Juneteenth: Celebrating and Reflecting On Freedom with Valerie Craigwell White

This will be held in the Community Room at the West Linn Public Library.

Valerie Craigwell White is the daughter of Col. Ernest Craigwell Jr., Tuskegee Airman, and decorated career USAF fighter pilot; the great great granddaughter of Rev. William Jackson and Jane Adora Jackson; and great great granddaughter of William and Margaret Youngblood who were enslaved much of their lives. Her family's rich history is one not heard often enough in the written history of America, yet the contributions of these and so many other underrepresented people of color in the quest for equality and freedom are just as important as the ones lining the pages of our history books.

Valerie has worked closely with Independence National Historical Park, New Bedford Whaling National Park, Martha's Vineyard Museum, and New Bedford Whaling Museum among others to bring her family's stories to light, and now turns to us. She will share aspects of the remarkable lives of her family that connect with clear, tough, and celebratory elements that swirl around the quest for freedom. She will include stories of William Jackson, the first Black officer of the Union Army in 1863, Underground Railroad conductor, staunch abolitionist, and Baptist pastor; Jane Adora Jackson, his wife and important social activist partner in her own right with a Civil War Veterans' group named to honor her. She will weave in the story of freedom days remembered and celebrated including Juneteenth.  

Valerie is the ombudsperson and an educator at Lewis & Clark College, and for 17 years taught university courses about cultural perspectives and practices in France and Germany. She's also operated an active regional consultancy practice for over 30 years.

This talk will be followed by a reception.