Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy

Young people in front of a sign for the NAACP Afro-Academic, Cultural, Technological and Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) in Anchorage, 1981. Photo courtesy of Ed Wesley

BLACK LIVES IN ALASKA: JOURNEY, JUSTICE, JOY

On view April 30, 2021 - Feb. 13, 2022

For over 150 years, Black individuals and families have settled or transited through Alaska. They patrolled the seas, built roads, served in the military, opened businesses, fought injustice, won political office, created artwork, and forged communities.

Historians have often emphasized the stories of Alaska’s settler population of mostly white, European-descended people who sought to claim and develop Indigenous lands. In this regard, Blacks in Alaska have occupied a different geopolitical station than they have in other parts of the country where they have constituted the largest and most visible minority population. Here, Alaskans of African descent have, at times, been targets of racial discrimination, but they have also found opportunities that eluded them elsewhere.

This online exhibition considers Black experiences in Alaska through the themes of journey, justice, and joy. Continuities with the larger, nationwide story of the Black freedom struggle are evident in these themes, even as they reveal the distinct and complex aspects of Black lives in Alaska. The images and stories gathered here enrich our understanding of Alaska communities, their diverse peoples, and our shared histories.

Black Lives in Alaska is comprised of photographs from archives across Alaska and across the US, as well as personal archives of several community partners. Also included are films from The HistoryMakers, the nation’s largest African American video oral history database. Spanning a period from the late 19th century to present day, images and ephemera communicate the rich histories and experiences of Black people in Alaska through views of everyday life.

A panel of community leaders advised on the content, design, and development of this exhibition. We owe our gratitude for their invaluable insight, intelligence, and creativity, which gave shape to Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy.

Cal Williams

Photograph courtesy of Jovell Rennie, 2021

Celeste Hodge Growden

Photograph courtesy of Jovell Rennie, 2021

Jovell Rennie

Photograph courtesy of Kerry Tasker, 2021

Natasha Webster

Photograph courtesy of Natasha Webster, 2021

Ian Hartman, PhD, advised on content and historical scope of the exhibition. We thank Natasha Webster for her contributions to the design of this exhibition.

We would also like to thank Eleanor Andrews for her generous support, as well as Ed Wesley and Samuel Fleming for the contribution of personal archives.

Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Oakland—these are just a few cities associated with the Great Migration, the movement of millions of Blacks from the South to urban centers of the Northeast, Midwest, and Pacific Coast. Anchorage, and Alaska more generally, is seldom included on that list. Yet, for the thousands of Black individuals who have called this state home, their Great Migration story has led them to Alaska.

Image: Neighbors, Anchorage, ca. 1960. Anchorage Museum, Samuel Fleming Collection, B2021.002.8.

Black whalers were among the first non-Indigenous North Americans to view Alaska’s shores and ply its waters in the mid-to-late 19th century. Buffalo soldiers, Black soldiers who supported post-Civil War Westward expansion by the US government, arrived in Alaska at the turn of the 20th century along with throngs of prospectors who headed into the Interior and Canada in search of gold and fortune. Still others “mined the miners”—establishing inns, restaurants, brothels, and other businesses to seize on the influx of potential customers. Soldiers, sailors, and airmen arrived in Alaska throughout the 20th century, most notably during the Second World War. They were instrumental to the construction of the Alaska Highway, served in the Aleutians, and assumed positions throughout the territory to defend the nation’s most remote outposts.

Click to Enlarge

Whaling in Icy Waters, c. 1880s

The first documented Black presence in Alaska occurred as early as the 1840s and 50s when whalers arrived from New England. The famously diverse whaling crews included immigrants, free men of color, and the formerly enslaved. Whaling crews often had rocky relations with Alaska’s Indigenous peoples, who relied on whales for subsistence rather than commercial purposes. For the Black men who joined whaling crews in the latter half of the 19th century, the job was often among the best they could hope to find in an era rife with discrimination and racism.

