Beyond the Sunset: The Melungeon Outdoor Drama, 1969-1976

In Beyond the Sunset, Wayne Winkler has well researched and documented the experience that changed the attitude and outlook of a whole group of people, the Melungeons. The outdoor historical drama, Walk Toward the Sunset, was the turning point of how this mixed-race people saw themselves and how their attitudes turned from shame to a pride in their heritage. Winkler takes the reader through the challenges in bringing this production to life, and in interviews sharing the personal experiences of many of the participating individuals. Beyond the Sunset is an excellent follow-up to Winkler's earlier book, Walking Toward the Sunset, in which he explored the origins and theories concerning the Melungeons.

— John Lee Welton
professor emeritus of Theatre at Carson-Newman University
and director of Walk Toward the Sunset

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In 1969, Hancock County, Tennessee was the eighth poorest county in the United States. Isolated by rugged mountains and far from population centers or major highways, the county had few natural resources, couldn't attract industry, and had lost half its population in just a few decades. Hoping to develop a tourist industry, county leaders decided to stage an outdoor drama about the Melungeons, a mysterious, racially-mixed people that had attracted newspaper and magazine writers to Hancock County for more than a century. To stage the drama, the organizers had to overcome long-standing local prejudice against the dark-skinned Melungeons, the reluctance of the Melungeons to call attention to themselves, the physical isolation of the county, and their own lack of experience in any aspect of this project.
 
In Beyond the Sunset, Wayne Winkler uses contemporary press reports, long- forgotten documents, and interviews with participants to chronicle the struggles of an impoverished rural Appalachian county to maintain its viability in the modern world-and the unexpected consequences of that effort.
 
For those interested in Appalachian history in general and in Melungeon heritage specifically, this is a book that is an essential addition to your reading list.
 
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Wayne Winkler is a descendant of Melungeons from Hancock County, Tennessee, past-president of the Melungeon Heritage Association, and author of Walking Toward the Sunset: The Melungeons of Appalachia. He is director of public radio station WETS-FM, and lives in Johnson City, Tennessee.