User:MeliusJ

Hello and welcome to my page!

I am a historian with more than 30 years experience in research, writing, and public presentations. I obtained by BA in History from Winston-Salem State University, and my Master of Library and Information Studies from UNC-Greensboro. My focus has largely been on the colonial period, with a strong emphasis on North Carolina's frontier from the 1740's through 1785.

I have spent a great deal of time studying the early histories of the Native nations of the colonial South, in particular the Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Shawnee. This has led me to working with tribally enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians and both federally recognized Shawnee tribes.

I have also spent a great deal of time focusing on the early settlement on North Carolina's frontier by Europeans. As Historic Bethabara Parks's former archivist, and current research historian for Fort Dobbs State Historic Site in Statesville, I have been able to spend countless hours in the colonial documents of North and South Carolina, as well as Virginia, and the British Army.

The history of the southern 18th century Native and Colonial frontiers of are my passion.