Feb 11, 2014 2 min read

Washington and Greene counties are dotted with historical markers, a reflection of the region and the state’s long and rich heritage.

A story in Tuesday’s edition of the Observer-Reporter made a solid case for another marker going up in the county, this one for William Catlin, an African-American Civil War veteran from Monongahela who, from some accounts, was also an early civil rights pioneer. In 1905, a full 50 years before Rosa Parks refused to move to the back of the bus in Montgomery, Ala., Catlin is said to have planted himself on the floor of a Beaver County movie theater, blocking the entrance. The story, by Scott Beveridge, quotes a historian who characterized Catlin as “far ahead of his time.”

Catlin was also one of the first black members of the Pennsylvania National Guard and pressured the Republican Party, then the party of Lincoln, to be more aggressive in supporting civil rights and equal treatment for African-Americans.

With much justification, we celebrate landmarks in local history like the Whiskey Rebellion, or luminaries who were born and raised here, from Joe Montana and Shirley Jones to Perry Como and Stan Musial. Catlin deserves to be among those who are remembered and honored, not just during Black History Month, but throughout the year.