Peter Chilson (English) will give a Common reading talk on Tuesday, February 4, “The Town on the Misfortune River,” focusing on the town of Ontario, Oregon, and its experiences as the United States transitions from a majority European culture to one far more ethnically diverse. The talk will be at 4:30 pm in CUE 203.
Chilson’s talk will include stories from Ontario’s immigrant communities, past and present: the historical context of the native Paiute and Umatilla tribes whose traditional lands include this area; its history as a point on the Oregon Trail; recent refugees from the Middle East and Africa; Latino migrants; ranchers of European descent; and Japanese Americans. The talk will also address the founding of Ontario’s Newcomer Welcome Center to assist refugees from Somalia, Sudan, Iraq, and Syria. As the center grows, it wrestles with money problems, local resentments and misperceptions, threats of violence, competition for resources. As a microcosm of U.S. immigration history, Ontario’s story is one of conflict and resolution, of darkness and hope.
Chilson’s talk is part of the year-long Common Reading Series complementing the use of 2019-20 Common Reading text Refuge: Rethinking Refugee Policy in a Changing World by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier. More about the program and series events can be found at CommonReading.wsu.edu
