About the Book: Junaluska is one of the oldest African American communities in western North Carolina and one of the few surviving today. After Emancipation, many former slaves in Watauga County became sharecroppers, were allowed to clear land and to keep a portion, or bought property outright, all in the segregated neighborhood on the hill overlooking the town of Boone, North Carolina. Land and home ownership have been crucial to the survival of this community, whose residents are closely interconnected as extended families and neighbors. Missionized by white Krimmer Mennonites in the early twentieth century, their church is one of a handful of African American Mennonite Brethren churches in the United States, and it provides one of the few avenues for leadership in the local black community. Susan Keefe has worked closely with members of the community in editing this book, which is based on three decades of participatory research. These life history narratives adapted from interviews with residents (born between 1885 and 1993) offer a people’s history of the black experience in the southern mountains. Their stories provide a unique glimpse into the lives of African Americans in Appalachia during the 20th century–and a community determined to survive through the next.

(235 pages) 

Purchase at BRAHM or at Foggy Pine Books – https://www.foggypinebooks.com/store/p1052/9781476680170.html#/

About the Editors: Susan E. Keefe is Professor Emerita of Anthropology at Appalachian State University where she taught for 38 years. Her publications include seven books and monographs and over 40 articles and chapters in professional journals and edited books. Keefe began her work in Junaluska, the African American neighborhood in Boone, in 1989. She has worked with the community most recently as a member of the Junaluska Heritage Association and as co-editor of Junaluska: Oral Histories of a Black Appalachian Community (McFarland, 2020). She has called Blowing Rock her home since 1978.

Roberta Jackson is Facilitator for the Junaluska Heritage Association, a community-based organization dedicated to preserving cultural heritage and assisting in community growth. She is a life-long resident of the community and a graduate of Appalachian State University. She worked in the Physical Plant Department at ASU for 30 years. Jackson is Secretary of the Boone Mennonite Brethren Church and serves as a member of the Watauga County Library Board, the Appalachian Regional Library Board, and the Digital Watauga Board.

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/96199248985