Race and Ethnicity Archive

  • Melungeon identity is one of the intriguing, unsolved mysteries of Appalachia. The term has been in use since the early 19th century. In general it has referred to dark-skinned, mixed race families of the central and southern Appalachians.

    Melungeons

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    Melungeon identity is one of the intriguing, unsolved mysteries of Appalachia. The term has been in use since the early 19th century. In general it has referred to dark-skinned, mixed race families of the central and southern Appalachians.

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  • The term Affrilachian, coined in the early 1990s by Kentucky poet Frank X Walker, has claimed a place in our understanding of the Appalachian past. Walker sought to recognize people who are both African American and Appalachian and to recover the multiracial identify of the region.

    Affrilachians

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    The term Affrilachian, coined in the early 1990s by Kentucky poet Frank X Walker, has claimed a place in our understanding of the Appalachian past. Walker sought to recognize people who are both African American and Appalachian and to recover the multiracial identify of the region.

    Continue Reading...

  • William Holland Thomas, state legislator and “white chief” of the Cherokee, was 56 years old when the Civil War began. From the beginning of the war, he openly promoted the idea of North Carolina Cherokee fighting for the Confederacy. In 1862 he convinced Confederate authorities to allow him to raise a regiment of Cherokee and white soldiers to act as a guerrilla force for local defense.

    Thomas Legion

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    William Holland Thomas, state legislator and “white chief” of the Cherokee, was 56 years old when the Civil War began. From the beginning of the war, he openly promoted the idea of North Carolina Cherokee fighting for the Confederacy. In 1862 he convinced Confederate authorities to allow him to raise a regiment of Cherokee and white soldiers to act as a guerrilla force for local defense.

    Continue Reading...

  • Few individuals have impacted western North Carolina as did native son William Thomas Holland. In fact, he was arguably the region’s most influential figure during the 19th century. He is best known for two things: his work with the Cherokee, helping them to survive in North Carolina as the Eastern Band, and his Civil War command of the Thomas Legion.

    William Holland Thomas

    Posted on August 30, 2010 | No Comments
    Few individuals have impacted western North Carolina as did native son William Thomas Holland. In fact, he was arguably the region’s most influential figure during the 19th century. He is best known for two things: his work with the Cherokee, helping them to survive in North Carolina as the Eastern Band, and his Civil War command of the Thomas Legion.

    Continue Reading...