When commercial whaling and seal harvest began to endanger the livelihood of Indigenous Alaskans, Michael A. Healy, a renowned Captain of the US Revenue Cutter Service (later known as the US Coast Guard), devised a plan to introduce Siberian reindeer to the region. This helped prevent the starvation of Alaska Native peoples due to commercial overfishing of their waters. Healy was also the first Black man to command a ship of the US government.

Photo courtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum, reprinted in the Pacific Marine Environmental Library, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Black whalers posing for a photo at Point Barrow, c. 1900s

The first documented Black presence in Alaska occurred as early as the 1840s and 50s when whalers arrived from New England. The famously diverse whaling crews included immigrants, free men of color, and the formerly enslaved. Whaling crews often had rocky relations with Alaska’s Indigenous peoples, who relied on whales for subsistence rather than commercial purposes. For the Black men who joined whaling crews in the latter half of the 19th century, the job was often among the best they could hope to find in an era rife with discrimination and racism.

When commercial whaling and seal harvest began to endanger the livelihood of Indigenous Alaskans, Michael A. Healy, a renowned Captain of the US Revenue Cutter Service (later known as the US Coast Guard), devised a plan to introduce Siberian reindeer to the region. This helped prevent the starvation of Alaska Native peoples due to commercial overfishing of their waters. Healy was also the first Black man to command a ship of the US government.

Alaska & Polar Regions Collections and Archives, University of Alaska Fairbanks (66-10-136n)

William Shorey and his wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey, and daughters, Zenobia Pearl and Victoria, c. 1890s

While most whalers endured one or two journeys at sea and then moved on to other pursuits, a few ascended the ranks of the whaling industry and emerged quite wealthy. One of these men, William Shorey, amassed considerable wealth captaining whaling ships from the Gulf of Alaska to the islands of the South Pacific. By the end of his life, he and his wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey, and their two children, were among San Francisco’s leading families.

National Park Service, NPS SAFR P00.2178x

Company L of the 24th Infantry Division marching in a Skagway parade, 1899

A generation after the Treaty of Cession with Russia in 1867, thousands of fortune seekers traveled north in search of gold. By 1899, the Southeast Alaska towns of Skagway and Dyea were largely overrun with ill-prepared settlers and prospectors eager to reach the gold fields of the territory’s interior and Canada’s Yukon. Black soldiers, many of whom participated in the forced removal of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains region, were known as Buffalo soldiers. In Alaska, Buffalo soldiers provided law enforcement, shelter, and other basic services, keeping a lid on the volatile town of Skagway for over two years before the gold rushers moved on to the next big strike. A few Black soldiers even caught gold fever and participated in the bonanza upon completing their deployment.

Alaska State Library Collection, F.B. Bourn Photograph Collection, ca. 1899, ASL-P99-168

Six soldiers with three halibut, Skagway, c. 1896-1913

A generation after the Treaty of Cession with Russia in 1867, thousands of fortune seekers traveled north in search of gold. By 1899, the Southeast Alaska towns of Skagway and Dyea were largely overrun with ill-prepared settlers and prospectors eager to reach the gold fields of the territory’s interior and Canada’s Yukon. Black soldiers, many of whom participated in the forced removal of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains region, were known as Buffalo soldiers. In Alaska, Buffalo soldiers provided law enforcement, shelter, and other basic services, keeping a lid on the volatile town of Skagway for over two years before the gold rushers moved on to the next big strike. A few Black soldiers even caught gold fever and participated in the bonanza upon completing their deployment.

Alaska State Library Collection, William R. Norton Photographs, ca. 1890-1920, ASL-P226-867

Company L of the 24th Infantry Division, Dyea, Alaska, 1899

A generation after the Treaty of Cession with Russia in 1867, thousands of fortune seekers traveled north in search of gold. By 1899, the Southeast Alaska towns of Skagway and Dyea were largely overrun with ill-prepared settlers and prospectors eager to reach the gold fields of the territory’s interior and Canada’s Yukon. Black soldiers, many of whom participated in the forced removal of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains region, were known as Buffalo soldiers. In Alaska, Buffalo soldiers provided law enforcement, shelter, and other basic services, keeping a lid on the volatile town of Skagway for over two years before the gold rushers moved on to the next big strike. A few Black soldiers even caught gold fever and participated in the bonanza upon completing their deployment.

