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b"Benn Trask has more than twenty years of teaching experience, mostly as a middle-school history teacher. He holds an undergraduate degree in education and a master\\u2019s degree in history, both from Virginia Tech. Following Virginia Tech, he served as a communications officer in the Marine Corps. In 1987, he returned to graduate school, earning a master\\u2019s degree in library science from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.\\n\\n\\n\\nOld Point Comfort Lighthouse, Virginia. USLHS photo by Ralph Eshelman.\\n\\n\\n\\nBenn Trask\\n\\n\\n\\nPrior to teaching, he was the librarian and a curator at The Mariners\\u2019 Museum in Newport News. His exhibits, presentations and publications revolve around yellow fever, the American Civil War, maritime affairs, and African American history. From 2013 to 2021, he worked as a deckhand and narrator on the Miss Hampton II harbor cruise boat. On this floating classroom, he shared with visitors the story of five light stations in the Hampton Roads area. \\n\\n\\n\\nHe's currently writing a book for the History Press on 11 lighthouses of southeastern Virginia. The book will include information on some of the African American keepers in Virginia, and Benn is also writing an article on that topic for the U.S. Lighthouse Society\\u2019s journal, The Keeper\\u2019s Log.\\xa0 A Navy brat and a long-time resident of Hampton, he enjoys writing, exercising, origami, and of course, history road trips. \\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\n\\nWilliam Roscoe Davis (right) was one of many African American light keepers in southeastern Virginia. He was the keeper at Old Point Comfort 1870-78. \\n\\n\\n\\n(USLHS archives)"