Program date: Oct. 25, 2024
Air date: Oct. 28, 2024
From the City Club of Eugene:
As Halloween approaches, those familiar with Oregon history might harbor an eerie yen to meet the specters of certain remarkable people.
For example, Eliza Young, a Kalapuya woman who was displaced from the Mohawk area in the 1850’s is reported to haunt her grave in Brownsville—her story would surely be full of interesting turns.
The extraordinary kindness of Sheriff W.W Withers of Eugene did not protect him from a tragic end. How would he describe his final moments?
Hazel Ying Lee broke multiple barriers for women when the Chinese-American became the first female fighter pilot in the US. What is her view from the Wild Blue Yonder?
How would Laura Stockton Starcher, the first female mayor in the U.S., feel about her legacy today?
Fern Hobbs was an emissary of Gov. Oswald West and became the highest paid civil servant of her times. How did it feel to clean up the most notorious and vice-ridden town in Oregon in 1908 by declaring martial law?
Would the ghosts of doomed couple Hermann and Lina Petersdorf, who met their end in 1905 near the Long Tom River, tell us if their deaths were truly a case of murder/suicide… or was it actually a double murder?
Then there are the folks whose ghosts are best left undisturbed.
The recent remodel of the Lane County History Museum revealed previously unseen 1860’s-1913 files of coroner’s reports from Lane County, stored in the last three boxes to be unpacked from the renovation.
In this program, local historian and writer Jennifer Chambers tells some of the stories in those boxes and describe people she has learned about through her studies of Oregon history. She tells us which ones she would love to meet as apparitions and which she will be sure to avoid!
Speaker:
Jennifer Chambers is a writer, speaker, and host of the Same Crime, Different Time and Resilient with Jen Chambers podcasts. A former columnist and co-owner of a publishing company, she founded the TEDxVenetaWomen event and has spoken at conferences across the U.S. She attended the University of Iowa Summer Writing program. After surviving a traumatic brain injury that erased her memory before age 15, she relearned everything from walking to speaking. In addition to writing history and fantasy books, she serves on the boards of both the Lane Library League and the Fern Ridge Public Library.
About the City Club of Eugene:
The mission of the City Club of Eugene is to build community vision through open inquiry. The Club explores a wide range of significant local, state, and national issues and helps to formulate new approaches and solutions to problems. Membership is open to all, and Club members have a direct influence on public policy by discussing issues of concern with elected officials and other policy makers. The City Club’s mailing address is PO Box 12084, Eugene, OR 97440, and its website is cityclubofeugene.org.
Video and Broadcast
This program will be live streamed, and the videotape will be made available on the City Club of Eugene’s Facebook page and You Tube Channel, in addition to our website. It will be broadcast on Monday, Oct. 28 at 7:00 p.m., on KLCC 89.7 FM.
Contact: For more information, visit CityClubOfEugene.org.