For years, varied and sometimes wild claims have been made about the origins of a group of dark-skinned Appalachian residents once known derisively as the Melungeons. Some speculated they were ...

credit Kristen Philipkoski Libby Killebrew, geneologist and Melungeon activist at the Fourth Union of the Melungeons. Killebrew donated her DNA for the study and helped recruit other Melungeons.