A unique exhibit is open through next week at OSU-Cascades in Bend, telling The story of Oregon’s first Black woman homesteader.
The exhibit, kicking off Black History Month on the campus, tells the story of David and Letitia Carson, an interracial couple that settled in Oregon in the mid-1800s.
The couple’s land claim, in what is now Benton County, was reduced by half because Letitia was black. It was then taken from her when david passed away. She became the victim of Oregon’s exclusionary laws of the time.
“It means a lot to help open up doors and eyes and just give a broader perspective of Oregon’s history and our national history,” said Christine Coffin, Communications Director for OSU-Cascades.
Letitia eventually won several lawsuits and received compensation for her lost land before she and her two children moved out of the county.
That exhibit is now open at Obsidian Hall on the OSU-Cascades campus through February 9.
