Kathleen Fahey Horton

Six siblings and their father came together to honor the courage of their mother, Kathleen Fahey Horton. Kathleen belongs to a long lineage of strong-willed women, starting with her own great-grandmother who escaped the potato famine in the 1850s by immigrating to the United States from Ireland. Born July 25, 1931 in Oakland, California into a devout Irish Catholic family, Kathleen was the fifth of ten children. She was educated in the lower grades by the Dominican sisters of San Rafael, California and by the Holy Names Sisters who conducted a high school and college in Oakland. She then embarked on a short career as a secretary at the corporate office of Safeway Stores. It was there she met her future husband, Philip Horton, whom she married on April 23, 1955. Together, Kathleen and Philip had five children. Like most young women of her era, Kathleen became a stay-at-home mother. She was dedicated to her family, dutifully supporting her husband and children in all their endeavors.

However, Kathleen did not always counsel her children to take the same path she had followed. Throughout their lives, she not only supported but also motivated her children to pursue their creative impulses, perhaps because as a young woman, she felt confined to more conventional decisions. Her courage and self- determination inspired her children to search out their own path in the world, instead of following a predetermined course. “Mom always encouraged me to follow my dreams and creativity, and I have so appreciated it,” says her daughter, Barbara, the founding architect for Portland’s Walk of the Heroines. In fact, Barbara credits her mother’s moral bravery in finding her own voice as the impetus for her pioneering role in the Walk project.

Kathleen has a unique bond with Portland, Oregon. Several members of her family lived in Portland, including a sister, a daughter, and a son. Even though she never took up permanent residence, she spent time in Portland in 1953 and again from time to time during the 1970s and 1980s. In 1953, Kathleen left California alone for Portland, where she gave birth to a baby boy on November 20, 1953 before returning to her family in Oakland. The act of giving up her child for adoption was difficult, but not as brutal as the next thirty-three years of struggle and sadness. “Growing up,” her daughter remembers, “Mom often cried around the time of Kennedy’s death.” The family attributed these tears to historical souvenirs of the Kennedy assassination and a time of national turmoil—they did not discover the real source of her suffering until 1986.

Although Kathleen confided her secret to her husband years before, it was not until after her own mother’s death in 1985, that she felt free enough to tell all her siblings. With the support and help of her sister, Barbara Fahey Chase of Portland, she embarked on a search in 1976. Her son was then twenty-three, an adult. Her search was met with a “brick wall.” Her efforts with the courts and Catholic Adoption Services proved to be futile. No one wanted to hear the anguish of a mother who was denied any knowledge of her child’s welfare, let alone the adoptee’s denial of his birth records including his or her original birth certificate. In 1987, through the extraordinary efforts of her son’s new wife, Kathleen was reunited with her thirty-three–year-old first-born son. Reunited, her son finally became part of her family. He remains very close to his loving adoptive family.

As a young woman, she made the only decision available to her. A child born out of wedlock was expected to be relinquished to a better life according to familial and religious standards deeply rooted in an Irish Catholic faith. This was a life-altering experience for her and her family. Kathleen Horton’s experience shaped her views and as a grown woman, she became more vocal. Later in life she began speaking out on a variety of issues including pressing for open records adoption policies. She feels that women should have more options concerning pregnancy than those traditionally allowed within the Catholic faith, such as creating a support system to keep their children. She is a woman who has come forward to let others know of her struggle and for that she deserves to be honored.

Kathleen Horton wishes to commend the daunting work of an Oregon resident and adopted person, Helen Hill. Through the instigation and support of activist adoptees, Helen became the chief petitioner of Measure 58, the landmark legislation which changed the existing law to allow an adopted person twenty-one years of age or older to obtain a copy of the person’s original birth certificate. Her exhaustive work mentally, physically, and with personal financial sacrifice, succeeded in seeing the passing of Measure 58 in November 1998.

Written by her husband and children