The Laura Ingalls Wilder Legacy and Research Association (LIWLRA) supports efforts to bring awareness to racial injustice. We stand in solidarity with the efforts to eliminate racial prejudice in our country and beyond our borders.

We recognize that Laura Ingalls Wilder and the Little House books have racist depictions in her books. We do not condone those hurtful words and images. The norms that were accepted in the 1930s about the 1870’s and 1880’s should not have been tolerated then and are not tolerated today by our organization. We share the pain that is palpable across the Little House community. We celebrate real-life characters like Dr. George Tan, the Black doctor who saved the lives of the Ingalls family when they were deathly ill in Kansas, and we recognize the struggle the fictional Laura had with racist attitudes against black people, Native Americans and immigrants. The good does not excuse the bad, but we can all learn to be better and question our own prejudices.

LIWLRA is committed to:

●       introducing the world of Little House to a more diverse audience

●       educating our audiences on diverse issues at conferences

●       working on ways to elevate and support diverse audiences and causes

●       supporting diverse presentations and not shying away from controversial topics

●       increasing diversity among our membership and board members and

●       ensuring our membership is open and inclusive to all

This is just a first step, and we will further develop our ongoing efforts in this space as we work to support underrepresented groups as a whole. LIWLRA is proud to be an organization and community where Laura Ingalls Wilders’ writings are discovered, analyzed and placed in appropriate time and place, while in a learning context.