2024 Scholars

JOSEPH W. BECTON,  teacher, philosopher, counselor, historian, musician, interpreter, tour guide, and noted Forgotten Patriot reenactor of the First Rhode Regiment. He was the Director of Visitor Services at Historic Fort Mifflin and went on to retire as a Supervisory Park Ranger at Independence National Historical Park. He was awarded the “Network to Freedom Star Award” from the National Park Service. He will talk about the underreported predominantly African American regiments of the Continental and State Militias during the Revolutionary War and their accomplishments and historical importance in winning the war.

RHONDA BRACE participated in the first global conference on Slavery, Past, Present, and Future held at Oxford University in England. Brace's work illuminates the persistent global struggle against slavery, focusing on her ancestor's transition from enslavement in West Africa to a Revolutionary War soldier, farmer, and abolitionist. Documented in "The Blind African Slave," his life story of capture and subsequent fight for freedom with the Continental Army highlights the Brace family's historical journey. Descends from Revolutionary War Forgotten Patriot Jeffrey Brace, Private, Connecticut Continental Regiment. Member Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a 2024 SOFAFEA Honoree. She will discuss colonial slavery and its impact on the Revolutionary War.

A'LELIA BUNDLES   is an Emmy award-winning journalist, she authored On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C. J. Walker, which was adapted into a Netflix series. She is the founder of the Madam Walker Family Archives, a former ABC News producer and executive, and National Archives Foundation chair emerita. Descends from Revolutionary War Forgotten Patriot Ishmael Roberts, Private, North Carolina Continental Regiment. She is a member of Daughters of the American Revolution. She is a 2024 SOFAFEA Honoree. She will discuss the role of African American women during wartime.

DR. WENDELL GOINS  is a retired surgeon currently practicing physician living in Charlotte. Member of the Society of the Descendants of Charlemagne; Society of the Descendants of the Founding Fathers of New England; Sons of the American Revolution.  is a retired surgeon currently practicing physician living in Charlotte, NC. Member of the Naudin-Dibble Family Heritage Foundation, the Society of the Descendants of Charlemagne, the Society of the Descendants of the Founding Fathers of New England, and the Sons of the American Revolution. He is SOFAFEA's Chaplin General. He will talk about the historical importance of the health conditions in the Northern Theater of the war and its impact on the Forgotten Patriots.   

DR. SHIRLEY L. GREEN is the author of Revolutionary Blacks: Discovering the Frank Brothers, Freeborn Men of Color, Soldiers of Independence a journey based on her family’s history. In addition to providing context and substance to the Black experience during the war years, she underscores the significant distinction between free Blacks in military service and those who had been enslaved, and how they responded in different ways to the harsh realities of racism. She received her Ph.D. in history from Bowling Green State University after a twenty-six-year career in law enforcement. She is a 2024 SOFAFEA Honoree. She will share why men of African descent joined the Continental Army and state militias, and the British forces during the war.

ERIC HARDAWAY (Roundtable Facilitator) served as a non-Commissioned Officer, and trainer in the US Army (Retired).  Served as the Director of Military and Veterans Affairs for a member of Congress where he provided counsel on matters relating to the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Currently sits on the board of a local Civil War Museum and volunteers with the Philadelphia National Cemetery; a cemetery managed by the National Cemetery Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs and gives his time to Philadelphia’s Junior ROTC Command and the local Boy Scouts Council as a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) advisor and trainer. He will lead a discussion with military and Revolutionary War scholars on the role of African and Indigenous men on the Revolutionary War Battlefields.

TRAMIA JACKSON is Director of Learning at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. She leads education initiatives related to African American community outreach and works closely with the League of Descendants of the Enslaved and other community partners. Prior to joining the team at George Washington’s Mount Vernon, she worked at the American Museum of Natural History as well as the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience in New York City. She previously served as the Director of Education at the Fredericksburg Area Museum & Cultural Center in Fredericksburg, Virginia. She will provide insight  on the lives of enslaved women during the Revolutionary War.

