"Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" Berea College, KY
Recent books and documentaries on Appalachia's mysterious Melungeons have led
many people to search for their Melungeon roots. A genealogy workshop at Berea
College may provide help for those who are seeking information about their
families and possible Melungeon connections.
"Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" will be held on the Berea
College campus on Saturday, June 26. This event will feature sessions on
beginning, intermediate, and Internet genealogy, as well as specific sessions
to explore Native American and African-American connections. There will also
be chat sessions for various family groups, a showing of a documentary film
about the Melungeons, and a panel discussion featuring Brent Kennedy, Manuel
Mira, and others..
The Melungeons are a multi-racial and multi-ethnic people who were first
documented in the Appalachian mountains at the end of the 18th century. Since
that time, they have become a part of Appalachian folklore - "sons and
daughters of the legend." Prior to the Civil War, some were classified as
"free persons of color." More recently, they have been identified by
anthropologists and sociologists as "tri-racial isolates" - an amalgam of
European, Native American, and African-American ancestry. They faced
discrimination, both legal and social, and tended to settle in isolated
communities such as Newman's Ridge in Hancock County, Tennessee, or Stone
Mountain, Virginia.
Over the years, Melungeons kept to themselves -- or moved to other areas where
their heritage was not suspect. Oral history among Melungeon families was
often not shared with succeeding generations. "Melungeon" had become an
epithet, even if no one knew where the word originated. Jean Patterson Bible
wrote in 1975 that generations of intermarriage has resulted in near racial
dissolution: "They'll be gone in a generation or two, except for an occasional
dark-complected [sic] child as a reminder of the past."
Instead, many Melungeon descendants are coming to recognize and embrace the
diverse heritage that is theirs. They've been encouraged and inspired by Dr.
N. Brent Kennedy, author of the 1994 book The Melungeons: The Resurrection of
A Proud People; An Untold Story of Ethnic Cleansing in America. Kennedy, in
researching his own family background, concludes that the Melungeons were
descended from groups of Spaniards, Portuguese, Turks, Berbers, Moors, Jews,
and others who arrived on these shores between the arrival of Columbus and the
establishment of Jamestown. Generations of intermarriage with Europeans,
Native Americans, and African-Americans resulted in the people now known as
Melungeons.
Participants may pre-register before June 1, for "Melungeon Roots: A Family
Heritage Workshop" by sending a check or money order to: Melungeon Roots, P.O.
Box 4042, Wise, VA 24293. Admission to the event is $5 for each pre-registered
participant (before June 1), and $10 for those who register after June 1 and
for on-site registrants. On-site registration begins Friday, June 25, at 7:00
pm at the Alumni Building on the Berea campus.
The Melungeon Heritage Association, Inc. will hold a mixer on Friday night at
the Alumni Building from 7 to 9 pm. Workshops will begin on Saturday morning
at 9:00 am at Phelps-Stokes Hall, with welcoming remarks by Audie Kennedy,
president of the Melungeon Heritage Association, Inc., and Gordon McKinney of
the Berea College Appalachian Center. Workshops will be held in the Frost
Building and Phelps Stokes chapel. Chat groups will be running all day at
various locations on campus. Throughout the day, "Melungeon Roots" will
feature "how-to" genealogy sessions as well as sessions on Native American,
African-American, and Portuguese-American genealogy. A panel discussion with a
question-and-answer session will close the workshop.
"Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" is sponsored by the Appalachian
Center at Berea College, continuing the college's long tradition of commitment
to Appalachia and to diversity. The event is organized by the Melungeon
Heritage Association, Inc. (MHA), a non-profit organization formed in 1998.
MHA was an outgrowth of the highly successful First Union: A Melungeon
Gathering held in Wise in 1997. In 1998, MHA sponsored Second Union, an even
larger gathering which featured sessions and lectures on history, social
issues, and medical issues, as well as genealogy.
The gatherings are only a part of the work of MHA. The organization is also
dedicated to several other tasks, including continued research and writing,
telling the story of the Melungeon people, and contributing to the mosaic of a
past that has been hidden too long. At the same time, MHA plans to collect and
preserve the research and artifacts of the past, forming the basis of a
Melungeon Research Center to give these materials a permanent home. MHA�s
mission is to document and preserve the heritage and cultural legacy of mixed-
ancestry people of the Southern Appalachians. While the focus will be on those
of Melungeon heritage, they do not restrict themselves to honoring only this
group, but believe in the dignity of all such mixed ancestry groups. MHA is
committed to preserving this rich heritage of racial diversity and harmony.
MHA plans to hold Third Union in the summer of 2000. In the meantime,
"Melungeon Roots" is the first of several planned smaller events which will
focus on individual aspects of Melungeon heritage.
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT: MELUNGEON ROOTS
"Melungeon Roots: A Family Heritage Workshop" will be held on the Berea
College campus in Berea, Kentucky, on Saturday, June 26. This event will
feature sessions on beginning, intermediate, and Internet genealogy, as well
as specific sessions on other aspects of Melungeon genealogy. To register,
send five dollars per registrant to Melungeon Roots, P.O. Box 4042, Wise, VA
24293.