(Johnnie Rhea and Rose Trent at 16th Union– photo courtesy of Julie Williams Dixon) 16th Union at the Southwest Virginia Historical Museum State Park Report by K. Paul Johnson Every Melungeon Union combines an extended family reunion with a scholarly conference featuring authors and researchers sharing the latest perspectives on our heritage. All […]
Melungeon Unions
17th Union Report
The 17th Melungeon Union was the best attended in six years, with more than fifty MHA members on the first day and more than seventy in attendance on Saturday to see the new documentary. The Wytheville Meeting Center was a commodious and welcoming venue for both the smaller conference on Friday and the film showing […]
17th Union Press Release
New Documentary Film about Tennessee’s Melungeons to show in Wytheville at Melungeon Heritage Association’s 17th Union: A Melungeon Gathering Wytheville Meeting Center, 333 Community Blvd, Wytheville, VA 24382. “The Melungeons of Vardy Valley,” a 25-minute film by award-winning filmmaker Ian Cheney, premiered at the 2013 Nashville Film Festival in April Wytheville (June 17, 2013) […]
“Creoles and Melungeons: More Important than Ever to America” by Nick Douglas
Mr. Douglas spoke about his Creole research at 19th Union. Creoles and Melungeons: More Important Than Ever to America The unique origins of Creoles and Melungeons parallel and complement each other. Their genesis is a uniquely American phenomenon. Creoles, like Melungeons, are a race of black, white and Native American people. Most Creoles and […]
18th Union registration by state
107 individuals from 14 states attended 18th Union. Friday’s free events at the Vardy Community Historical Society and Mountain Empire Community College did not require registration but VCHS counted 60 in attendance through the day Friday. 36 attended the Friday evening reception at MECC. The pie chart represents only those 52 registered for the Saturday […]
“Abijah Alley of Long Hollow,” 18th Union presentation by Nancy Gray Schoonmaker
As MHA returns this year to the Melungeon heartland, we welcome a presentation on a unique and little-known figure in the history of far Southwest Virginia, whose family belonged to the same small church as the first recorded Melungeons, in Scott County. Abijah Alley of Long Hollow Abijah Alley spent several weeks in heaven conversing […]