BREN LANDON  is the Director of Public Relations for the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution where she oversees the internal and external communications efforts for the 133-year-old women’s volunteer service and lineage organization. She counsels the DAR President General on special initiatives of the National Society including the E Pluribus Unum Educational Initiative a project to bring awareness to underrepresented Patriots of the American Revolution. She will share how DAR brings awareness and dignity to underrepresented Patriots of the American Revolution. 

DENNIS LLOYD is the founder of the Slave Legacy History Coalition and organization dedicated to honor the history of enslaved individuals, highlighting his commitment to social justice. His lineage traces back to Darby Vassall, a notable abolitionist and key figure within Boston's free Black community, who was the son of Tony and Cuba, enslaved individuals owned by a family instrumental in the establishment of Harvard University's law school. He showcased bravery as an Ariel-Assault Door Gunner in the Vietnam War, earning the Army Aircraft Crewman’s Wings. He is a 2024 SOFAFEA Honoree. He will talk about slavery during the colonial period.  

DR. KEVIN LOMBARDI is a medical doctor, epidemiologist and public health expert specializing in the reduction of health disparities in underserved communities. His research focuses primarily on integration of the Social Determinants of Health into Health Center operations, medical protocol compliance and reducing disparities in primary and emergency care provisions and has a recent publication in the Annals of Emergency Medicine and Public Health. He previously served as Executive Director of YourStory International, a Haiti-based non-profit primary care network and as Infection Preventionist for Marquis Health. He will talk about the historical importance of the health conditions in the Southern Theater of the war and its impact on the Forgotten Patriots.  

REVEREND DOCTOR KHADIJAH MATIN  (Roundtable Facilitator) is part of the national dialogue, exploring culturally competent education, within accurate historical context, and considers her works  in African American family and faith history as her calling and a continuation of her family’s traditions in the ministry and education. Khadijah’s research focus areas include an examination of faith and family history in the shaping of identity and community, and the varied ways in which history and spirituality intersect. Current projects include developing models of learning and service based upon the journey of African Americans, particularly prior to the mid-20th century.  She is SOFAFEA's Chaplin General. She is a member of the Society of the Sons and Daughters of the U.S. Middle Passage. She will lead a national discussion with Revolutionary War health scholars on the Revolutionary War Medicine on the Battlefields.

DR. EVELYN MCDOWELL (Roundtable Facilitator)  is the President and Founder of the Sons and Daughters of the United States Middle Passage, a lineage society for descendants of the enslaved. She has researched her family for over 30 years and has identified over 35 enslaved ancestors. She is an Associate Professor and Chair of Accounting at Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, and co-chair of Rider University’s History of Slavery Taskforce. She testified before California’s Task Force to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African Americans, and recently authored a chapter in “The Black Reparations Project: A Handbook for Racial Justice”, edited by William Darity et al. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She will lead a discussion on slavery during American Revolution and its impact on period emancipation up to the Civil War.

DR. SHELLEY MURPHY founder of the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute. She is also coordinator and Instructor at the Midwest African American Genealogy Institute she has developed educational programs for the Center for Family History at the IAAM. She is SOFAFEA's Genealogist General, and is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Society of the Sons and Daughters of the Middle Passage. She holds membership in Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, National Genealogical Society, Association of Professional Genealogists, and multiple local genealogy societies. She will lead a discussion with representatives of prominent national organizations in how we should properly tell the story of the Forgotten Patriots and connect with their descendants.

CALVIN RAMSEY  award winning author and playwright, with works including the musical Bricktop and Ruth and The Green Book, the picture book inspiration for the Academy Award-winning film, The Green Book shedding light on a time in America when Jim Crow and separate but equal was the law of the land. His work was inspired by Victor Hugo Green, who published the Jim Crow-era “Negro Motorist Green Book.” Descends from Revolutionary War Forgotten Patriot John Epps, Private, Guilford County, North Carolina Regiment. He is a member of the Sons of the Revolution and the Sons of the American Revolution. He was a 2023 SOFAFEA Honoree. A descendant of a Forgotten Patriot he will talk about the roll of African men in the Revolutionary War.

