Historian to explore Lost Colony mystery in Asheboro library talk

ASHEBORO  -- One of North Carolina’s greatest mysteries lies in the question, “What happened to the Lost Colony?”

Were the colonists killed? Did they move into the interior? Were they captured by Indians?

Join historian Dr. Arwin Smallwood as he explores “The Mysteries of the Lost Colony and the Iroquois Confederacy,” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 13, at the Asheboro Public Library.  The talk is free and the public is invited.

Smallwood draws on 30 years of research in archives in North Carolina, Virginia, New York and Canada to offer an answer to what happened to the colonists, and also to explain some of North Carolina’s and Virginia’s hidden history — particularly the interactions of the Tuscarora  people with Africans and Europeans.

He also considers recent discoveries in eastern North Carolina — in Bertie County in particular — as well as newly-uncovered maps, artifacts, human remains, colonial records and oral histories that yield fascinating clues.

Beyond the Lost Colony itself, Smallwood’s talk will spark discussion about the state’s complex history and the co-mingled heritage of who make up the American “melting pot.”

A Windsor, N.C., native, Smallwood is a professor at North Carolina A & T State University, where he is chair of the Department of History. He holds a master’s in history from North Carolina Central University, and a Ph.D. from Ohio State University.

He is author of several books and articles, and focuses his research on the relationships between African-Americans, Native Americans and Europeans in eastern North Carolina during the colonial and early antebellum periods. Recipient of a number of fellowships and grants, Smallwood also participated in the award-winning UNC-TV documentary The Birth of a Colony: North Carolina.

Smallwood’s appearance, part of the Road Scholar series, is made possible by funding from the North Carolina Humanities Council, a statewide non-profit and affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Friends of the Library.

The library is located at 201 Worth Street. For further information, call 336-318-6803.