History at High Noon: North Carolina Patriots of Color in the Revolutionary

Speakers: Kevin Graham, Tyrone S. Goodwyn, and Luke Alexander, researchers

In North Carolina, more than 400 men of African and Native American descent can be identified within the muster rolls of the Continental Army in the American Revolution. Researchers Kevin Graham, Tyrone S. Goodwyn, and Luke Alexander are direct descendants of several of these patriots. Join them to explore what the fight for freedom meant to these brave founding fathers whose stories have been rarely told.

Luke Alexander is a genealogist and community historian focusing on African American and Indigenous heritage in the Carolinas. He serves as vice president of the Benjamin and Edith Spaulding Descendants Foundation Inc., engaged in philanthropic activities in his hometown, Farmers Union. Alexander is also an inducted member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Tyrone S. Goodwyn has spent his entire life visiting the Burgaw community where free members of the Jacobs first landed in North Carolina, circa 1750s. In his teens, Goodwyn started interviewing his elders in Pender and the surrounding counties. Since his retirement, he has researched and published the stories of free people of color in southeast North Carolina.

Kevin Graham is a native of Brunswick County. He is a graduate of Elizabeth City State University. Graham is a proud descendant of several Patriots, all free men of color from Bladen and New Hanover Counties. He also acts as president of the Lower Cape Fear Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, as the first African American to hold the position.

Host or Publisher NC Museum of History with support from CapTrust