Big Stone Gap, Virginia, and Vardy, Tennessee
Thursday, June 23
Pre-conference Genealogy Workshop-Mountain Empire Community College. The following speakers have been contracted to do a genealogy workshop on Thursday, June 23, prior to 20th Union. The speakers are sponsored by Wampler Library, Mountain Empire Community College at no charge to members of the Wise County Historical Society (WCHS) or theMelungeon Heritage Association (MHA). Contact Mike Gilley at mgilley@mecc.edu to register (registration is encouraged).
9:00 a. m.-12:00 noon…Paula D. Royster: African American Research for the Novice.
Ms.Royster is a Humanities and Culture doctoral student at Union Institute and University where she is working on a creative dissertation on the Ottoman Empire’s role in the Arab-Oriental Slave Trade.
1:30 – 2:50 PM……….. Philip Edwards: “Family of Tree Makers”: Computer-Automated Genealogy in 2016.
Philip Edwards is a Hybrid Academic Librarian and Information Technology Specialist at Wampler Library of Mountain Empire Community College (MECC) in Big Stone Gap.
3:10 – 4:30 PM……….. Lynda Davis-Logan: DNA for Family History Studies (DNA terminology, various companies for DNA)
Lynda is a retired teacher who has studied genealogy for 50 years. She attended 13th Union in 2011 at Chief Logan Conference Center, Logan, West Virginia, where she was motivated to begin a study of DNA.
Friday, June 24
Those wanting to carpool/caravan to Vardy, meet at the Holiday Inn parking lot at 1051 Park Ave NW, Norton, VA 2427 at 10 a.m. (Norton is approximately 12 miles north of Big Stone Gap). For those driving on their own from Big Stone Gap or elsewhere, use the following address as a GPS point in Vardy, Tennessee: 3865 Vardy Blackwater, Sneedville, TN 37869-6432. A hand-drawn map (not to scale) with directions from Big Stone Gap to Vardy is included. Vardy Community is one valley over and north of Sneedville, Tennessee in the Ridge and Valley Province of Tennessee-Virginia. Meet at the Vardy Museum/former Vardy Presbyterian Church.
10:30 a. m. …………….Leave Holiday Inn parking lot, Norton, Virginia for carpooling/caravanning to Vardy, Tennessee. Drive on your own from other locations if you wish.
11:45 a. m………………Arrive Vardy (approximate time)
11:45 a.m. -12:30 p. m….Lunch at Vardy (sandwich lunch provided, bring a lunch if you require
gluten-free or an otherwise special diet)
12:30-2:30 p. m……….. Tour Vardy Historical Museum/District
6:00 p. m……………… .Reception (light fare food and refreshments), Victorian Parlor,
Southwest Virginia Historical State Park, 10 E 1st St N, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219. Exhibit of Julie Williams Dixon’sphotographic prints, “People and Their People.” Afterwards, the exhibit will be moved to our Saturday meeting site (Goodloe Center), Mountain Empire Community College.
7:00 p.m………………. .Julie Williams Dixon. Following the reception, Julie will talk briefly about her photography exhibit, “People and Their People,” and also facilitate a group discussion focused on the value of photography in historical genealogical study. Again, she welcomes participants to bring family portraits to share with the group. (Again at Southwest Virginia Historical State Park, 10 E 1st St N, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219)
Saturday, June 25
We will meet in the Goodloe Center, adjacent to Phillips –Taylor Hall, Mountain Empire Community College, 3441 Mountain Empire Rd, Big Stone Gap, VA 24219. Directions to the Goodloe Center: Mountain Empire Community College is located off US Highway 23 just south of Business 23 exits for Big Stone Gap. Traveling south from Norton, turn right onto the campus. Turn immediately to the left on the Campus Loop Road. Travel to the top of the hill and park in parking lot E on your left. Traveling north towards Norton, turn left onto the campus just before Business 23 exits for Big Stone Gap. Turn immediately to the left on the Campus Loop Road. Travel to the top of the hill and park in parking lot E on your left. All activities are in the Goodloe Center across the road from parking lot E. Handicapped parking is available behind the Goodloe Center (See the campus map). Signs will be posted. Williams Dixon’s photographic prints, “People and Their People,” will be displayed in the Goodloe Center.
9:00 a. m………………Announcements: Mike Gilley, Scott Withrow
9:30 a.m-10:15 a. m…..Wayne Winkler: Melungeon Keynote Talk
10:15-10:30 a.m…….… Break
10:30 a. m.-11:15 ………Stephanie Musick: Tazewell County Schools in the 1930s
11:15-11:30 a. m…...… Announcements
11:30 a. m. -1:00 p. m…Lunch on your own
1:00-1:45 p. m……….. .Laura Tugman: Ongoing Melungeon Research
1:45-2:30 p.m. ………. .S. J. Arthur, Wayne Winkler (Paul Johnson-Introductions): History of
the Melungeon Heritage Association
2:30- 3:00 p. m. ……….Break/Executive Committee meeting/prepare for final
announcements/raffle
2:45 or 3:00-4:00 p. m...Final announcements/raffle
