Melungeon Heritage Association's Annual Union

[Marvin Jones]

Press contact: Paul Johnson, 434-579-7599

Registration contact: Jim and Phyllis Morefield, 540-984-9756

MHA President: S.J. Arthur, 502-223-5445

The Melungeon Heritage Association will hold its Fifteenth Union in
Swannanoa, North Carolina, in partnership with Warren Wilson College,
on July 14 through 16, 2011. The historic campus is located a few
miles east of Asheville, surrounded by beautiful mountain scenery.
The theme of this year’s annual gathering is “Carolina Connections:
Roots and Branches of Mixed Ancestry Communities.” The public is
invited to join in this celebration; registration for nonmembers is
$21 per day. For more information, visit www.melungeon.org which is
the official website of the Melungeon Heritage Association.

For more than 200 years, the mysterious multi-ethnic people known as
Melungeons have been the subject of folklore, speculation, and
occasional scientific inquiry in the southern Appalachian region. In
some places, Melungeons faced stigma, both legal and social, because
they did not fit into America’s accepted racial categories.
Historical accounts of the Melungeons maintain that they claimed
Portuguese and Indian ancestry. Melungeon family tree branches
connect with the wide array of ethnic groups that established the
colonies, including English, Celtic, Spanish, Portuguese, African,
German, Arab, Jewish, Turkish, East Indian and others. The Melungeon
Heritage Association, formed in January 1998, hosts a yearly gathering
to celebrate Melungeon heritage and to support other mixed ancestry
groups. While multi-ethnic populations often face discrimination, in
the past decade they have been able to reclaim and celebrate their
unique heritage. Through the work of the Melungeon Heritage
Association, Melungeon descendants and others gather to celebrate the
diversity of their mixed ancestry heritage. MHA has worked to break
through the barriers of discrimination, oppression and lost family
connections. We strive to shed light on aspects of American history
that have been overlooked for people of all ethnic heritages.

This event offers the opportunity to share family histories, both
oral and written, that have been kept secret for far too many
generations. MHA encourages folks to bring musical instruments,
family Bibles, pictures, and stories to this event. The event has a
casual picnic/family reunion atmosphere combined with academic
presentations. A wide selection of books related to Melungeon and
Appalachian history will be available for purchase. The DVD entitled
Melungeon Voices will also be available.

Scholarly presentations will be featured on during Friday and
Saturday, with informal events planned for Thursday and Saturday
evenings. The Friday morning session will feature a presentation by
Stacy Webb, president of the Redbone Heritage Foundation, giving a
preview of her forthcoming book Gone to Texas and her recently
published chapter in Carolina Genesis tracing the migrations of mixed
ancestry peoples from the Carolinas

Phyllis Starnes, project administrator of the recently completed
Melungeon DNA study, will then report on the details and implications
of its findings.

The Friday afternoon session will open with Dr. Elizabeth Hirschman,
(Rutgers University,Marketing) discussing early colonial settlers with
Jewish, Muslim, and Gypsy ancestry. Dr. Terry Mullins, (Concord
University, Education) author of four books on southwest Virginia
history, will share Mullins family research, and discuss his new
children’s book, Melungeons Out of the Dungeon. Dr. Kathy Lyday-Lee,
(Elon University, English) will share a report on her investigation of
Will Allen Dromgoole’s 1890 visit to Newman’s Ridge. Jeanne
Bornefeld, musicologist, will conclude Friday afternoon performing and
explaining “Music of Our Ancestors” with traditional instruments. The
keynote address of the conference will be presented on Friday evening
by Daniel Sharfstein, (Vanderbilt University, Law), discussing his
acclaimed 2011 historical study The Invisible Line, which traces the
histories of the Gibson, Spencer, and Wall families and includes new
information about Melungeons.

Saturday morning the day will open with Wayne Winkler, director of
East Tennessee Public Radio, author of the groundbreaking study
Walking Into the Sunset, giving a multimedia introduction to Melungeon
history. Dr. Arwin Smallwood, (University of Memphis, History), will
present “The Ties that Bind: Colonial Virginia and North Carolina and
the Possible Origin of Melungeons.” Lisa Alther, bestselling novelist
whose last book Kinfolks was nonfiction based on Melungeon research,
will discuss and read from her forthcoming novel from Mercer
University Press, Washed in the Blood.

Marvin T. Jones, Chowan Discovery Group founder, will open Saturday
afternoon describing the Civil War experience of the mixed ancestry
community of the Winton Triangle in Hertford County. Dr. Anita
Puckett, (Virginia Tech, Anthropology) will explore the interaction of
language, speech and ethnicity as applied to Melungeon studies.
Manuel Mira, born in Portugal and longtime North Carolinian, will
discuss his researches in the southeastern US. Johnnie Gibson Rhea,
beloved elder of the Newman’s Ridge Melungeon community, will share
her wisdom and creativity, introducing the MHA annual meeting.

MHA President S.J. Arthur invites all with interest in the history of
Melungeons and other mixed ancestry groups to take part in the
Union. This year MHA will have available inexpensive, although
somewhat limited, on-campus housing and dining for attendees.
Preregistration is required by July 1 for housing and/or dining (meal
tickets are available with or without lodging on campus.)


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