In 'Happy Land,' author Dolen Perkins-Valdez explores Western NC during Reconstruction

深夜福利

Arts & Culture

The word "Due" read from top-down and "South" left-right, with the U shared between them. Reminiscent of a compass.

Due South

In 'Happy Land,' author Dolen Perkins-Valdez explores Western NC during Reconstruction

By Leoneda Inge,

Stacia Brown

Published April 17, 2025 at 12:20 PM EDT

During Reconstruction, a community of free Black residents formed a 鈥渒ingdom鈥� in Western North Carolina. They called it 鈥淭he Kingdom of the Happy Land.鈥� Novelist Dolen Perkins Valdez鈥檚 new book, , gives a fictionalized account of this little-known Appalachian history. Leoneda Inge talks to her about the process of researching this community and the story she鈥檚 crafted to celebrate it.

Guest

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, assistant professor of literature at American University and New York Times best-selling author

Due South

Leoneda Inge

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of 深夜福利's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at 深夜福利 as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda鈥檚 work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.

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Stacia Brown

Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMU鈥檚 daily news radio program, 1A, as well as 深夜福利鈥檚 The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for 深夜福利's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYC鈥檚 The Takeaway.

See stories by Stacia Brown