Description

Join Brandon Nightingale as he traces the intertwined histories of the Nightingale family – from enslaved ancestors along the Georgia coast to later generations who navigated Jim Crow, migration, and the continuing struggle for Black freedom.

Drawing on archival research, oral histories, and site-based study, Nightingale explores how one family’s story intersects with larger questions about slavery, capitalism, and the meaning of belonging in the United States. He will also reflect on what it means to research one’s own ancestors, how that work can deepen our understanding of democracy and historical repair, and the roles museums, libraries, and communities play in supporting similar work.

About Our Speaker
Brandon Nightingale is senior project manager for the Black Press Archives Digitization Project at the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center at Howard University, where he is a doctoral student in history. He earned a bachelor’s in history and a master’s in public history at the University of Central Florida, as well as a master’s in information science at Florida State University, and has served as assistant archivist at Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach. His research and public history practice focus on the Black press, archives, and the long afterlives of slavery in family stories and local communities. He regularly speaks with museums, churches, and community groups about memory, media, and the work of repair.

About the Brechner Series
The History Center’s Brechner Speaker Series honors the late Joseph L. Brechner, a longtime journalist, community leader, and television pioneer who is also remembered as one of Orlando’s first clear public voices for civil rights. The son of Eastern European immigrants, Brechner believed deeply in American democracy and citizens’ responsibilities to be informed and participate. The museum’s research center, home to the archival collection of the Historical Society of Central Florida, also bears Brechner’s name.

Register by Saturday, February 7, to receive free admission to the museum with registration.