One of Oregon’s first Black homesteaders, Letitia Carson, is the subject of a traveling exhibit now on display at the Shelton McMurphy Johnson House in Eugene. Oregon Black Pioneers, the historical society behind the traveling exhibit, says it is important to keep stories like hers alive.
Letitia Carson was a 19th century emancipated farmer who settled in Oregon. After her white partner, David Carson, passed away, the county appointed their neighbor to administer their estate since David Carson did not leave a will behind.
The neighbor named David Carson’s living relatives outside of Oregon as inheritors, but did not register Letita Carson or her children…