpsed in the island’s records, the subject of her 2022 NHA E. Geoffrey and Elizabeth Thayer Verney Fellowship.

Kayci Merritte’s research trips to the NHA’s Research Library focused on recovering narratives from the archive about Black people as they were found in spaces ranging from the historic whaleship to the still-forming spaces of tourism on Nantucket. Her research was informed by a variety of materials, including personal letters, newspaper clippings, ships’ logs, postcards, and tourist manuals. This research fits into her broader academic work and teaching focused on notions of Black space and place.

Kayci Merritte is a PhD candidate in the Department of Modern Culture and Media at Brown University. Her dissertation works within the areas of Black geographies and environmental humanities, and analyzes perilous everyday environments and materials.