The Heritage Committee of Middlesex County, Inc., will sponsor a talk by Dr. Randolph H. Latimore Sr. at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 10 at Union Shiloh Baptist Church, 3 Union Shiloh Lane (at Route 17), Jamaica.
Latimore’s topic will be “Freedom in the Air.” Presented by The Heritage Committee in commemoration of the upcoming 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this program will be the county’s first “250” program to highlight the unique perspective of African Americans and the first to be held in Northern Middlesex, a release said.
When captured Africans arrived at Virginia’s Point Comfort in 1619, they had lost their families, their homes, and their freedom. Thus began the arduous and sorrowful journey of enslavement of Black people in this country that lasted for 250 years, the release said.
Latimore will discuss the story of African Americans and their quest for freedom against the institutional and societal challenges that have persisted throughout the American experience. He will explore how the black community’s legacy of resilience, innovation, determination, and courage is woven deeply into the fabric of our nation’s story, the release said.
Latimore is a native of Middlesex County and a 1968 graduate of St. Clare Walker High School. He received his undergraduate degree from Virginia State College, now Virginia State University; his master’s degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, and his doctorate degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech). During his extensive career as an educator, he served as a teacher, principal, district administrator, and school superintendent.
Upon his retirement as superintendent of Lancaster County Public Schools in 2007, he worked with the Hyde County, North Carolina, school system as a school administrator and then superintendent. Latimore currently resides in the Jamaica area with his wife, Sabrina Baytop Latimore. They are the parents of two adult children, Danielle Latimore and Dr. Randolph H. Latimore Jr.
The Heritage Committee of Middlesex County said in a release that it seeks to research, discover, and preserve the history of African Americans in Middlesex County. It is one of five organizational members of the Middlesex County 250 Committee, an entity created by the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors in 2023 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution.
The program at Union Shiloh will include poetry and music that reflect African American history and culture, as well as a memorial tribute to Patricia Polson Satterfield, the founding president of The Heritage Committee.
Refreshments will follow in Union Shiloh’s fellowship hall. Built in 1923, this building once housed Union Shiloh School, one of four Black schools in Middlesex County that were supported by the Rosenwald Fund and the only one still standing.
The public is invited to attend this free event. For more information about this event or about The Heritage Committee, call 804-651-8753.