1000 x 90

Thursday at BRAHM: TAC Talk with Susan Keefe, History of the Junaluska Community

At 6 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 18, Dr. Susan E. Keefe will present a talk at Blowing Rock Art and History Museum on the history of the Junaluska community.

Dr. Susan Keefe

Junaluska is a small neighborhood two blocks north of King Street, Boone’s main street. African Americans have called Junaluska home since the middle of the 19th century. One of the few black congregations of Mennonite Brethren in the United States is located in Junaluska. The community has seen considerable progress over the course of the last century and retains a remarkable spirit of resilience despite gentrification in the area and the out-migration of many younger residents. This talk will present a brief description of the neighborhood as well as an account of recent efforts by the Junaluska Heritage Association to record and preserve the oral and genealogical history of community members.

The TAC Talk will highlight BRAHM’s exhibition, A Town within a Town: History of the Junaluska Community, on display through March 11, 2017.

Dr. Keefe is a professor of anthropology at Appalachian State University. She has done fieldwork in Mexico, in Barbados, among Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans in southern California, and among black and white Appalachian peoples in western North Carolina. She has authored and edited six books and monographs, including most recently Appalachian Cultural Competency: A Guide for Medical, Mental Health, and Social Service Professionals (2005) and Participatory Development in Appalachia: Cultural Identity, Community, and Sustainability (2009).

Admission to the program will cost $5 for non-members and will be free for members of the museum.

For more information, visit blowingrockmuseum.org or call 828-295-9099.

BRAHM is located at 159 Chestnut St. in Blowing Rock.