Alaska State Library Collection, William R. Norton Photographs, ca. 1890-1920, ASL-P226-868

Black miners working a claim on Dominion Creek, Alaska, c. 1890s

A generation after the Treaty of Cession with Russia in 1867, thousands of fortune seekers traveled north in search of gold. By 1899, the Southeast Alaska towns of Skagway and Dyea were largely overrun with ill-prepared settlers and prospectors eager to reach the gold fields of the territory’s interior and Canada’s Yukon. Black soldiers, many of whom participated in the forced removal of Indigenous peoples in the Great Plains region, were known as Buffalo soldiers. In Alaska, Buffalo soldiers provided law enforcement, shelter, and other basic services, keeping a lid on the volatile town of Skagway for over two years before the gold rushers moved on to the next big strike. A few Black soldiers even caught gold fever and participated in the bonanza upon completing their deployment.

Bassoc Photograph Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Portrait of Bessie Couture, late 19th to early 20th century

Bessie Couture was the first Black person to own a business in Alaska. Her first restaurant was called The Kitchen, which she ran during the Klondike Gold Rush between 1897 and 1900 in Skagway. Her second restaurant, co-owned with her husband, was the Broadway Restaurant and Bakery, also in Skagway, which served customers in the 1920s.

Despite her remarkable achievements, there is not much information in the historical record about Bessie Couture. A letter from the donor of these archival images, as well as a marriage license housed in the University of Alaska Anchorage/Alaska Pacific University Consortium Library provide some clues that help shed light on her story. We know that she married Frenchman William Couture in 1920, and they both lived in Skagway working as cooks. We also know that she was twice married prior to William. The first marriage ended in divorce, and the second marriage, to a man named Kendall, ended in tragedy with his death in the shipwreck of The Princess Sophia in 1918.

Anchorage Museum, Bessie Couture Collection, B1987.2.44c

Soldiers baking and pancake serving, Dutch Harbor, c. 1942-1945

In June 1942, the Japanese attacked and occupied the Aleutian Islands of Kiska and Attu, the only North American land invaded by enemy forces during World War II. In response, Black soldiers constructed runways and set up encampments in preparation for a counteroffensive to retake the islands in the spring of 1943. Due to the racist belief that Black troops were unfit for combat, they also prepared meals and worked the mess halls. These labor battalions, as they were known, served an essential function throughout the Aleutian Islands campaign and paved the way for Black veterans to serve as a vanguard for an emerging civil rights movement.

Alaska State Library Collection, H. Marion Thornton Photographs, 1942-1945, ASL-P338-0799

One of the Black Engineers who broke the route of the new Alaska Highway, 1942

Black soldiers arrived in Alaska and Canada from other regions in the US to construct key sections of the nearly 1400-mile Alaska Highway. More of a rustic gravel road than a modern superhighway, the ALCAN was among the biggest wartime infrastructure projects in North America and precipitated Alaska’s position as a strategic location during and after World War II. Black soldiers composed 40 percent of the workforce and completed the most strenuous stretches of the road, including a bridge over the treacherous Sikanni Chief River in British Columbia. They did so without power tools or mechanical equipment. Temperatures in the winter fell to fifty below zero and exceeded 90 degrees in the summer.

Alaska State Library Collection, Fred B. Dodge Photograph Collection, 1943, ASL-P42-100

Black troops in Attu mess area, Aleutians, c. 1942-1945

After the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands in 1942, the urgency of the war effort necessitated Black involvement, despite efforts to maintain segregation in the nation’s military. Over the next three years, Black soldiers demonstrated valor on and off the battlefield, despite being targets of derision and racism. Many of the soldiers who participated in the construction of the Alaska Highway assisted in the Aleutian Campaign, the bloodiest setting of the war’s North American theatre.

