We were lucky to catch up with Dustin Blackson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Dustin , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My love for history began with my grandparents’ upbringing, hearing about their stories of the times they were growing up and the trips I took with them as a child to where they grew up. I was rummaging through my grandfather’s old documents. I found a list of names with the same surname as mine, starting my interest in genealogy and soon developing an interest in history. Particularly, I am interested in the history of coal mining and the golden days of Hollywood entertainment. My interest in coal mining stems from my grandfather being a coal miner and growing up in the coalfields of the Appalachia Mountains. Furthermore, my interest in Hollywood entertainment stems from watching old movies and TV shows with my grandfather.

As an adult, I started taking an active interest in history, attending Civil War reenactments and exploring local museums for a few years until I decided to enroll in college. After my grandfather died from cancer in 2017, I decided to travel and, in doing so, reignited my interest in history by visiting museums and historical sites. I started learning and exploring other areas of history I had never seriously investigated before, notably the American Revolution, thus joining the Sons of the American Revolution.

Once I noticed the trend on social media of sharing the content of places people visit and discussing what they’re passionate about, I started Historic Explorations to share many areas of history besides entertainment history and Appalachia/coal mine history. I aim to share content that interests and educates my followers.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

Shortly after my grandfather passed in 2017, I started taking a few weekend trips, and how much I enjoyed it. Realizing how much I enjoyed weekend getaways, I started going places quite often. I started watching YouTube videos on traveling and saw how much of a trend this was becoming. A few years later, I saw I wanted to do something like this myself. I remembered how much I loved history before I went back to college. That prompted me to start going to historical sights and museums.

I started Historic Explorations on Facebook in March of 2022 and a few months later on Instagram. I started my YouTube channel in July 2022. I recently designed a website with a blog and now doing a podcast. I feel my passion for the history of my area isn’t often spoken about or taught. I want to share that history with viewers not from my location. I share a well-versed amount of history that consists of the local history of the rural Appalachia Mountains, entertainment history, and the history we all learned in school. My goal is to make history fun and educational for everyone.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Surround yourself with people who want to see you succeed and remove those who doubt your success. Stay focused on what you love and what invigorates you, and the rest will fall into place. Reach out to anyone or resources that will help aid in your success.

How did you build your audience on social media?

As a content creator, I started out knowing very little. I just jumped in, sharing what I love and learning from trial and error. Knowing how to craft my content to appeal to my followers excitingly and educationally, I learned the most.

My advice to those starting is to share what you love and learn from experience. Be patient in gaining followers, and don’t focus on the end results. You will have ups and downs in your journey as a content creator. Don’t let failures and setbacks discourage you from giving up.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://historicexplorations.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historicexplorations/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/historicexplorations1/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@historicexplorations