Description
Book Synopsis 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
Table of Contents
- Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments—ix
- Preface—1
- A Brief Ethnography of the Junaluska Community—7
- Life History Narratives
- Part I. Those Born 1885–1909—38
- Ebb McQueen (1885–1983)—38
- Harrison "Boone" Grimes (1888–1984)—40
- Gertrude Tolbert Folk (1892–1974)—46
- The Rev. Ronda Horton (1895–1986)—49
- Rosa Horton Odem (1902–1983)—57
- Kenneth Mathes (1909–1993)—61
- Jennie McQueen Horton (1909–1994)—63
- Part II. Those Born 1910–1924—67
- Leroy Kirkpatrick, Sr. (1910–1993)—67
- Anna Tolbert Grimes (1910–1997)—72
- Nell Wilson Ray (1912–2010)—75
- Dora Wellington Horton (1915–2006)—82
- William Whittington (1918–2003)—85
- Emma Irene Folk Horton (1918–2014)—88
- Sudia Grimes Mathes (1920–2009)—91
- Mary Macphedis "Mackie" Folk Carr (b. 1922)—93
- James McQueen, Sr. (1923–2002)—95
- Part III. Those Born 1925–1939—104
- Kathrine Grimes Folk (1925–2013)—104
- David Horton (b. 1925)—106
- Honolou "Mary" Jackson Young and John Young (b. 1926 and 1947)—109
- Hallie Bell Hatton Horton (1926–2002)—116
- Peggy Horton (b. 1934)—119
- Cleveland "Buster" Shearer Whittington (1936–2018)—124
- Part IV. Those Born 1940–1959—133
- Marcella Grimes Whittington (1941–2006)—133
- Roberta Jackson (b. 1946)—136
- Joseph Henry Grimes (b. 1946)—142
- Betty Grimes (b. 1947)—145
- Carolyn McQueen Grimes (b. 1947)—147
- Sandra Hagler (b. 1948)—151
- Morris Rockford Hatton, Jr. (b. 1949)—159
- Gene Ray (b. 1952)—168
- Carolyn Grimes (b. 1954)—175
- Part V. Those Born 1960–1993—182
- Jonita Lynn Clayborn (b. 1964)—182
- Lynn Jackson Patterson (b. 1967)—188
- Brittany Ball (b. 1986)—198
- Alana Patterson (b. 1993)—204
- Quilt Square Meanings—213
- Index—217
