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WHEELING -- The story of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment will be presented at the next meeting of the Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable next week.
Author, photographer, retired teacher and current Ohio County Board of Education member Pete Chacalos will be the keynote speaker. His presentation is set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Ohio County Public Library.
Chacalos is vice president of the Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable, and recently published his first book - "Born of Rebellion: West Virginia and the Civil War."
Chacalos said his program Monday will detail events involved in the raising of the 54th Massachusetts regiment - the first all-Black regiment raised in the Northern states and featured in the 1989 movie "Glory."
The movie sparked his interest in the 54th Massachusetts Regiment.
"A lot of people think it was the first all-Black regiment raised, but it was not," Chacalos said. He noted others were first raised in Kansas, Louisiana and South Carolina.
And not all of the members of the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment hailed from Massachusetts, he continued. The Black population wasn't there and many of the soldiers came from Ohio and other midwestern states.
After more than 180,000 black soldiers signed up, a second regiment - the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment - was formed.
Chacalos taught human anatomy and physiology for 34 years at WPHS, and served as athletic trainer.
Even so, he said his "interest in history was always there."
The first time Chacalos went to Gettysburg it rekindled his historic interest. He began visiting other battlefields.
Chacalos is a graduate of WPHS, West Virginia University and Ohio University.
He was a National Board-Certified teacher, Ohio County educator of the year for the 2018-2019 school year, and a Wheeling Area Chamber of Commerce teacher of the year.
Chacalos also serves on the Board of the West Virginia Independence Hall Foundation and was recognized as a West Virginia History Hero in 2022.
The Ohio Valley Civil War Roundtable meets monthly at the Ohio County Library, and the schedule for the upcoming months will be announced in November, according to Chacalos.