The Historic Ephrata Cloister's next Virtual Ephrata Academy will feature the stories of African American soldiers who joined the fight for American independence during the Revolutionary War. This program will be held on Thursday, Aug. 11, at 7 p.m. via Zoom.

The presenter will be historian Noah Lewis. Since the mid-1990s, Lewis has offered living history presentations portraying Edward "Ned" Hector, who served at the Battle of Brandywine in 1777. Lewis has conducted extensive research on the life and times of Hector and his fellow African Americans who served in the Revolutionary War. Lewis has offered presentations at schools, local historical societies, and museums. Lewis has a degree in biology and has experience as a biomedical technician and in electronics repair.

The program is free but requires advance registration at https://tinyurl.com/2p8myy2d.

The Historic Ephrata Cloister presents the Virtual Ephrata Academy program on the second Thursday of each month except December.