Samantha Hill

Samantha Hill is the Curator of Civic Engagement at the Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts.  Samantha is a Philadelphia native with a diverse career facilitating community-based arts, education, and cultural heritage projects. 

She holds master’s degrees from the University of Michigan, School of Information, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Before coming to Penn, Samantha collaborated with community organizations to produce archive-based exhibits and K-12 educational programs based on regional history, BIPOC social movements, and empowerment.  Samantha developed projects for the Anchorage Museum, the Block Museum at Northwestern University, the Museum of Contemporary Photography at Columbia College, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, and the Center for the Study of Race, Politics & Culture at the University of Chicago.  She is also the creator of the Kinship Project, a community archive of photographs & artifacts from African American families, 1839-2012. 

As the Curator of Civic Engagement, Samantha continues this work by collaborating with non-profit organizations to preserve and share the stories of our city’s diverse histories and cultures.  She works closely with community groups to develop digital archives and special projects, extending access of Philadelphia-based collections for public knowledge.