Lodging for 22nd Union

The Comfort Inn at Big Stone Gap is now full for the dates of 22nd Union, but nearby Wise and Norton have several motels to choose from.

The Wise County Chamber of Commerce has an online directory of hotels, motels, and other lodging options throughout the county.

Melungeons Hold Annual Gathering in June

Best-selling author, television writer, and film director Adriana Trigiani will be the featured speaker at the 22nd annual gathering of the Melungeon Heritage Association (MHA). The event will take place on the last weekend in June in Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and the Vardy Community in Hancock County, Tennessee. “It’s a gathering of Melungeons,” says MHA president Scott Withrow, “but everyone is welcome, whether you have Melungeon ancestry or just an interest in Appalachian history.”

The Melungeons are a mixed-ethnic group first documented in the Clinch River region of northeast Tennessee and southwest Virginia at the beginning of the 19th century. Most researchers have assumed the Melungeons were of mixed African, Native American, and European ancestry, but theories and legends about the Melungeons included descent from Portuguese adventurers, Spanish explorers, shipwrecked sailors or pirates, Muslims, Jews, and others. Because of their uncertain ancestry, the Melungeons faced legal and social discrimination through the mid-20th century. In recent years, Melungeon descendants have embraced their heritage and meet annually to listen to research presentations and share genealogies.

Melungeon characters have appeared in several recent works of fiction, including Trigiani’s Big Stone Gap (2000, Random House), set in Trigiani’s Virginia hometown. The book was made into a film in 2015, directed by Trigiani and starring Ashley Judd, Patrick Wilson, Whoopi Goldberg,Jenna Elfman,and Jasmine Guy. Trigiani has published 14 novels and two memoirs. She has also written scripts for television shows and was the writer and executive producer of City Kids for ABC/Jim Henson Productions, and oversaw the Lifetime television special Growing Up Funny and the Showtime series Linc’s.

The Melungeon Heritage Association gathering, entitled 22nd Union, will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, June 21st, in Dalton-Cantrell Hall at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap. Author and historian Marvin Jones will offer presentations on the mixed ethnic community of Winton Triangle in eastern North Carolina. Forest Hazel will discuss the efforts of the Occaneechi Tribe of Virginia to gain federal recognition, and filmmaker and photographer Julie Williams Dixon will present her film Melungeon Voices and her photography exhibit, “People and Their People.” The evening will end with a 7:00 p.m. showing of the film Big Stone Gap.

On Friday, June 22nd, participants will travel by carpool or on their own to the Vardy Community in Hancock County, Tennessee, long recognized for its Melungeon population. The Vardy community was the site of a Presbyterian mission that served Melungeons during the first half of the 20th century, and a tour of the site will begin at 10:00 a.m. Author and Vardy historian DruAnna Overbay will present “Vardy: A Sense of Place” at 1:00 p.m. That evening at 6:00 p.m., a reception will be held at the Southwest Virginia Historical Museum State Park in Big Stone Gap, followed by family group discussions for those interested in exploring their own possible Melungeon connections.

Saturday, June 23rd, will open at 8:45 a.m. in Dalton-Cantrell Hall at Mountain Empire Community College in Big Stone Gap. Adriana Trigiani will begin with a presentation entitled “An Appalachian Childhood in Big Stone Gap/Melungeons in Fiction.” Dr. Terry Mullins will present “One Melungeon Family’s Clinch Valley Odyssey,” and Dr. Arwin Smallwood will discuss “The Great Tuscarora Diaspora.” After lunch, Julie Williams Dixon and Paul Johnson will present “Lost Communities: Mixed Race Settlements of the Virginia/Carolina Border,” and Dr. Edward Davis IV will offer “From Melange in Angola to Melungeons of America.” Filmmaker Heather Andolina will discuss her documentary-in-progress about the Melungeons, followed by a general meeting of the Melungeon Heritage Association.

Registration for 22nd Union is $10 for any or all of the three days. Pre-registration information, as well as information about MHA and the presenters, is available online at www.melungeon.org. Participants may also register on-site. Pre-registration is required for anyone who wants lunch at Vardy on Friday, June 22nd. Lodging information in Big Stone Gap is also available on the MHA website.

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