Celebrating Black History Month – Black Excellence in My Family: Rev. Robert D. Hatchett

As part of my Black History Month series, Black Excellence in My Family, I’m honoring the everyday excellence found in my own family history. My 3× great-grandfather, Rev. Robert Hatchett, was Black excellence under circumstances that were designed to deny him. Though he was enslaved, he served as a Baptist minister, performing marriages and leading worship for enslaved communities in both Alabama and Arkansas. He was also a husband and a father, building and sustaining family life while enduring the realities of enslavement.

Rev. Robert Hatchett is the reason my family’s story is rooted in Arkansas, making me a sixth-generation Arkansan. His life and movement across states are a reminder that our ancestors’ paths continue to shape where we stand today. No photograph of him exists, but his presence is still tangible. I have his signature from a marriage license, a powerful piece of evidence that he could read and write, despite laws designed to prevent enslaved people from learning. That signature is more than ink on paper; it is proof of intellect, resistance, and dignity.

Family history research has taught me that Black excellence did not begin with freedom, it existed even in bondage. Rev. Robert Hatchett’s life reminds me that leadership, faith, service, and devotion to family endured, even when the world refused to acknowledge them.

Honoring his story is one way I celebrate Black History Month and ensure that his legacy continues to be told.