Salon at Wildfire welcomes award-winning journalist and filmmaker John-Carlos Estrada for Searching for Barbette.

Estrada, a morning news anchor at CBS Austin where he also produces the station’s acclaimed “Turning Back
Time” series, will share the story behind his years-long investigation into the life and legacy of Barbette, the internationally renowned trapeze artist and female impersonator born in Round Rock, Texas.

This journey began with a visit to a Williamson Museum to view the Barbette exhibit eventually grew into an award-winning CBS Austin profile, the documentary Barbette + Fontaine, and a forthcoming biography with University of Texas Press. During the presentation, Estrada will discuss archival discoveries made across New York and Paris, the process of reconstructing Barbette’s story more than 100 years later, and the continuing impact of Barbette’s legacy through the Barbette’s Legacy Foundation scholarship program.

The evening will also include a screening of Barbette + Fontaine and audience discussion.