Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado, History Consultant

For over twenty years, Dr. Karcheik Sims-Alvarado has been studying the history and culture of African Americans in the South. Whether in the classroom, museum, or in the field, she has sought to educate others on the unique beauty and fragility of African-American history, life, and culture. As the Founder and CEO of Preserve Black America, a research and advocacy institute dedicated to identifying, recording, and preserving African-American history and culture, Dr. Sims-Alvarado is working to develop a model for utilizing historical and cultural assets as catalysts for economic and community development.
In 2012, she created the “Roads to Freedom”, a citywide, pedestrian-friendly, multi-experiential project comprising of nearly 700 historic sites that will illustrate the African-American experience in Atlanta as it relates to local, national, an international events from various historical periods. Dr. Sims-Alvarado received a Ph.D. in History from Georgia State University. During her matriculation, she received numerous awards: Ford Fellowship with Indiana University; Hermitage Museum Archeological Fellowship; Georgia State University Graduate Fellowship; Southern Regional Education Board dissertation Fellowship; and most recently, prestigious National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Fellowships with the W.E.B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University and the Georgia Historical Society to study slavery, Reconstruction, and the Modern Civil Rights Movement. Professional, Dr. Sims-Alvarado has worked in some of the leading Atlanta historical and academic institutions: National Center for Civil and Human Rights; Atlanta History Center; Herndon Horne Museum; Agnes Schott College; Clark Atlanta University; Morehouse College; Georgia Perimeter College, and Georgia State University. She was also a successful small business owner whose bed and breakfast, Tea Cakes, was nationally recognized and featured in numerous magazines, newspapers, and television programs.

Dr. Sims-Alvarado is also an accomplished painter. Her works have been displayed at the Alexandria Museum of Art in Louisiana, Tubman Museum of Macon, Georgia, CUNY Law School, Georgia State Capitol, Atlanta City Hall, and numerous art galleries, juried shows, and personal collections throughout the country. Dr. Sims-Alvarado lives in Atlanta with her husband, Joel Alvarado, and son, Nation Shavazz-Alvarado.