This month’s Tuesdays in the Newsroom celebrates Black History Month with a conversation with members of the Tankard family, among the very few African Americans living year-round on Martha’s Vineyard in the 1960s. The event will be held on Feb. 18 at 5:30 p.m. in the Gazette newsroom.

Bob Tankard, Patricia Tankard and Carol Tankard Giosmas were three of 10 children of Audria and George V. Tankard Sr., who moved to the Vineyard from New Jersey in 1961. A close-knit family, the Tankards are perhaps best known for their contributions to youth development on the Island. Coach T, as Bob is known, was a beloved football coach and principal of the West Tisbury School.

Doors open at 5:15 p.m. with a short reception, followed by a discussion of the Tankard’s experiences of the Vineyard and attitudes toward race over more than 60 years.

The event is free to subscribers of the Gazette; nonsubscribers pay $10. Advance registration.