The conflict in the Aleutians was devastating for the Indigenous Unangax̂ people, who were removed from their ancestral homelands in a measure the US military justified as necessary to conduct the war. For the Black troops who served in the Aleutians, however, the campaign was an opportunity to demonstrate their centrality to the war effort and bolster their claims to full and equal citizenship.

Anchorage Museum, Candace Waugaman Collection, B1998.25.192

Novelist Dashiell Hammett with the integrated staff of The Adakian c. 1942-43

After the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands in 1942, the urgency of the war effort necessitated Black involvement, despite efforts to maintain segregation in the nation’s military. Over the next three years, Black soldiers demonstrated valor on and off the battlefield, despite being targets of derision and racism. Many of the soldiers who participated in the construction of the Alaska Highway assisted in the Aleutian Campaign, the bloodiest setting of the war’s North American theatre.

The conflict in the Aleutians was devastating for the Indigenous Unangax̂ people, who were removed from their ancestral homelands in a measure the US military justified as necessary to conduct the war. For the Black troops who served in the Aleutians, however, the campaign was an opportunity to demonstrate their centrality to the war effort and bolster their claims to full and equal citizenship.

Diane Johnson Collection, Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin

Map of the Alaska-Canada Highway, 1994

After the Japanese invaded the Aleutian Islands in 1942, the urgency of the war effort necessitated Black involvement, despite efforts to maintain segregation in the nation’s military. Over the next three years, Black soldiers demonstrated valor on and off the battlefield, despite being targets of derision and racism. Many of the soldiers who participated in the construction of the Alaska Highway assisted in the Aleutian Campaign, the bloodiest setting of the war’s North American theatre.

The conflict in the Aleutians was devastating for the Indigenous Unangax̂ people, who were removed from their ancestral homelands in a measure the US military justified as necessary to conduct the war. For the Black troops who served in the Aleutians, however, the campaign was an opportunity to demonstrate their centrality to the war effort and bolster their claims to full and equal citizenship.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.50

While military service has brought many Black families to Alaska, the Alaska Railroad, the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, commercial fishing, and the oil and gas industries have all drawn people North. Beyond these typically male-dominated professions, Black women have made their mark in law, medicine, government, business, and education—many of them leading the way in their fields. The journey that brought thousands of Blacks to Alaska echoes a broader story of the Great Migration; it is one of opportunity, perseverance, trial, and success.

Click to Enlarge

Soldier in tower, Galena, Alaska, 1955

University of Alaska Fairbanks Collection, Cut Benson Photographs of Galena Air Force Base, 1955, UAF-2007-73-10

Houston Oil. Cook and Tucker, Houston, 1954

Anchorage Museum, Steve McCutcheon Collection, B1990-14-5-P-1-126

Florine Walker, Trans-Alaska Pipeline culinary worker, 1974-1977

Florine Walker was the first known Black woman hired to work on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project. She earned a living as a culinary worker and food server in the camps along the construction route. Work on the pipeline was lucrative but could be grueling with long shifts and little relief. Women like Walker had the added pressure of negotiating the hypermasculine environment of the decade’s largest construction project.

Thousands arrived from around the country to build the 800-mile pipeline. Amid the stagnant economic conditions of the 1970s, working on the pipeline offered high wages and steady employment. While most workers eventually left (including Florine Walker), some stayed in Alaska and put down roots. Alaska’s Black community steadily grew throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s.

Alaska State Library Collection, Pipeline Impact Photograph Collection, 1974-1977, ASL-P17-8277

Ed "Sarge" Wesley, security supervisor at Delta Camp on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 1975

Like thousands of others, Ed Wesley traveled to Alaska in search of opportunity. Born in Mississippi, Wesley’s family later moved to Chicago, where he grew up. His service in the military brought him to Fort Greely, just outside of the small Interior town of Delta Junction, where he was stationed through the early 1970s. He then worked in security along the Trans-Alaska Pipeline construction route, eventually settling in Anchorage with his family, where he still resides.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.102

Dr. Joshua Wright, Anchorage, 1969

Dr. Joshua Wright was a successful dentist in Anchorage. He was also active in public life, serving a term in the Alaska House of Representatives and on the Anchorage School Board.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C8059.5

Zula Swanson, n.d.

