On 4 November, History Department Chair Deirdre Williamson cohosted the NYSAIS event "How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America," featuring Clint Smith, journalist, poet, and author of the New York Times bestselling book How the Word is Passed.

In the epilogue to How the Word Is Passed, Smith writes, "The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it. This history is in our soil, it is in our policies, and it must, too, be in our memories."

Williamson and cohost Russell Combs, history teacher at Nichols School, engaged in a community conversation with Dr. Smith about the legacies we must share and teach in the classroom in order to provide an inclusive study of our country’s history.

Deirdre has agreed to serve as the next head of the history department. From Head of School, John Allman: "As a member of our history department for the past nine years, [Deirdre] has earned the respect and admiration of her colleagues with her skilled teaching, her continuing growth as a serious student of history, her wit and intelligence in professional conversation, and her steadfast care for every student and teacher with whom she works. Having served as an exemplary class dean for the past four year, she promises to bring to her new leadership role the same meticulous attention to detail and the same unwavering commitment to student welfare that have characterized her work as class dean. In the search process, all who interviewed her were impressed by her desire to explore ways to introduce significant study of non-Western histories into both required and elective course offerings, her eagerness to rethink the structure and aims of foundational coursework in grades eight and nine, and her commitment to serve as an active participant in sustained curricular and pedagogical conversations from grades four through twelve to ensure appropriate coherence and consistency in all our history classrooms."