SEPTEMBER 2, 2010 ISSUE
The African American Experience in Watauga Discussion September 11
Program at Library Ties in with Watauga Reads Book Mudbound
On Saturday, September 11, Virgil Greer will present “The African American Experience in Watauga County” at the Watauga Public Library. The program begins at 1:00 p.m. and is tied in with Hillary Jordan’s novel Mudbound, the 2010 Watuaga Reads book selection.
Boone resident Greer will act as facilitator of the discussion session and book study as it relates to African American history, civil rights and race relations in the Watauga County area.
Greer will begin his talk by introducing the High Country African American community in history. A particular focus, era-wise, will be the decade encompassing the 1940s. Greer’s discussion will then touch upon the fictional narrative of Jordan’s novel Mudbound and the realities of life in Watauga County at this time period.
Hillary Jordan’s Mudbound
Mudbound is a story, highly praised in literary circles, that relates the tale of six main characters described through their separate experiences. Racism and family secrets collide, implode and explode as the backdrop—a mud-encrusted farm in the Mississippi Delta post World War II—binds and unbinds the characters together.
Narrated in each character’s separate voice, author Jordan tells the story of two families, both black and white, both land owner and sharecropper. One character, Laura, names the farm her husband has brought her to Mudbound. The land is wont to flood after heavy rains, holding people hostage within its boundaries for days at a time. Dark themes—darker than the mud that ties, traps and ultimately frees the lives of the people living on Mudbound—course through the novel.
African Americans in Watauga County
In 1860, 104 African American slaves lived in Watauga County. That number registers as the lowest in the entire state. Not a lot is known about slavery as it pertains to Watauga County and the High Country in general, but there are records dating back to the pre-Civil War era describing slavery in the mountains.
According to local historical records, at least one slave from Watauga County applied for a Confederate soldier’s pension following the Civil War. As proved true with most slaves, after being liberated from bondage, they continued to live with their masters: some estimates run as high as 80 percent remaining with their former owners.
One such slave in the Watauga County Civil War era was named Done and belonged to Thomas and Ermine Farthing. Thomas was killed in 1863, and Done continued to live with the family until Ermine’s death. After she died, Done went to live with Polly and Young Farthing and stayed with them until he died; he was buried in the Beaver Dams area.
Another slave owner in Watauga was Lewis Banner. He had four sons who served in the Civil War—three on the Union side and one on the Confederate side. By war’s end, eight of Banner’s former slaves continued to stay on with him, though they were free men and women. Banner purchased a 20-acre farm and gave it to his freed slaves; they lived on that farm for the remainder of their lives.
By 1890, one of three white farmers and three of four black farmers were either tenants or sharecroppers.
African Americans in 1940s Watauga
Census counts for Watauga County indicate that 18,114 people lived in the county between 1940 and 1949. Of that total, 270, or 1.5 percent, were African American. Rural farmers accounted for 76.5 percent of the population, while 23.5 percent were rural non-farmers. During this decade, it was recorded that Watauga experienced a slight population decline that directly reflected a balance between departing veterans and a burgeoning Appalachian State Teachers College.
To find out more about “The African American Experience in Watauga” and the Watauga Reads book Mudbound, plan on attending this free event. Call 828-264-8784 for more information.
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