Home

Sixth Union

Sixth Union

Sixth Union, June 8-10, 2006


The mysterious Appalachian people known as the Melungeons met in Kingsport, Tennessee 8-10 June 2006 for their bi-annual gathering. Sixth Union was be held at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium, and was co-sponsored by the Melungeon Heritage Association and the Kingsport Convention and Visitors Bureau, and featured numerous researchers, authors, and genealogists who are shedding new light on these once-reviled people.

David Arnett, former U. S. General Consul to Turkey and a Melungeon descendent, spoke about the perception of Melungeons (believed by many to be partially of Turkish descent) in Turkey. Other authors and researchers included Evelyn Orr, DruAnna Overbay, Wayne Winkler, Kathy Lyday-Lee, James, Nickens, Elizabeth Hirschmann, Eloy Gallegos, Jack Goins, Penny Ferguson, Frank and Mary Sweet, April Mullins Mela, and Katherine Vande Brake, A. D. Powell, Gwendolyn Higdon, Cheryl Holloway, Mattie Ruth Johnson, Ted Klein, and others. You can see a list of presenters and their biographies here. The Union also featured genealogy workshops and “family chats,” where people shared genealogical information with others in their family lines, and discovered more about their own ancestry and heritage. A social gathering on the evening of Friday, June 9, provided an informal setting for attendees to get to know one another and to chat with the various presenters.