Zula Swanson was born on a cotton plantation in Jackson Gap, Alabama, in 1891. In 1918, she moved to Portland, Oregon, where she worked as a dressmaker. With limited financial resources, Zula became a sex worker and managed to amass a large savings. In 1929 she relocated to Anchorage to escape charges of bootlegging and drunk driving.

On arrival in her new home, Swanson purchased property downtown, which she turned into a brothel disguised as a boardinghouse. She also owned the Rendezvous Hotel, which served as a meeting place for new arrivals seeking housing and job opportunities. She continued to prosper in Anchorage, purchasing commercial and residential lots throughout the 1940s and 1950s, quickly becoming one of the largest private landowners in the territory and then state. She was also among Alaska’s wealthiest residents. In 1962, she sold land on what is now the JCPenney department store for an estimated $250,000—equal to roughly $2.1 million today.

While growing her business empire, Swanson maintained an active role in civic life in Anchorage. She was a founding member of the Anchorage chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1951 (alongside Blanche McSmith) and a member of various community clubs. Ms. Swanson passed in 1973, at the age of 82.

Anchorage Museum, Zula Swanson Photographs, B1977.104.1

Activism driven by resistance to colonial and racial oppression has helped to shape Alaska. Black Alaskans have taken to the streets, but also to city and town halls, the State Capitol, corporate boardrooms, and courtrooms to assert their rights and call out injustice, similar to efforts elsewhere in the US. Alaska’s Black activists protested housing and employment discrimination and advocated for greater accountability in law enforcement, at times forging alliances with Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander, and white allies.

Black Civil Rights in Alaska built on the momentum of ongoing Alaska Native activism and advocacy. In 1945, Alaska Native peoples successfully promoted the passage of the Equal Rights Act, an early measure by the territory to limit race-based discrimination in public places. In the 1960s, as the Civil Rights movement was gaining steam throughout the US, Alaska’s communities of color fought and won significant victories.

Image: Young organizer at the Black Lives Matter rally in Anchorage, 2020. Anchorage Museum, Branstetter Collection, B2021.1.

Click to Enlarge

Blanche Louise Preston McSmith, c. 1960

Blanche McSmith was outspoken when it came to issues of racial injustice. She grew up in Texas during the height of the Jim Crow era and decided to get as far away from the South as she could. She traveled to California before heading to Alaska in the late 1940s. After facing racial discrimination at the Pagoda, an Anchorage area restaurant, McSmith organized a lawsuit. According to the Anchorage Daily Times, it “was one of the first, if not the first case involving racial discrimination to be tried before a jury in Anchorage.” After the twelve-person jury deliberated, they acquitted the owners and staff of the Pagoda on the grounds that the Black patrons were refused service not due to their race but because they failed to reserve a table in advance. The case led McSmith to become more deeply involved in activism and local politics. She went on to write for Anchorage’s Black newspaper, the Alaska Spotlight, served in the State Legislature as the first Black lawmaker, and helped to establish the Anchorage branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).

Alaska State Library, Portrait Files, ASL-McSmith

The North Star Reporter, 1982

Before the internet and Black Twitter, there was the Black press. Black-owned and operated with roots in the abolitionist movement, the Black press was at the forefront of the struggle for Black freedom. Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Baltimore Afro-American provided platforms for such notable activists as W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Langston Hughes.

Alaska’s Black press flourished in the postwar decades, largely due to the efforts of George Anderson. Anderson arrived in Alaska after World War II and worked as a linotype operator for the Anchorage Daily News. He soon put his skills and savings to work on newspapers that would serve the Black community. Between 1952 and 1969, Anderson published the Alaska Spotlight, the most widely read and circulated of Alaska’s Black papers. Anderson also published the Midnight Sun Reporter as a limited-edition paper in the early 1960s. Other Black papers and newsletters included The Crusader, New Horizon, North Star Reporter, Anchorage Gazette, and the Anchorage Town Crier. Collectively, these publications documented Black life in Alaska from the perspectives of those in the community and connected Black Alaskans to broader debates and national concerns.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.71

The New Horizon newspaper, 1979

Before the internet and Black Twitter, there was the Black press. Black-owned and operated with roots in the abolitionist movement, the Black press was at the forefront of the struggle for Black freedom. Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Baltimore Afro-American provided platforms for such notable activists as W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Langston Hughes.

