Irvin Francis Kyle III Speaker Series
The Irvin Francis Kyle iii Speaker series
Recognizing Weldon’s rich history, Rev. Francis Kyle felt that people alive today should learn and appreciate its history. He believed an effective way to celebrate the town’s history was to create a speaker series, with one or two events a year, advertised and open to the public. He called it the Weldon Heritage Speaker Series. It was a regular event of Weldon In Action (WIA). Upon his sudden death in the fall of 2024, the volunteers and board of Weldon In Action named the series in memory of Rev. Kyle. Its name is now The Irvin Francis Kyle III Speaker Series.
Wherever he lived, local history was his passion. It became a part of his life, which he shared willingly with others. On his familiar motorcycle, he traveled the area to museums, to memorial parks, to cultural centers, to historic buildings and markers, absorbing himself in the culture of the town, county, and state.
Appreciating and understanding one’s past, he felt, is important to a town’s sense of community. Shortly after he arrived in Weldon as pastor of the Weldon Baptist Church, Rev. Kyle realized that Weldon has a unique and important story to tell.
He took the lead in creating, planning, and conducting two presentations a year. The series began in October 2022 with an event that focused on the town's Jewish heritage and featured guest speaker Leonard Rogoff, who had authored a book about the Jewish temple in Weldon. Former Jewish residents returned to greet old friends and to celebrate growing up in Weldon.
And in February 2023, WIA invited Weldon native Gentry O. Smith to speak on "From Weldon to World." Smith was the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security based in Washington, D.C. The community turned out to celebrate Gentry’s family, his career in law enforcement, and his message of encouragement to the youth of the town.
Three more followed. The third, in fall 2023, titled "The Roanoke River: Amazon of the East" featured three Weldon "River Rat" fishermen and two eastern North Carolina fisheries experts who told tales of the river's past glory days and shared information about the river's present and future.
In May 2024, UNC Chapel Hill professor emeritus of English and comparative literature, William L. Andrews, spoke on "How Fugitive Slaves and Their Stories Helped Win the War Against Slavery." He shared excerpts from the autobiographies of the once-enslaved Frederick Douglass, Olaudah Equiano (also known as Gustavas Vassa), Henry Ossian Flipper, "Father" Josiah Henson, Harriet Jacobs, and Moses Roper.
Mrs. Sandra Bryant, president of the Halifax Underground Railroad Commission (HURR) described plans the organization has to secure land and develop a memorial, celebrating the three sites along the Roanoke River in Halifax County.
The last program planned and executed by Rev. Kyle in September 2024 was titled, "From the Mountains to the Sea, All the Goods Traveled Over Me,” It was about the Weldon Aqueduct, which was two hundred years old in 2024. Otis "Nat" Vaughan, long-time Weldon resident and former Town Commissioner, talked about the aqueduct's history and the structure's value and significance.
Brian Coffield and William "Bill" E. Trout III, Ph.D., of the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society provided the broader historical context of the region's man-made aqueducts, canals, and inland waterways. Trout played a significant role in the formation and later leadership of the Virginia Canals and Navigations Society (est. 1977) and the annual and popular James River Bateau Festival (1986).
Weldon In Action continued the series with a topic Rev. Kyle has started developing: Weldon’s Religious Roots. Six churches, three historically White and three Black that opened from 1845 through 1873 were described and showcased in the winter of 2025 by a panel of previous ministers and members.
We are indebted to the Kyle family for its sponsorship and financial support which enables us to continue the program at the level of excellence Rev. Kyle established.
On November 1, Weldon In Action held the premiere of the oral history program, a documentary titled The Current of Time: An Oral History of Weldon at Halifax Community College to an audience of more than two hundred people. This was the second program in the Irvin Francis Kyle III series in 2025, also supported by the Kyle family.
We will no longer benefit from Rev. Kyle’s scholarly leadership. There is no way we can replace his knowledge and enthusiasm, but we will continue the speaker series in October 2026, with a program about the history and importance of the railroads in the development of Weldon as a major transportation and economic hub. The executive director of the Wilmington Weldon Museum in Wilmington, Ms. Holli Saperstein, will speak on October 15 at the Halifax Community College and share stories and artifacts of the Wilmington Weldon Railroad, the longest railroad in the world when completed in the 184--161 ½ miles long.
We continue to be inspired by Rev. Kyle’s enthusiasm for and knowledge of his adopted town.
