UVa-Wise professor co-authors of From Anatolia to Appalachia: A Turkish-American Dialogue

Joseph M. Scolnick, Jr. and N. Brent Kennedy are the authors of the newest edition in the Mercer University Press Melungeons Series – From Anatolia to Appalachia: A Turkish-American Dialogue.

Scolnick and Kennedy will discuss their book during a lecture in Kingsport on Thursday, June 17. The event, part of Fifth Union, The Melungeon Gathering, begins at 1:30 p.m. at the Kingsport Civic Auditorium.

Scolnick is a professor of political science at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. Kennedy, the former UVa-Wise vice chancellor for development who now serves as president of the Wellmont Foundation in Kingsport, is also the author of The Melungeons: The Resurrection of a Proud People.

Although Turkic people have been migrating to America for many centuries, this significant influx has been largely unrecognized. In From Anatolia to Appalachia, Scolnick and Kennedy initiate a dialogue regarding this neglected area of American history and culture.

Scolnick and Kennedy first began collaborating on the book during a 1999 trip to Turkey. In addition to essays written by both men, the book is a collection of interviews with a variety of Turkish citizens, including university professors, representatives of the Assembly of Turkish American Associations, and the Turkish ambassador to the United States. Several local residents, including the president of the Melungeon Heritage Association, and others active in the efforts to promote Melungeon heritage are also profiled in the book.

“While all of the major figures in the first ten years of the growing Turkish-Melungeon relationship were still alive, it seemed time to put a lot of the story in print and not wait another 40 years. That makes it a fresh, ongoing relationship, not in any sense a “completed” one,” Scolnick says.

“This story is not a simple one,” he added. “Brent and I considered it essential that the ideas and feelings of real people come through clearly.“

From Anatolia to Appalachia provides information regarding studies of the movements of Turkic peoples to America, attempts to broaden understanding of American history and society, and offers general knowledge regarding migrations of peoples over many centuries. This dialogue intends not only to inform and interest others, but also to pull together available research about Melungeons and stimulate new research in this and related areas of study.

Copies of From Anatolia to Appalachia are available in the UVa-Wise bookstore.

For more information about Fifth Union, visit www.melungeon.org.