Originally from Roanoke, Virginia, I have always had a passion for history. My love of history began with my parents when I was a child. We took vacations multiple times a year to Williamsburg, Virginia for more than 25 years. I still make trips there every year whether it is for a vacation or just a day trip. When I was about 17 years old, my dad and I were going through old family documents and we came across my grandfather, Wilfred Spotswood Long’s birth certificate. I asked my dad about the odd middle name and he went on to tell me we were somehow connected to some colonial governor of Virginia. I thought how neat it would be to find out how we were connected. It was around this time that my love of history really began to blossom.
In 2007 I went off to Longwood University where I graduated magna cum laude in 2009 with a B.A. in History with a concentration in Public History. Honor societies include Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Alpha Theta. I was also nominated for the Dan Daniel Award in Scholarship and Citizenship. During my time at Longwood, I developed a love and passion for Colonial Virginia History which is still my focus today.
In 2013, I self-published a book on my family genealogy, Voices of the Past: The Long and Brooks Family History, printed by Creative Continuum of Fullerton, California.
My father passed away in 2019 and to honor his memory, I started this blog with his love of history, a gift he gave to me, in mind. Since starting this blog, I have written articles, mainly on Colonial Virginia History. I also wanted to do this blog to keep myself active in a way in the history field. Little did I know where this blog would take me.
In 2024, I was voted onto the board of the Old Brick House Foundation, a history non-profit which owns and operates Old Brick House in Colonial Heights, Virginia. While there, I served as their Chair of Publicity and as a historian. I operated their Facebook account and created a website for the Foundation.
After leaving the Foundation in April 2025, I started a Facebook group with a number of historians who I had met on my journey to where I am now. We formed our group in October 2025, naming it Voices For Historical Justice. Having seen first-hand the injustice of historic sites not including the histories and narratives of the enslaved at their sites, me and my colleagues determined to start a group to speak out against these injustices and to combat efforts at either downplaying or erasing these histories and narratives. Our group is dedicated to telling and passing on the narratives and histories of underrepresented groups. Check out our website, https://www.historicjustice.org/. We also have a Facebook page, Voices For Historical Justice. Visit our Facebook page, and if you would like to join us in our mission, please do so. I want to throw out a huge thank you to my colleagues that I have met along the way–many of them have now become friends as well–for their support and collaboration. Joseph McGill, Jr., Charity Barriere Muhammad, Nicole Thomas, Nicole Moore, Tammy Denease, Bill Gwaltney, Michael Aubrecht, Lynette Fischer, Dr. David J. Coles (Longwood University), Johnette Weaver, Mary Lassiter, LK Scott, Ann Kennon Bresflower, Rosalyn Morgan Upshaw, Sonny Strauss, Peighton Young, and the many others who I have met along the way, THANK YOU!!!
Some of the articles that I have written on slavery received great responses, some readers even suggesting that I write a book based off of some of these articles. After getting many similar remarks, the more I looked at what I had written, a lightbulb went off in my head and the concept of my current book, which is in the production stage of publication, was born. The book, titled Slavery in Colonial Tidewater Virginia, takes a look at the history of slavery in Virginia’s Tidewater region using the stories of enslaved people who lived those realities. The book also has a major focus on the laws passed during the Colonial Virginia period that governed the institution. Keep up to date on my Publications page for any updates as my book moves through the stages of publication.
In my spare time, I enjoy going to a couple of historic sites to take part in their archaeology programs and assist in the field and lab. When not writing, I enjoy reading and spending time with my wife, Megan, my German shorthaired pointer, Kennon, and my ball python Festus.
