William Miller Barbour may be one of the most influential Americans you've never heard of. But Eric Schubert and Abigail Sholes want everyone to know his name.

The historians are organizing the W. Miller Barbour Lecture Series, designed to highlight the life of the man who lived from 1908 to 1957 and made a significant impact on the civil rights movement.

"Each session will follow the same general framework of his biography and career but connects and tailors it to the specific Pennsylvania communities he influenced," Schubert said. "The series uses Barbour's life and career to link local history with the broader civil rights movement, especially with a lecture the week of Juneteenth and more in his native Dauphin and Lancaster counties."

The series will kick off on Wednesday, June 17, with a program at the Hershey History Center, 40 Northeast Drive, Hershey, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Additional programs will be held on Thursday, July 16, at the Lower Swatara Township Historic Preservation Society; Sunday, July 19, at the Griscom Education Center; Saturday, Sept. 5, at the Cumberland County Historical Society; Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Masonic Village; and Wednesday, Oct. 14, at the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster County.

"Abigail and I are honored to share Barbour's legacy with the public," Schubert said. "He had lifelong advocacy for equality and opportunity, and these talks will introduce and establish the core themes - justice, dignity and community leadership - that defined his life and career."

Schubert and Sholes both share interests in history and preserving Barbour's impact. Schubert works as a genealogist, and both historians have done extensive research by reading both Barbour's own publications as well as other historical documents to present a clear picture of the man.

"If someone isn't familiar with W. Miller Barbour, the key thing to know is that he built a career that moved between national leadership and local impact," Schubert said. "He was an Elizabethtown College graduate and a highly trained social worker with an MSW, which shaped how he approached civil rights - practical, policy-focused and grounded in community needs."

Schubert and Sholes, who both graduated from Elizabethtown College with history degrees, became interested in telling Barbour's story after learning more about the leader through work with Elizabethtown College professor Jean-Paul Benowitz.

"Every detail about Barbour is interesting to us. We are fascinated by his life and career," Schubert said. "However, one of the biggest findings has been just how geographically wide his influence was. He moved between Pennsylvania, California, Colorado, sometimes even New York and other states, while staying focused on the same core issues of employment, housing and civil rights enforcement."

Their extensive research has helped piece together a coherent narrative from hundreds of sources across the country, something that hasn't been done before with Barbour's story.

"It shows an extremely active man, constantly focused on publishing, writing and advocating for and on the issues that mattered to him," Schubert said.

Schubert and Sholes have also been promoting Barbour's story on multiple fronts. State Sen. Patty Kim, who represents Barbour's native Middletown, issued an official citation honoring Barbour and the lecture series, and the Dauphin County Commissioner's office will issue a proclamation this summer, with plans in the works for Barbour to be honored in Lancaster County as well. The pair has also submitted articles on various aspects of Barbour's life to academic journals and wrote a short documentary, "The Prospect for Freedom: W. Miller Barbour's Human Rights Journey."

Schubert hopes the lecture series will bring a man who deserves center stage into the spotlight.

"Telling W. Miller Barbour's story matters because it fills in a gap that shouldn't exist in the first place," he said. "Barbour was doing the work of organizing, teaching and pushing institutions toward accountability ... yet his name rarely appears in the mainstream versions of civil rights history. His early death stopped recognition of his legacy, and we want to correct the historical record and share Barbour's incredible lessons and observations about our society."

And for someone who loves history like Schubert does, uncovering Barbour's influence is just one step in bringing stories like his into the limelight.

"People like W. Miller Barbour exist in multiple fields," he said. "They are the unsung heroes who do the work and may not get as much attention as others in the field. In this case, for example, W. Miller Barbour should be remembered for his incredible role in American civil rights history and deserves to be discussed at the same level as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr."

Most of the lectures are free and open to the public, but some are ticketed by donation. For complete details, visit http://www.espublichistory.wordpress.com or search for Eric Schubert on LinkedIn.