Historical Society plans Black History Month video series

The Washington County Historical Society is hosting a video series to commemorate Black History Month.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic prevented events and visits to historical sites, the organization last year started a weekly video series on its Facebook page called Laid Back History. Executive Director Clay Kilgore hosts the live videos every Tuesday at 7 p.m.
For the next couple weeks, he’s planned special episodes for Black History Month, which will run Feb. 9, 16 and 23.
“Unfortunately with the way things are, we can’t have events, so this is how we’re going to do it this year,” Kilgore said.
The first episode will reflect on the life of Martin Delaney, known as the Father of Black Nationalism. In the 1830s, Delany, who was born a slave, became the apprentice of Dr. Francis LeMoyne of Washington. Kilgore plans to discuss Delany’s journey to becoming a doctor, journalist, soldier and abolitionist.
The second episode, Kilgore said, will feature two Washington County families that sought to rebuild a free life in Liberia.
Lastly, the series will explore civil rights activism in Washington County in the early 1960s.
“The whole series will cover Black history in the region,” Kilgore said.
The Laid Back History series has regular viewers, he said, with some tuning in from other states. He said the videos are viewed an average of 2,000 to 4,000 times.