Historian - writer - researcher

Samantha M.
Williams, Phd

I am a historian and writer who studies the Native American boarding school system in the United States. I have a PhD in U.S. history from the University of California, Santa Cruz and additional degrees in international affairs and political science. I have conducted extensive research on the history of the Native American boarding school system and have expertise in the fields of oral history, archival research and organization, and teaching. I have a strong interest in public history and the commemoration of Native American boarding school history. I previously worked as a consultant for the Nevada Indian Commission (Now the Department of Native Affairs), which opened the Stewart Indian School Cultural Center and Museum on the former school grounds in 2020. As a consultant, I conducted extensive research on the history of the Stewart School and also worked as an editor and writer for museum exhibit texts.

I am currently working with the Greenville Memorial Planning Committee to establish a monument dedicated to the children who attended the Greenville Indian School, located in Plumas County in Greenville, California. This group consists of relatives of students who attended the school and members of the Methodist Church, which established the school in 1890 and eventually sold it to the federal government in 1897. I am also writing a book that explores the history of the Greenville Indian School and the attempt of five female students to escape the school in 1916. Read more here.

My first book, Assimilation, Resilience, and Survival: A History of the Stewart Indian School, 1890-2020, was published in 2020 by the University of Nebraska Press.

My second book, “In Their Owns Words: Stewart Indian School Student Writings and Reflections,” focuses on essays, editorials, speeches, and personal stories written by Stewart Indian School students spanning nearly the entire ninety years the school was open. It also features new interviews with Stewart School alumni on their experiences at and memories of the school. It will be published by the University of Nevada Press.

My work is also featured in the Nursing Clio Reader: Histories of Sex, Reproduction, and Justice, and the upcoming edited volume New Directions in United States Family History.

You can order Assimilation, Resilience, and Survival: A History of the Stewart Indian School, 1890-2020 on the University of Nebraska Press website. Use the code 6AS22 for a 40% discount!!

Previously, my career focused on international affairs and U.S. foreign policy. I worked as an intelligence analyst for nearly a decade at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland, where I wrote intelligence reports and assessments, supervised teams of up to 35 intelligence analysts and linguists, and worked as an adjunct instructor at the National Cryptologic School. I also spent two years working at the U.S. Institute of Peace in Washington, D.C., where I organized international and local conferences, drafted reports on international conflict resolution, and conducted research on reconciliation in the Balkans. 

I am originally from Sacramento, California, and now live just outside of my hometown with my family. In my spare time I like to cook, read, and spend as much time with my family as I can.