SUGAR HILL – The City of Sugar Hill, in partnership with the Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society, will premiere a new exhibit titled “First In Our State: A Revolutionary Achievement” on Saturday, Nov. 1, at 12 p.m. at the Sugar Hill History Museum, 5010 West Broad St. The exhibit, which is free and open to the public, honors Michael Nolden Henderson, Lieutenant Commander, U.S. Navy (Ret.), the first African American member of the Georgia Society, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR).
Before the exhibit opening, a patriot grave marking ceremony will take place at 11 a.m. at the Sugar Hill Historic Cemetery, located across from Sugar Hill City Hall at 5039 West Broad St. The ceremony will feature the Georgia Society SAR Color Guard and is presented in collaboration with several Georgia SAR chapters, including Button Gwinnett, Blue Ridge Mountains, Joseph Habersham, Lyman Hall, Piedmont, and Robert Forsyth.
The multi-media exhibit chronicles Henderson’s trailblazing genealogical research, his service as president of the Button Gwinnett Chapter of the Georgia Society SAR, and his advocacy for recognizing overlooked patriots of color. It also showcases his national and international influence, including his appearance on PBS’s History Detectives and his award-winning book, Got Proof! My Genealogical Journey Through the Use of Documentation (The Write Image, 2013).
“We’re excited to bring this exhibit to Sugar Hill,” said Sugar Hill Historic Preservation Society Chairman Kathryn Baskin. “Our mission is to highlight stories that are often overlooked, and this exhibit celebrates one of our own residents who helped open the door for many others to join the Sons of the American Revolution.”
A New Orleans native, Henderson began tracing his family’s history nearly four decades ago, documenting six Patriots of the American Revolutionary War who served under General Bernardo de Gálvez in Spanish Colonial Louisiana. “I am a composition of my African, Native American, French, French-Canadian, and German-Swedish ancestry. They all deserve to be acknowledged,” Henderson said.
His research into an enslaved woman named Agnes—who gained her freedom in 1779 under Spanish law—led to the discovery of his fourth-generation great-grandparents, Agnes and Mathieu Devaux. Devaux, a Frenchman who served under General Gálvez, helped secure Agnes’s manumission. Their story embodies the intertwined legacies of freedom and perseverance that define Henderson’s lineage.
For more information, contact Victoria Richburg, Director of Communications, Marketing & Outreach, at vrichburg@cityofsugarhill.com or visit cityofsugarhill.com.
