Revamped Web Site

The noted Melungeon researcher Joanne Pezzullo has revamped her web site, making it easier to navigate, and has added a search engine for it. This is the best Melungeon site on the web and it can always be reached through the Melungeon Studies blog's "Links of Interest" page, a link to which is on the blog's sidebar.

To go there now: Click Here.

Pickin’ in the Park

Morristown, Tennessee Welcomes Musicians of All Ages

Musicians for thousands of years have gathered on porches and in public places to play music with friends. Every Thursday evening from May thru September hundreds of musicians of all ages and styles gather at Fred Miller Park in Morristown for a weekly acoustic jam session. It’s called “Pickin’ in the Park,” and the goal is to help musicians learn more about their craft and to preserve East Tennessee’s rich musical heritage.

Pickin In The Park begins at 6 p.m. and winds up at dusk. The pickins are held at the same time, rain or shine every Thursday evening from May through September each year. Whether musicians have an ear for that high lonesome sound, bluegrass, country, gospel, blues, jazz or rock, they’re all welcome at the Pickin’ in the Park. The weekly event also features drum circles for percussionists. The only rules are no electric instruments or amplifiers and microphones for acoustic instruments, no commercial instrument sales, no formal performances and no charge. In other words, it is a fun, free acoustic jam session.

For more information: Click Here.

Jimmy Martin Memorial Bluegrass Festival

Sneedville Tennessee is proud to announce the Jimmy Martin Memorial Bluegrass Festival. Sponsored by The Hancock County Tennessee Historical and Genealogical Society.

Dates: May 27 - 28 2011
Times: Fri 1pm-9pm, Sat 12:30pm-9pm

At Ken Cantwell's Airstrip on Tazewell Highway.
Campers and RVs are welcome.

For more information: Click Here.

Caring for Your Family Archives

Advice from the National Archives

Topics discussed:

* How do I preserve my family papers?
* How can I safely mount my documents, memorabilia, and photographs into albums or scrapbooks?
* What kind of photo album should I use?
* How should I attach my photos to the album pages?
* Should I remove my photographs from old albums, such as black paper albums or self-stick albums?
* How should I caption my photographic prints; is there a safe way to write on the back of photographs?
* How should I frame and display my photographs?
* How should I store my photographic prints?
* Should I convert my home movies to video tape?
* How can I get some important documents that I own repaired?
* Should I digitize my photo collection? Is it safe to throw away my original film and prints after I digitize them?

To read: Click Here.

The Cumberland Gap

The Cumberland Gap National Historical Park

By William W. Luckett

Tennessee Historical Quarterly

December, 1964, Vol. XXIII, No. 4

Cumberland Gap is a prominent V-shaped indentation in the Cumberland Mountains. It is situated on the Kentucky-Virginia boundary approximately one-quarter mile north of the point where Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee meet. The base of the pass lies in a plane 300 feet above the valley floor and 900 feet below the pinnacle on its north side. On the south side, the mountain is only 600 feet above the saddle of the Cap. Viewed from a distance, this picturesque natural feature probably appears much the same as it did when seen by the first pioneers. However, a closer look will reveal that the north side of the pass has been sliced by a modern highway to a depth of approximately twenty feet.

Indians used Cumberland Gap as a gateway through the mountains long before the arrival of the white man. Those crossing the Ohio at the mouth of the Scioto River found a well-beaten trail known as the Warriors' Path, leading directly to the Gap. Often they ventured beyond and into the Carolinas on the Catawba Trail, or toward the south on the Clinch and Cumberland Cap Trail which connected with others leading to present-day Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee. Occasionally these hunters returned to the Scioto country by following the Great Indian Warpath which intersected the Catawba at a point about thirty miles southeast of the Gap.

To continue reading:  Click Here.

RootsTech 2011

Explore Emerging Technologies

February 10 - 12, 2011

Salt Palace Convention Center

Salt Lake City, Utah

If you have ever clicked a mouse in the pursuit of your ancestors, RootsTech is for you! Discover new and emerging technologies that will improve and simplify your activities. Help shape the future of family history by sharing your feedback with technology innovators.

For much more information: Click Here.

I'll wager that no one will go to RootsTecvh 2011 based on this blog entry but we live in an era of rapidly evolving technology-based genealogical tools and resources, and it's well worth going to its web site just to look at the topics to be presented and discussed.

Kentucky Explorer Special Offers

Kentucky Explorer magazine, a magazine devoted to Kentucky history and genealogy, is having a special on CD's of its back issues.

For details: Click Here.

For more about Kentucky Explorer: Click Here.