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The Enduring Impact of the African Plant Diaspora is a three-month exhibition, opening April 25, 2025, and running until July 25, 2025. Curated by Mark Harris, the 2023 Lloyd Library Artist-in-Residence, and Lloyd librarians, the exhibition will showcase his original artwork, alongside rare 18th-century botanical books from the Lloyd Library’s extensive collection.

These books—key to the colonial plant trade—have long overlooked the contributions of enslaved and indigenous peoples to botanical studies. Harris’s artwork will highlight these often-unseen contributions and offer an artistic perspective on African plant legacies that have been concealed or erased by colonial narratives. Additionally, the opening reception will feature a film by Mark Harris, Predatory Botany, which offers a further exploration of these themes.

Free and open to the public. Light refreshments.

The Enduring Impact of the African Plant Diaspora Symposium aims to generate new scholarship and foster a community conversation about the horticultural knowledge of Africans and their descendants in the Americas. By exploring the history of plant shipments alongside the transportation of enslaved Africans, the event seeks to deepen understanding of the interconnectedness of these histories. Co-coordinated by 2023 Lloyd Artist-in-Residence, Mark Harris.

Organized as a series of presentations, discussions, and participatory performances, the symposium will provide an opportunity for attendees to engage in meaningful dialogue with scholars, community leaders, and participants. Refreshment breaks and a lunch will offer additional chances for connection and conversation.

Symposium Schedule

Click on the title to watch the recording on YouTube.

9:30 a.m.  Welcome and introduction

10 a.m.   Saving Seeds, Crops & Culinary Practices: Past Stories Informing the Future, Dominique Peebles and R. Alan Wight

11 a.m.  The Enduring Legacy of the African Plant Diaspora, Mark Harris

12 p.m.  Lunch Break

1 p.m. Conjuring Other Ways of Knowing: Plants as a Site for Healing and Change, Chandra Frank

2 p.m.  The Black Environmental History of Sesame, Jayson Maurice Porter

3 p.m.  African Food Legacies in the Americas, Judith Carney

4 p.m.  Nurturing Mother Plots in an Era of Grief, Annalee Davis

4:45 p.m.  Closing Remarks

 

                         

The Victorian plant craze was about more than decor—it was also part of the “cult of domesticity,” which dictated that a woman’s place was in the home. This “separate spheres” ideology placed expectations on women to keep the members of her household healthy and guide them morally, and houseplants helped her accomplish both. Additionally, social reformers used the concept of “moral botany” during outreach to working class families. Beyond that, botany also provided an acceptable entry point for women to the sciences.

Watch the recording.

Elizabeth Yuko, Ph.D., is an award-winning journalist, bioethicist, and an adjunct professor at Fordham University. She is an associate editor at Rolling Stone, where she covers culture and politics, as well as a contributor to The New York Times, Bloomberg CityLab, The Atlantic, Architectural Digest, The Wall Street Journal, The History Channel, The Washington Post, and CNN, among other outlets. 

If your goal is to eat more local, you won’t get much closer than your own backyard! At Fields to Forage: Exploring Edible Natives in Our Backyards, we will learn all about the delicious, nutritious foods growing close to home from a career naturalist and farm owner whose goal is to promote native plants and produce to a larger audience. Learn all about what’s in season now and what to look forward to as the growing season progresses. You’ll even get a chance to try some homemade foods made with in-season, native foods! Yum!

Watch the recording.

 

Samantha Ferrarelli has owned and operated HedgeStone Farm in northeastern Clermont county since 2019. With 15 years of experience and multiple degrees in natural resource management, she applies all her career knowledge in furthering native ecosystems within a small farm setting and sharing that information with others.

Plants have an important role in the discovery of active treatments in cancer. There are four classes of plant-derived anticancer agents in the market today discovered over the last century. Join us to learn how they were discovered and what clinical implications they have. We will also touch on the variety of plant-based compounds that have promising implications for our cancer patients but need further study.

The discussion will also cover plants that are used as supplements for the treatment of menopausal symptoms (phytoestrogens), as well as those used for general health maintenance (garlic, ginseng, ginko biloba, et al). Their impact on the body will be explained, and supplement management in the perioperative period will be discussed.

Registration required.

 

Jennifer B. Manders, MD, FACS, is a board-certified general surgeon fellowship-trained in breast surgery. Her practice is wholly focused on the care of patients with benign and malignant breast disease. She is a graduate of Rosalind Franklin University/The Chicago Medical School and trained in General Surgery at Rush University Medical Center/Cook County Hospital combined program. She then completed a one-year fellowship in Breast Surgical Oncology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

 

Dr. Julie Specht is the Medical Director of Operations for the Oncology Service line, Medical Director for the Breast Cancer Program, and serves as Vice Chair for the Physician Liaison Committee. Dr. Specht completed her undergraduate studies at Binghamton University (Binghamton, NY), graduating summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science. She earned her medical degree from SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University in Brooklyn, NY. Dr. Specht completed her internship, residency, and fellowship at New York Presbyterian Hospital (Columbia University). She is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (Hematology and Oncology subspecialties).

Hear from area experts, Emy Abrahams, Ron Houck and Tyler Wolf on the indoor plant trends they’ve seen over the years along with tips and tricks to improve your efforts in plant parenthood!

Registration Required.