Description

In celebration of Black History Month 2025, the Luzerne County Historical Society is proud to partner with In This Together NEPA, the Luzerne County Chapter of the NAACP, and the RACEteam to bring noted African-American Living Historian Tim Hodge to our area on Thursday, February 27th, at 7 p.m.!

Tim is a member of the Confederation of Union Generals re-enactment group and travels the Mid-Atlantic teaching about African-American service during the war. Tim also portrays Capt. Robert Smalls, USN. Smalls was an enslaved African-American who became a hero for the Union during the Civil War. He escaped slavery on a captured Confederate ship and joined the Union Navy. He later had a long career in politics after the war. Tim Hodge will be speaking in the first person as Capt. Smalls during the program, and will be available for questions as both himself and Capt. Smalls. 

The program will also include a performance by the Soulful Springs Gospel Choir, directed by Courtney Haulcom who will be performing a selection of spirituals. The event will also feature a discussion by LCHS Board Member Dr. William V. Lewis Jr. our area's connections to the United States Colored Troops (USCT) units that served during the Civil War.  Also, earlier in the day, join us at 4pm at the Wilkes-Barre City Cemetery (River Street, Wilkes-Barre) for a ceremony at the site of several USCT soldiers buried there, and a short program at the gravesite.

The event will be held at the Grand Hall (the former First Baptist Church) behind the Westmoreland Club on February 27th at 7pm. The event is free and open to the public and includes light refreshments. Parking is available at the Westmoreland Club. Reservations can be made at: https://bit.ly/bmhluzerne For more info call 570-823-6244 x3. 

Founded in 1858, the Luzerne County Historical Society is Pennsylvania’s oldest county historical society.  LCHS preserves and promotes the collective history and heritage of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, at the Bishop Library and the Museum in Wilkes-Barre, the Denison House in Forty Fort and the Swetland Homestead in Wyoming.  For more information, visit our website, www.luzernehistory.org.  Follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/luzernehistory/.