Melungeon Research: Plecker Letter #1 to Tennessee

Melungeon Research: Plecker Letter #1 to Tennessee:

"NOTE: W.A. Plecker, acting as Virginia's first Registrar of Vital Statistics, was determined to 'mark' all Melungeons as not-white. Here is his reaction to a Tennessee archivist who had tried to respond honestly to his letter-of-inquiry, just one of many such letters that he wrote to neighboring states seeking information on Melungeon origins; the date shows that even during World War II, Plecker did not ease up in his efforts. An excellent discussion of Plecker's dubious 'legacy' can be found in Pocahontas'People by Helen Rountree.

Commonwealth of Virginia

Department of Health

Richmond

August 20, 1942

[TO]Mrs. John Trotwood Moore

State Librarian and Archivist

State Department of Education

Nashville, Tennessee

Dear Mrs. Moore:

We thank you very much for your informative letter of August 12 in reply to our inquiry, addressed to the Secretary of State, as to the original counties from which Hancock County, Tennessee, was formed. "