Patriots of Color Genealogical Workshop

Pleasant Valley Baptist Church
211 Marvin Road
Indian Land, SC 29707

Tentative Agenda:
9:45 AM – 10:00 AM
Check-in and Welcome
Take your seat and get ready to dive in as you meet the workshop presenters, connect with fellow participants, and review the day’s agenda.

10:00 AM – 10:30 AM:
Presentation
Our Focus and Methodology: How Do We Recover Patriots of Color from History by Tyrone Goodwyn

10:30 AM – 11:00 PM:
Presentation
The Carolina Story: People of Color and Their Choice of Pathways to Freedom in The American Revolution by Luke Alexander

11:00 AM – 11:30 PM:
Presentation
The Fight for Independence Through the Eyes of African and Native American Patriots by Kevin Graham

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM:
Interactive Session
Q&A and comments based on what we have learned thus far.

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM:
Lunch Break
Enjoy a break to refuel and network with fellow attendees.

1:30 PM – 2:30 PM:
Workshop
Discover the top 10 essential resources for finding your Patriot Ancestor, with an in-depth guide on who they cover, what they reveal, where to find them, and why they’re invaluable, featuring examples from historical books and newspapers, to vital records, and US Military archives.

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM:
Interactive Session
Lightning Round Q&A and Closing Remarks: Wrap up the day by addressing your burning genealogy questions in a fast-paced Q&A session or participate in a focused mini-workshop based on attendee interest.

Speaker Biographies:
Luke Alexander is a genealogist and community historian focusing on African American and Indigenous heritage in the Carolinas. He has ancestry from several of the earliest recorded families of African origin in America, along with being of direct descent from the Lumbee, Waccamaw and Cape Fear Native American nations.

Luke serves as vice-president of the Benjamin and Edith Spaulding Descendants Foundation, Inc. engaged in philanthropic activities in his ancestral hometown Farmers Union, NC. Additionally, Luke currently serves on the Board of Directors of the North Carolina Genealogical Society. Luke is also an inducted member of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) with lineage from his 4th great-grandfather William (Loughry) Lowry (1758-1847), a patriot ancestor of the Lumbee and Tuscarora communities of Robeson County, NC.

Luke works as a historical content advisor for PBS North Carolina, and has provided historical commentary on-air for WECT News, the NBC affiliate in Wilmington, NC. With co-author Andre Kearns, Luke was published in the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society (AAHGS) Journal (2020) and the inaugural SOFAFEA Journal (2022) with articles on their shared ancestor Emanuel Cumbo, a free man of Angolan descent who owned land near Jamestown, Virginia circa 1667. Luke is also an administrator of DNA research projects with Family Tree DNA (FTDNA) and GEDmatch.

Tyrone Goodwyn’s maternal line, the Jacobs family, started as Angolan servants on Eastern Shore Virginia in mid-1600s and moved to the Carolinas as free people of color by mid-1700s. The Jacobs were Revolutionary War patriots and foundational to free communities along the South and Midwest.

His father’s line hailed from central Virginia, Dinwiddie County. His 2024 research tied father’s grandmother to one of a set of Indigenous American girls who were stolen from South Carolina and enslaved in Dinwiddie around 1700.

Born and raised in Tidewater Virginia, Mr. Goodwyn is a graduate of The College of William and Mary, Old Dominion University, and George Mason University. His degrees are in Marketing, and Information Systems.

Retired from Telecomm IT leadership, he is currently working with Colonial Williamsburg and Custis museums identifying the persons enslaved by the Custis/George Washington/Robert E. Lee family dynasty, from 1600s Eastern Shore to 1800s Mt. Vernon and Washington DC. To further that work, he founded the Gabriel Jacobs EPOCH Initiative in the History department of Old Dominion University, where he directs two history interns.

He is the Vice President of the North Carolina Genealogy Society, and a member of the National Genealogical Society and the Virginia Genealogical Society. He is also a member of the DC and the Hampton Roads chapters of African American Historical & Genealogical Society; and the League of the Descendants of the Enslaved of Mount Vernon.

Kevin Eugene Graham is a native of Brunswick County, NC. His parents are the late Malon Graham, Sr. of East Arcadia, NC, and the late Dora Jane Kelly Graham of Winnabow, NC. Kevin is a graduate of Elizabeth City State University. He is married to Adrienne Allen Graham and has three daughters, La’Quanta, Akira, and Kamisha. He also has three granddaughters, Ma’Kayla, Lia, and EllaRose.

Kevin is a proud descendant of several patriots who fought in the American Revolutionary War. His patriot ancestors were John Blanks, Sr., Zachariah Jacobs (Holmes), and Shadrack Chavis, Sr., all of whom were free men of color from Bladen County and New Hanover County, North Carolina. His research as a historian and genealogist has focused primarily on free families of color from the counties of Bladen, Columbus, New Hanover, Robeson, Pender, and Sampson, prior to the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863. His research is available on his family website graham-reunion.com.

On February 21, 2020, Kevin accepted the position of President of the Lower Cape Fear Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), as the first African American to hold the position. Kevin has also served as Historian and Registrar for the chapter.