As America marks 250 years of independence this year, Lexington County locals have the chance to celebrate with learning, thanks to a series hosted by the Lexington County Museum. 

"The Friends of the Lexington County Museum are pleased to announce the first Summer Speaker Series," according to the museum website. "In June, July, and August, the Friends will have three historians speak about different topics related to the American Revolution." 

The first event in the series is coming up on Thursday, June 25. That day, Lexington County Museum director J.R. Fennell will give a presentation on Lexington County in the American Revolution.

Each event in the series will take place at the Town of Lexington Municipal Complex, located at 111 Maiden Ln. in Lexington, at 6:30 p.m.

On Thursday, July 23, Sean Gallagher, a history professor at the University of South Carolina, will deliver a lecture based on his research.

"Dr. Gallagher is currently finishing a book on enslaved people's resistance to confiscation and public labor in the American Revolution," according to the university's website. "Black women and men survived patriot state ownership and military impressment by crafting multiple identities as prisoners, charges, and refugees. Laboring in Continental Army forts, plantations expropriated from loyalists, and public jails, they forged strategies of refusal that made these public works sites of struggle over the future of slavery."

On Thursday, Aug. 27, Josh Shumak will present on Native Americans in the American Revolution in South Carolina.

According to schumanities.org, "Joshua Shumak is a nationally recognized policy consultant, educator, and advocate for Indigenous communities. He specializes in education, cultural policy, and government relations, developing initiatives that support Native American populations through research and tribal-state collaboration." 

Each event will begin with wine and cheese, and the lectures will begin half an hour later at 7 p.m. 

Tickets are $40 per lecture or $100 to attend all three.

For more information, contact museum@lexingtoncounty.sc.gov or 803-359-8369. There is also a link to purchase tickets on the museum website.