THOM REED is a program manager for African heritage in North America for FamilySearch International. His area of emphasis is African American records, research, and experiences. He also manages relationships with community and genealogical and historical organizations for people of African descent around the world. Reed is a member of the National Genealogical Society, Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. He served on the national Board of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society. As an international expert on diaspora records research and documentation, he will talk about emerging technologies that will be used in researching land records that will aid in discovering Forgotten Patriots and helping to shape a forgotten narrative on these patriots.

DR. FRANK L. SMITH is a commentator, civil rights activist, elected official, and public speaker.  Founding member of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the founder of the African American Civil War Memorial and its Museum. He is noted for his involvement and leadership role in planning and executing protests and marches in Greenwood, Mississippi, during the Freedom Summer of 1964. In 1979 he was elected to public office and served one term on the D.C. Board of Education. Smith has received numerous awards for his civic, community and political leadership. The Historical Society of Washington, D.C. on its 123rd Anniversary Celebration awarded the Visionary Historian Award to Dr. Frank Smith, founder of the African American Civil War Memorial and Museum. The Visionary Historian Award is presented to an individual whose lifetime body of work represents the highest achievement in the study. He will discuss the connection between the soldiers of the Revolution and those who fought in the United States Colored Troops.

TIMOTHY STEPHENS  is a public health expert and commentator on public health and emergencies. He has held numerous executive positions in healthcare organizations including the MESH Coalition, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the National Association of Public Health Information Systems. He was the founding director of the Emergency Services Coalition for Medical Preparedness, which advised the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the National Governors Association, the American Ambulance Association, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He authored the book One Day at a Time: Newspapers and the Great Influenza of 1918. He is also co-author of a book on health conditions and African American history at Arlington National Cemetery, published in 2020. He will talk about the historical importance of the health conditions in the Mid-Atlantic Theater of the war and its impact on the Forgotten Patriots. 

JILL MARIE SNYDER is an award-winning author and historian specializing in late eighteenth and early nineteenth century history - with an emphasis on African and Indigenous American women during the Revolutionary War. She is also the expert on the history of St. Luke's Episcopal Church, founded in 1844, the first Black Episcopal Church in New England. She has traced one branch of her family back to 1685.  She is a member of the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society, the Greater New Haven African American Historical Society, the historic Belle Grove Plantation Descendants Committee, and the Friends of Grove Street Cemetery Board, where luminaries such as Ambassador Ebenezer Bassett and Alexander Du Bois (grandfather of W.E.B. Du Bois) are buried. She is a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She will lead a discussion on the role and importance of women during the Revolutionary War.

ADRIENNE G. WHALEY  is Director of Education and Community Engagement at the Museum of the American Revolution, leading a team that helps students, teachers, families and other learners explore the diverse stories and complex events that sparked America's experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government. She has worked in both art and history museums, including the Museum of Modern Art (New York), the African American Museum in Philadelphia, and the Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum. She is also a past President and Programming Chair of Philadelphia's African American Genealogy Group. She will help to put the experiences of African American women into the larger context of the Revolutionary Era. 

LT. COL. MYRON M. YOUNG (Retired U.S. Army) served with the elite 82nd Airborne Division. LTC Young’s long and distinguished career led him to his final assignment with the 10th Special Forces Group and 11th Group, Special Forces. LTC Young has been awarded the Meritorious Service Medal; the Army Commendation Medal; the Army Achievement Medal; the National Defense Service Medal; the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal; the Army Service Ribbon; the Overseas Ribbon; the Master Parachutist Badge; the Ranger TAB and Special Forces TAB. LTC Young currently serves as the Director of Military Instruction for the City of Philadelphia’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC), serving over 1,000 high school students/cadets who attend various schools throughout the Philadelphia community. He will talk about the command structure of the Continental Army and the historical role and importance of the Forgotten Patriots in the Continental Army.