Noah Lewis will present a program at the Chester County Library to celebrate Black History Month.

He was a black patriot who fought in the Battle of the Brandywine, and he was held in such high regard by his Conshohocken community that a street bears his name.

In honor of Black History Month, the Chester County Library will present “The Edward ‘Ned’ Hector, Black Revolutionary War Hero Program” on Saturday, Feb. 16, at 1:30 p.m. Noah Lewis, an avid living history storyteller, will present the hour-long program.

Born in Heidelberg, Germany, Lewis earned a degree in biology, but his livelihood is presenting Living History at schools, historical sites, and historical events. A widowed father of four children, he resides in Upper Darby.

Lewis started the Ned Hector presentation in 1996 at Bywood School, where he would do presentations on electricity and biology for  his daughter’s fourth-grade class. When his daughter’s teacher asked him if he had any presentations on Colonial America, he realized that some material he found when doing genealogical research on his family might fill the bill.

Although Hector was not the relative Lewis was seeking, Lewis was amazed and fascinated by him and many more little-known blacks who contributed to gaining our freedom, and he enjoys helping others appreciate the role they played. In addition, he hopes

“the souls of these amazing contributors to our freedom will rest more peaceful by giving them the honor they were denied for so many years.”

Lewis’ interactive and dialogue-driven historical dramatization will take place in the Struble Room of the Chester County Library, 450 Exton Square Parkway, Exton.

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