Special Community Issue

BUSINESSES & ORGANIZATIONS ›› pivoting

Christopher Taylor, the executive director of the Beverly Heritage Center, found the whole situation amazing. “We began these livestreams to try and implement some form of public programming while we as a nation navigate this public health crisis. We were mostly just trying to keep people interested in what we were doing. We are so grateful that Kanika reached out to us.” The Beverly Heritage Center has continued to host its livestream series. The topics include fashion, transportation, and the first campaign of the Civil War. I used to be part of a Medieval Radio program, so I love getting to put these shows together. We design them so that people listening in can ask questions in real time—you never know what’s going to happen. For Kanika Marshall, these conversations have helped her prepare a book of her family’s history that she had been working on for years. “You cannot know how precious this information is to me.” The Beverly Heritage Center scheduled livestreams every Saturday in May at 1 p.m. Check its Facebook page at facebook.com/ beverlyheritagecenter to see if further talks are scheduled and to watch.

CHRIS MIELKE W BEVERLY, RANDOLPH COUNT Y

COVID-19 Livestream Uncovers Family History The Beverly Heritage Center shares something and learns something in return.

of sale involving an enslaved woman named Margaret. You can imagine my surprise when the very next day I got a message from a woman from California who is a descendant of Margaret! Kanika Marshall contacted the Beverly Heritage Center through its Facebook page. “I have known since 1976, thru family lore, that my great-great-great-grandmother, Margaret Booker, was enslaved by the Earle family in Beverly,” she wrote. “I have recently found an interview from Kenyon College by a professor who interviewed Margaret’s grandson, my Great-Uncle George Booker, who said John Earle was the master.” The two had exchanged emails about the Booker and Earle families, filling in gaps in each other’s research.

while the doors to the beverly heritage center may be closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the museum and visitor’s center is finding new ways to reach out to the public. For the past five weeks, there have been weekly Facebook livestreams on topics as varied as food during the Great Depression and women of Randolph County. After the “show” on the history of the 1808 Courthouse in Beverly, the Heritage Center received an intriguing email. I was conducting the broadcast as Head of Programming and AmeriCorps member service with the Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area. During the broadcast, I was talking about sources of history for the Randolph County Courthouse, and I brought up an entry in the Oaths and Licenses book that mentioned a bill

8 wvl • the community issue 2020

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