A year ago, the Vermont General Assembly designated Sept. 23, 2020 as Alexander Twilight Day, marking the 225th anniversary of the birth of this African American trailblazer. The observance included an announcement that the Friends of the Vermont Statehouse had joined the Vermont State Curator’s Office in commissioning a portrait of the man who was not only the nation’s first African American legislator, but also the first known Black college graduate in the United States. Click to read this investigation of the legacy and complicated racial identity of Alexander Lucius Twilight, as told by Dr. Spencer Kuchle, Associate Director for Collections and Interpretation.

Click here to read the complete story