Alaska’s Black press flourished in the postwar decades, largely due to the efforts of George Anderson. Anderson arrived in Alaska after World War II and worked as a linotype operator for the Anchorage Daily News. He soon put his skills and savings to work on newspapers that would serve the Black community. Between 1952 and 1969, Anderson published the Alaska Spotlight, the most widely read and circulated of Alaska’s Black papers. Anderson also published the Midnight Sun Reporter as a limited-edition paper in the early 1960s. Other Black papers and newsletters included The Crusader, New Horizon, North Star Reporter, Anchorage Gazette, and the Anchorage Town Crier. Collectively, these publications documented Black life in Alaska from the perspectives of those in the community and connected Black Alaskans to broader debates and national concerns.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.63

The Anchorage Gazette, 1993

Before the internet and Black Twitter, there was the Black press. Black-owned and operated with roots in the abolitionist movement, the Black press was at the forefront of the struggle for Black freedom. Black newspapers like the Chicago Defender, the Pittsburgh Courier, and the Baltimore Afro-American provided platforms for such notable activists as W.E.B. DuBois, Ida B. Wells, and Langston Hughes.

Alaska’s Black press flourished in the postwar decades, largely due to the efforts of George Anderson. Anderson arrived in Alaska after World War II and worked as a linotype operator for the Anchorage Daily News. He soon put his skills and savings to work on newspapers that would serve the Black community. Between 1952 and 1969, Anderson published the Alaska Spotlight, the most widely read and circulated of Alaska’s Black papers. Anderson also published the Midnight Sun Reporter as a limited-edition paper in the early 1960s. Other Black papers and newsletters included The Crusader, New Horizon, North Star Reporter, Anchorage Gazette, and the Anchorage Town Crier. Collectively, these publications documented Black life in Alaska from the perspectives of those in the community and connected Black Alaskans to broader debates and national concerns.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.72

Anchorage NAACP chapter members, 1952

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I Photograph Collection

Tarea Hall Pittman with Velma Aiken presenting the weekly television program Your NAACP Reporter, 1958

Your NAACP Reporter was a fifteen-minute weekly news segment hosted by Velma Aiken. The show ran on Fairbank’s KTVF television station from 1956 to 1960 and provided information on NAACP events and happenings around the state.

California State Library Collection, Tarea Hall Pittman Papers, ca. 1951-1970

Alaska NAACP events, 1955

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) repeatedly declined to charter a branch in Alaska, since it was not yet a state. In 1951, a racist arson attack created a new sense of urgency and national leadership granted the territory its first branch in Anchorage. It didn’t take long for the NAACP to emerge as a hub for civil rights mobilization. John W. Thomas, Blanche McSmith, Clarence and Flossie Coleman, Joseph M. Jackson, John S. Parks, and Richard Watts are a few of the names associated with the early days of the NAACP in Alaska. These individuals would later assume leadership roles at the city and state level. The NAACP remains a focal point of Black activism and civic engagement in Alaska.

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I Photograph Collection

NAACP float, Fairbanks Winter Carnival Parade, 1960

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) repeatedly declined to charter a branch in Alaska, since it was not yet a state. In 1951, a racist arson attack created a new sense of urgency and national leadership granted the territory its first branch in Anchorage. It didn’t take long for the NAACP to emerge as a hub for civil rights mobilization. John W. Thomas, Blanche McSmith, Clarence and Flossie Coleman, Joseph M. Jackson, John S. Parks, and Richard Watts are a few of the names associated with the early days of the NAACP in Alaska. These individuals would later assume leadership roles at the city and state level. The NAACP remains a focal point of Black activism and civic engagement in Alaska.

