THE WALDENSIANS OF VALDESE

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THE WALDENSIANS OF VALDESE

I want to tell a little-known story about a group of survivors descended from the world’s oldest protestant religion. The Waldensian faith (which predates Martin Luther’s reform efforts by about 300 years), faced violent religious persecution from the Roman Catholic Church and French and Italian governments from 396 AD until 1848 when the Edict of Emancipation granted Waldensians the same legal rights as other Italian citizens.

Fleeing the poverty-stricken Cottian Alps in the late 1800s, the patois-speaking evangelists finally emigrated to Argentina, Missouri, New York, Utah, Uruguay and the foothills of North Carolina.

My great-grandparents were among the Waldensians who settled Valdese, North Carolina in the 1890’s. These photographs are from an in-progress project about what is left of Waldensian culture.

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