"A Watershed People: The Cherokees & the Kinship of Rivers"
Dr. Gregory Smithers, professor of history at VCU and British Academy Global Professor, based at the University of Hull in England, will present a talk entitled "A Watershed People: The Cherokees & the Kinshiop of Rivers". In Cherokee culture, water is medicine. Water is spiritual. Water – ama – is sacred. Centuries before European invasion and the TVA’s damming of Southern Appalachia’s waterways, rivers nourished Cherokee crops, cleansed Cherokee bodies, and purified Cherokee souls. Join Dr. Smithers as he takes us on a journey back in time, and through the whirlpools, rapids, and streams that helped Cherokees both navigate and give meaning to their world.
- Date:
- Tuesday, October 12, 2021
- Time:
- 12:00pm - 1:00pm
- Location:
- Gellman Room - Main Library
- Categories:
- Author Visit Civic Life Law Lectures & Talks Virtual
Meldon Jenkins-Jones is the Richmond Public Library / Community Services Manager at Hull Street Branch Library.
Meldon also chairs the Get Lit Advisory Committee which supports the Richmond Public Library Get Lit Reading Initiatives including the Black Male Emergent Readers (BMER) program and the Lit Chicks Read book clubs.
Meldon is a graduate of the Leadership Metro Richmond Class of 2022. She was the first recipient of the Virginia Library Association (VLA) Librarians of Color Forum Award in 2021 and is an active member of VLA. She presented “Libraries Bringing Community Together” at the 2023 VLA Annual Conference.
In 2011, Meldon received her Master of Library and Information Studies from Florida State University. She received her Juris Doctor degree from Rutgers University School of Law—Newark and practiced law in New Jersey until her retirement in 2003. Meldon received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, where she studied African American Studies and Russian Civilization.
A Metro Richmond resident, Meldon is the mother of two adult children and enjoys spending time with her grandchildren.