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I Photograph Collection

Celebrating Alaska youth participating in national African American Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) sponsored by NAACP, 1981

Throughout the 1930s and 40s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) repeatedly declined to charter a branch in Alaska, since it was not yet a state. In 1951, a racist arson attack created a new sense of urgency and national leadership granted the territory its first branch in Anchorage. It didn’t take long for the NAACP to emerge as a hub for civil rights mobilization. John W. Thomas, Blanche McSmith, Clarence and Flossie Coleman, Joseph M. Jackson, John S. Parks, and Richard Watts are a few of the names associated with the early days of the NAACP in Alaska. These individuals would later assume leadership roles at the city and state level. The NAACP remains a focal point of Black activism and civic engagement in Alaska.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.280

Woman picketing outside FW Woolworth Company Store, Fairbanks, Alaska, c. 1960

The movement for Black freedom and civil rights ramped up in Alaska during the postwar decades, as it had across the nation. In this image, a Black woman pickets the Fairbanks Woolworth’s store over its discriminatory practices. Woolworth’s was just one of several businesses that discriminated against Black people. Pickets occurred throughout Alaska Fairbanks and these elsewhere in Alaska, notably in Anchorage at the Carrs grocery store in the Fairview neighborhood. These actions had a cumulative impact over time. Pickets and marches represented parts of a broader strategy to highlight racism and ensure actions were taken to address it.

UC Berkeley, Bancroft Library Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I Photograph Collection

Anchorage Mayor George Henry Byer with members of the Alaska NAACP, including Blanche McSmith (seated), Anchorage City Hall, 1959

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C3504

Alvin C. Campbell, 1969

Alvin Campbell encountered taunts and racist slurs as he and his family prepared to move into a newly constructed home in Anchorage’s segregated Rogers Park neighborhood. In October 1950, days before he and his family planned to move into the new house, it was burned to the ground in a racially motivated arson attack. Black Alaskans immediately rallied around the Campbells and successfully lobbied the NAACP to charter its first Alaskan branch.

Anchorage Museum, Alaska Railroad Collection, B1979.2.1909

Anchorage Times article on the Campbell arson, 1950

Alvin Campbell encountered taunts and racist slurs as he and his family prepared to move into a newly constructed home in Anchorage’s segregated Rogers Park neighborhood. In October 1950, days before he and his family planned to move into the new house, it was burned to the ground in a racially motivated arson attack. Black Alaskans immediately rallied around the Campbells and successfully lobbied the NAACP to charter its first Alaskan branch.

Eastchester Map, 1965

Eastchester Flats was a predominantly Black community located along the north bank of Chester Creek. Most of Eastchester Flats was demolished and redeveloped in the 1960s and 70s. A few blocks still exist in the Fairview neighborhood. But for a time, it was the nation’s northernmost Black community and housed the largest cluster of Black-owned businesses in Alaska.

Due to housing discrimination throughout Anchorage, Blacks settled in and around Eastchester Flats, as it was the one of the few places to buy or rent. Although the area was primarily inhabited by Blacks and transient workers, the businesses of Eastchester Flats catered to a diverse crowd and had a reputation for lively nightlife. Other districts, like Spenard and downtown, later earned reputations for raucous entertainment and revelry but lacked the diversity and concentrated vitality of the Flats. From Southern cooking to Northern juke joints, the Flats buzzed with activity for several years in Anchorage’s postwar era.

Courtesy of the Alaska State Housing Authority, Urban Renewal Plan Eastchester Area Project, Alaska R-16, Anchorage, Alaska

Black activists along Alaska’s railbelt, the urbanized stretch of the state extending from Seward to Fairbanks, took up causes associated with the civil rights movement. Job security and employment discrimination, access to housing, and inclusion in politics and business represented some of the prevailing concerns.

Click to Enlarge

Attorney Mahala Ashley Dickerson, n.d.

