CHARLOTTE — The Charlotte Museum of History hosted its annual African American Heritage Festival on Saturday to honor the legacy of Black military service.
The family event took place on the final day of Black History Month at the museum’s Shamrock Drive location.
This year’s theme, “Red, White, Blue & Black,” focused on celebrating the contributions and sacrifices made by Black service members in the Charlotte region since the American Revolution. The festival ran from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and featured educational panels, historical exhibits and interactive workshops.
Terri White, CEO of the Charlotte Museum of History, said the museum holds the event annually to highlight the long-standing role of African Americans in the nation’s history. She highlighted the Revolutionary War as a starting point for this involvement.
“We do this event every year; this would be the perfect time to acknowledge that African Americans have been a part of the struggle for America from the beginning,” White said. “The first person to give their life for America was a black man, Crispus Attucks. and that legacy continues in the Queen City as well.”
The festival featured a genealogy panel that included Solomon Titus Taylor, who shared his research into his own family history. Taylor tracked his lineage back to Ishmael Titus, who was born in 1746.
Titus served in the Revolutionary War while enslaved, fighting in place of the man who owned him, organizers said. His military service included the Battle of Kings Mountain. During the panel, Taylor discussed the process of tracing these records and the specific contributions his ancestor made during the war.
The event included various hands-on workshops focused on photography, painting and the Vietnam War era. Attendees could also visit the “Marching Home” exhibit or take guided tours of the site’s historic buildings, organizers said.
The museum also hosted local vendors and food trucks throughout the six-hour event.
WATCH: Ishmael Titus: A forgotten hero of the battle at Kings Mountain
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