HUNTSVILLE, Alabama - Ron Sydor laughed with his boss the first time he saw a job opening to manage the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Kentucky.

Ron Sydor said he doesn't see any problem with an African American being in charge of managing the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site at the confederate president's birthplace. (Paul Huggins/phuggins@al.com)

And it wasn't just that he was extremely happy being assistant manager of Lake Barkley State Resort. As the largest state park in Kentucky, the job had certain prestige. But more obviously, the birthplace of the first and only president of the confederacy--a man who firmly believed in slavery and servitude for the black race--hardly seemed like a good fit for a black ex-Marine.

"Given what that place is and who I am, there's no way I'm getting that job," he told his boss at Lake Barkley. "So I didn't apply."

A year later, park officials approached Sydor, who has a bachelor's degree in history with an emphasis on the colonial era through the Civil War. They offered him the job.

When he was hired, a local newspaper did a feature story on him, and word quickly spread that an African American was managing the former slave holder's birthplace. Then, the media blitz hit, he said, including a reporter from the New York Times.

"They wanted to know 'How?' and 'Why?'" Sydor said. "My answer was, 'Why not?'"

He laughed again when the state park commissioner called him to apologize and explain that Sydor's ironic posting wasn't his idea. The commissioner then offered to help Sydor if he ever found trouble because of his race and the park's connection with an icon of the old South.

"He said, 'Why are you laughing?'" Sydor said. "I told him, 'You're three and half hours away. What are you going to do?'"

When he came aboard four years ago, Sydor set out to add new programs that focused on the Union perspective of the Civil War era, the lives of Union and Confederate soldiers, the women's role at home, and the roles that both African Americans and Native Americans played during the war.

History is for everyone's benefit to learn from, he said, and all he is doing is sharing facts from the nation's past.

When Sydor first arrived at the Jefferson Davis State Historic Site, he said nothing was said about Davis other than he was the president of the confederacy. He felt there needed to be a full description of the man and how he lived his life.

When he gives tours, Sydor only focuses on Davis' life, apart from his time in the Civil War. He did the same Thursday night when giving an hour presentation to the Tennessee Valley Civil War Round Table.

"It's a blast," he said of being the park manager. "I'm having all kinds of fun."