About Guy
Guy Weston is an accomplished family historian, public health consultant, and writer.
While his earliest writing focused on profiling the nascent HIV epidemic during its first decades and related issues of sexual identity, his current public health focus is the COVID-19 epidemic. Articles and interviews on various perspectives of the COVID-19 epidemic can be found here.
As a family historian, Guy researches African American genealogy and history. His primary interest, antebellum free African Americans in New Jersey, comes from his own family legacy, which dates to land purchased in 1829 by his 4th great grandfather that remains in his family today. He chronicled the journey of beginning this research in Finding Free African Americans From the Antebellum Period, published in 2015 in National Genealogical Society Magazine.
He discusses antebellum free African Americans further in the Journal of the African American Historical and Genealogical Society under the title New Jersey: A State Divided on Freedom. the article recounts fascinating details of free African American communities in southern New Jersey, who represented a majority of African Americans in that region as early as 1790. Weston also chairs the Timbuctoo Advisory Committee, which advises the Westampton Township, NJ governing body on historic preservation issues related to Timbuctoo, the historically African American settlement where Weston’s ancestors bought land in 1829. Further information about Timbuctoo can be found on his website at www.TimbuctooNJ.com . Guy has been a Visiting Scholar in the history department at Rutgers University since 2017, and became the editor of the Afro American Historical and Genealogical Society Journal in 2022.
Guy is one of three children born to Abe Weston, a career military serviceman, and Mary Weston, a homemaker who later became a special education teacher. As a child and young adult, he lived in England, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica and the United States, attending eight schools before graduating from Willingboro High School in New Jersey in 1976. Recalling a childhood experience when his family lived in Puerto Rico at Thanksgiving but was transferred to endure subzero chill factors in North Dakota by January, Weston says his military upbringing helped him to understand the world from multiple vantage points, beginning with his earliest memories. “It’s been an indispensable asset for my work as a writer, as a public speaker, and as a teacher,” he said. “You understand where people are coming from, even when you’re on opposite sides of the debate.”
Guy has a master’s degree in Bilingual/Bicultural Studies from LaSalle University in Philadelphia and speaks Spanish with native proficiency as a result of his residence abroad during childhood.
Previously, Guy worked full time in HIV/AIDS programs for more than 25 years, holding senior leadership positions in health departments in Vermont, the District of Columbia, and Maryland. He also managed a professional development program in the District of Columbia that provided continuing education credits to social workers and nurses, where he also facilitated workshops on topics such as Social Determinants of Health, HIPAA and Confidentiality, Grant Writing and Fund Development, as well as other topics related to organizational development and program development.
Guy is an avid bicyclist. He also maintains a substantial collection of vintage photographs, which can be seen on Facebook from time to time. His favorite is a stunning portrait of his great-great grandmother, who was born in 1870. He resides in Washington. DC. He enjoys international travel and very long bike rides through the extensive trails of the DMV area.