Reminder: ‘Legacy Lost: Passing Across the Color Line’ author at Edmonds Waterfront Center June 12

Next up in the Edmonds Waterfront Center Author & Speaker Series — Thursday, June 12 — is a conversation with S. Barbara Hilyer, author of Legacy Lost: Passing Across the Color Line.

Growing up white in Washington state, Barbara said her dad never told her anything about his family — except that his mother was “crazy.” Ten years after his death, she learned his sister was living in Hawaii. Discovering “the family secret” introduced her to the concept of passing, and the complex nature of race and identity. Uncommon in the white world, passing is a familiar concept among African Americans.

Meeting her aunt — an African American woman deeply involved in state politics — took Barbara’s life in a new direction, which led her to Hilo, Hawaii; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Washington, D.C. and the Deep South — researching the extended family she could never know, and the historic times that defined them. This story challenges America’s oversimplified view of race and explores how different individuals across generations pursued all available avenues of opportunity to define their lives in a race-conscious society.

Hilyer spent her public school teaching career in Ashland, Oregon, where she taught elementary school as well as middle and high school social studies, including American History. She holds a master’s degree in curriculum and instructional leadership.

This event is co-sponsored by the Edmonds Bookshop and the My Neighborhood News Network. Subtitles and closed captioning will be provided for our guests who are deaf and hard of hearing. The EWC also offers Assistive Listening devices available to check out or connect with your smart phone.

Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $7.50. Reserve your seat online. Walk-ins are welcome the night of the event based on available seating.

The Edmonds Waterfront Center is located at 220 Railroad Ave., Edmonds.