This is from OR author Jane Kirkpatrick‘s Story Sparks newsletter February 15, 2022:
…I have news about Letitia Carson, one of the first African American women to cross the Oregon Trail and later file two lawsuits that she won which was highly unusual in Territorial Oregon where Black persons were excluded by law. A Light in the Wilderness is also about friendship and living well with one’s neighbors. An elementary school in Corvallis, Oregon is being renamed The Letitia Carson Elementary school and a group of citizens, farmers, educators, historians and others have begun work on the Letitia Carson Legacy Project. Here’s a link to their mission and hopes that I have posted on my website. The group includes Oregon Black Pioneers (OBP), an association that helped with my research about Letitia. Currently, on Facebook, OBPs are celebrating various stories of Black Oregonians. There is also a link to donate to their work, and if you’re looking for a way to help me celebrate my 76th birthday […], you can do that at this site.
-Jane Kirkpatrick