On Feb. 8, Bristol’s Birthplace of Country Music Museum hosted Dr. William H. Turner and Dr. Ted Olson, the runners of Smoky Mountain Air’s podcast “Sepia Tones”, to discuss the history of Black Life and Music in Appalachia.
Turner began the conversation by discussing what “Sepia Tones” is actually about, drawing a parallel to the film “Hidden Figures,” which follows a group of African-American women who served a massive role in NASA’s Space Program. “Similarly, with Appalachia, there’s a lot of hidden figures…there are some hidden figures from The Grand Ole Opry, the Carter family, and by the time we finish, we think we will have some more people who have given so much to mountain music become more well known.”
He continued, beginning a conversation on some of the false beliefs held by many in the Southern Appalachian region, starting with the idea that there were no African-Americans in Appalachia.
“I grew up in a town that had lots of Black people. It was only when I went to the University of Kentucky that I realized there were no Black people in my town. Jenkins had lots of Black people. In the Tri-Cities there were lots of Black people. I grew up in Harlan County… There were lots and lots of Black people in the mountains around me. It wasn’t until I left the mountains that I had to redefine the word minority.”
Turner also mentioned the myth that there were no, or very few slaves in the Appalachian Mountains. “My great grandmother was enslaved in 1857. They had slaves in New York City and there were slaves in Johnson City.”
When asked about the podcast, Olson said, “I’m an educator by background, and one of the socratic roles of an educator is for people to think outside of the box, see things as they truly are, maybe not the first, easy perception of the world… ‘Sepia Tones’ is another opportunity to bring messages, stories, and music to people.” He continued, stating, “Telling these stories from long ago is very instructive for us today. We can see how arbitrary it was to segregate music and culture like that… Music is truly colorblind, and it is unfortunate that record companies of the 20s tried to segregate it.”
The conversation then moved back towards the Black experience in Appalachia when Turner was growing up.
“When you grew up when I did, and was taught by these intelligent Black women, who were only allowed to teach no matter their degree, we had the most genius teachers there were.” There was segregation in Appalachia…Groups like the KKK thrived in the mountains of the south as much as they did in the molehills of Mississippi.” He continued, saying, “Critical race theory could explain what we are saying on the ‘Sepia Tones.’ They don’t wanna talk, legislation doesn’t want it, because it’s an uncomfortable topic.”
Turner finished by stating, “If we could stress diversity, inclusion and equity, it will lead to our long term advantage in our communities.”
The pair then took questions from the audience, and the meeting drew to a close.
