When it came time to learn about the Revolutionary War, Bristol Borough students recently took a historical approach with the help of modern technology to zoom back in time.
The district used a sort of virtual one-room schoolhouse mode when ninth-grade students at Bristol Junior-Senior High School invited their fifth-grade counterparts at Snyder-Girotti Elementary School to join them for a lesson.
Together they watched Noah Lewis, a re-enactor, describe the life of Edward “Ned” Hector (1744-1834), an African-American member of the Continental Army who fought heroically at the battles at Germantown and Brandywine.
“Many of the Snyder-Girotti fifth-grade teachers commented that their students thought it was “’cool’ that they were in a high school class. Some even got to be “’in class’ with their older siblings,” said James Esposito, the ninth-grade teacher, in a statement about the program.
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He said that ironically, if it wasn’t for the COVID crisis having the children learning over Zoom, they would never have seen how students used to learn together in one-room schoolhouses.
Esposito learned about Hector through his involvement in Washington Crossing historical events. He said he tries to find interesting information for his students that they can’t find in history books. Lewis has portrayed Hector at re-enactments of Washington Crossing the Delaware and Esposito thought he would be a good guest to have visit his class via Zoom for Black History Month.
“The students got to hear about Ned Hector’s position in the Continental Army as a bombardier, which is a soldier who operates a cannon. Mr. Lewis’ presentation also emphasized how African Americans played a predominant role in the Revolution and how some African Americans had to deal with the issue of slavery; even after fighting for freedom against the British,” Esposito said.
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Lewis, 67, who lives in Upper Darby in Delaware County, started presenting information on Hector back in the early 1990s, when his own four children were in school.
He had worked as a biomedical technician and then in electronics repair, while doing his historical research on the side. When one of his children told a teacher about it, she asked him if he would like to talk about Hector to her class. He agreed. Soon, other classes were asking for his presentation.
He acquired a Revolutionary War soldiers uniform and his hobby became a career. “I do this for a living,” he said.
Lewis said he learned about Hector when doing genealogy into his own family. Though Hector is not a relative, his story interested Lewis, who previously thought that Black men at the time of the Revolution were all slaves or manual laborers. But as he did more research, he learned that some were freed men who, like Hector, fought valiantly for the American side in the Revolutionary War.
Hector was in the artillery, and in the Battle of Brandywine, Hector would not abandon his cannon or horses, at danger to himself, during a retreat.
Lewis said he believed “Hector was the first Black to settle in Conshohocken.”
Hector Street in the borough is named for him. When he was older, some friends tried to get him a government pension for his service during the war, but it was denied. But the state government did give him $40 as a Revolutionary War veteran.
“Mr. Lewis was so enthusiastic and you can really tell he likes what he does,” ninth-grade student Liam Feeney said, as classmate Aaralyn Leighton said she “liked how Mr. Lewis involved the class in his presentation.”
“As we are learning about the American Revolution in fifth grade, being invited to participate in Mr. Lewis’s presentation with the ninth-graders was an outstanding way to extend our learning,” said Cathy Hodges, the fifth-grade teacher. “Our fifth graders were excited to connect their learning with a high school class. They were very proud to realize how much they’ve learned and could relate to the presentation.
“Seeing Mr. Lewis bring Edward “Ned” Hector’s experiences to life as he portrayed life as an African American Continental soldier was inspiring. We are grateful to Mr. Esposito for including us in this educational opportunity,” she added.
The Bristol Alumni and Athletic Association and the Bristol Borough School District contributed toward the presentation.
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