The Student Multicultural Center, in partnership with the Forest Grove City Library, presents a virtual conversation with Elizabeth McLagan, author of A Peculiar Paradise: A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788–1940, at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 22.
McLagan's book remains the most comprehensive chronology of Black life in Oregon more than forty years after its original publication in 1980. It has been an invaluable resource for those seeking information on the legal and social barriers faced by people of African descent in Oregon. Her work reveals how, in spite of those barriers, Black individuals and families made Oregon their home, and helped create the state's modern Black communities. The program will be streaming live on the Forest Grove Library's YouTube channel at 6:30 p.m.