Editor: Readers will recall our earlier post entitled,
“Meet Me at the Intersection of Lost Voices and Education: The Ella Higginson
Project.” The author, Professor Laura
Laffrado, an English professor at Western Washington University and a JEC
editorial board member, had just published her new book, Selected Writings of Ella Higginson: Inventing Pacific Northwest
Literature. Her book raised an important question for our readers to
ponder. What other writers need to be
recovered in the literary canon and why have they been lost?
On November
2nd a special reception to celebrate the installation of a bronze bust honoring
Ella Higginson will be held in Western Libraries Reading Room from 4-6pm.Below is the announcement of the event. For an insightful look at the life of Ella Higginson, read Professor’s Laffrado’s earlier post at: http://journalofeducationalcontroversy.blogspot.com/2015/07/who-was-ella-higginson-award-winning.html
Ella
Higginson celebration at Western Libraries set for Nov. 2
A special
reception to celebrate the installation of a bronze bust honoring celebrated
Pacific Northwest author Ella Rhoads Higginson will be held on Friday, Nov.2,
from 4-6 p.m. The reception will take place in the Western Libraries Reading
Room, (Wilson Library 4th Floor Central) and will include refreshments and live
music.
At the turn
of the 20th century, Higginson was the most influential Pacific Northwest
literary writer in the U.S. Among her
many honors and awards, she was named the first Poet Laureate of Washington
state in 1931. However, like many women writers after World War I, over time
Higginson and her writings fell into obscurity.
Higginson
was a close friend of Western’s founding librarian Mabel Zoe Wilson, and her
papers were ultimately deposited in the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies at
Western Libraries. Dr. Laura Laffrado of
Western’s English Department conducted extensive research about Higginson in
the Western Libraries Heritage Resources collections, which led to the publication
of her recent book, Selected Writings of Ella Higginson: Inventing Pacific
Northwest Literature.
As part of
Laffrado’s work to restore recognition of Higginson as a significant voice in
American Literature, she raised donations from generous faculty, staff, students, friends of Western,
and friends of Pacific Northwest women writers to fund the creation of the
Higginson bust. The bust will be installed near the north entrance of Wilson
Library, across from the portrait of Mabel Zoe Wilson.
“I am
thrilled that this beautiful bronze bust will have a home in the foyer of
Wilson Library, and am so pleased that Ella Higginson’s connection to Western
and the Western Libraries is being recognized and celebrated,” said Laffrado.
For more
information, please contact Laura Laffrado (Laura.Laffrado@wwu.edu (360) 650-2886).
Photo of
Ella Higginson courtesy of the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.
