News Release

Oregon Black Pioneers Exhibit at Whitman Mission National Historic Site

Date: September 5, 2024
Contact: Laura Woods

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – Whitman Mission National Historic site is pleased to host a special traveling exhibit “Letitia Carson: An Enduring Spirit of Hope and Freedom” from September 10 until December 7, 2024. This eight-panel exhibit on loan from Oregon Black Pioneers will be displayed in the Whitman Mission Visitor Center lobby. 

This temporary exhibit highlights the life of Letitia Carson, a homesteader who traveled across the Oregon Trail in 1845. Carson’s time on the trail coincides with the period when many Oregon Trail immigrants either stopped at Whitman Mission or purchased food and supplies from Marcus Whitman along their route.  Carson later became the first and only Black woman to make a successful land claim in Oregon under the Homestead Act of 1862. Visit the park to view the exhibit and dive deeper into the history of one of Oregon’s first Black pioneers. Learn more about Oregon Black Pioneers, a non-profit organization dedicated to researching, recognizing, and commemorating the history and heritage of African Americans in Oregon at https://oregonblackpioneers.org/

Whitman Mission National Historic Site is located 8 miles west of Walla Walla, WA, on Whitman Mission Road. Park admission is free. For more information, please contact Whitman Mission National Historic Site at 509-522-6360, or visit www.nps.gov/whmi.

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