Mahala Ashley (M. Ashley) Dickerson was born in Montgomery County, Alabama, in 1912 and moved to Alaska in 1958. She was the first Black homesteader in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Within the year, Dickerson became the first Black woman to practice law in Alaska. She was dedicated to human rights causes and as a lawyer often took on cases involving the rights of women and people of color as well as issues affecting the workplace. She found time to mentor young minority lawyers throughout her long career. Dickerson recognized the inequities in her community and worked tirelessly for decades to make Alaska better for everyone. In a 1999 interview for the Matanuska-Susitna Historical Commission, she said that Alaska was “the best place in the world, the best people, the most beautiful place in the world.”

Anchorage Museum, Fran Durner Collection, B2016.4.1021

Pat Berkley with a display board for the Alaska Black Caucus, 1979

Founded in 1975 and incorporated in 1977, the Alaska Black Caucus (ABC) advances the educational, cultural, and political well-being of Black Alaskans. Over the years, the ABC has hosted Black leaders such as Shirley Chisolm, Alex Haley, Dick Gregory, and Rosa Parks. The ABC also published the first comprehensive book to address Alaska’s Black history, Everett Louis Overstreet’s Black on a Background of White: A Chronicle of Afro-Americans’ Involvement in America’s Last Frontier, Alaska (1988).

University of Alaska Anchorage Collection, Alaska Black Caucus, Inc.records, 1975-1993, UAA-HMC-0003-b7-s3-p4-3

JoAnn Overstreet with actress Ruby Dee, 1981

Founded in 1975 and incorporated in 1977, the Alaska Black Caucus (ABC) advances the educational, cultural, and political well-being of Black Alaskans. Over the years, the ABC has hosted Black leaders such as Shirley Chisolm, Alex Haley, Dick Gregory, and Rosa Parks. The ABC also published the first comprehensive book to address Alaska’s Black history, Everett Louis Overstreet’s Black on a Background of White :A Chronicle of Afro-Americans’ Involvement in America’s Last Frontier, Alaska (1988).

University of Alaska Anchorage Collection, Alaska Black Caucus, Inc. records, 1975 - 1993, UAA-HMC-0003-b7-s8-7-1

Ed Wesley with Rosa Parks at the New Hope Baptist Church in Anchorage, 1982

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.192

Voting advertisement from the North Star Reporter, 1982

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.54

Racism in the U.S. is structural, which means that patterns of discrimination are persistent and embedded in our legal, educational, health care, and economic institutions. Many Black Alaskans remain engaged in the quest for equality and have joined a diverse coalition to build a more inclusive Alaska in the 21st century, one with equity and justice at its center.

Click to Enlarge

Past Presidents of the Anchorage NAACP at the C. T. Lewis NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. Pictured are Cal Williams, Ed Wesley, Celeste Hodge Growden, and Antonio Anderson, c. 2010

These materials are from the personal archive of Anchorage resident and community activist Ed Wesley. Wesley and his family are advocates working to build support networks for Black individuals and families. Ed has served on boards and in leadership positions for several organizations including the NAACP, the African American Business Council, and the Alaska Black Leadership Conference.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.205

African Americans in Alaska Resource Guide, 1996

These materials are from the personal archive of Anchorage resident and community activist Ed Wesley. Wesley and his family are advocates working to build support networks for Black individuals and families. Ed has served on boards and in leadership positions for several organizations including the NAACP, the African American Business Council, and the Alaska Black Leadership Conference.

The African Americans in Alaska Booklet and Calendar provides resources, opportunities, information, and activities related to community events.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.83A

The Black Leadership Family Plan, 1982

These materials are from the personal archive of Anchorage resident and community activist Ed Wesley. Wesley and his family are advocates working to build support networks for Black individuals and families. Ed has served on boards and in leadership positions for several organizations including the NAACP, the African American Business Council, and the Alaska Black Leadership Conference.

The Business Networking Directory and Black Leadership Family Plan created by the Alaska Black Caucus aim to provide information and resources for Black community members living and working in Alaska.

Private loan

Business Networking Directory, 1994

These materials are from the personal archive of Anchorage resident and community activist Ed Wesley. Wesley and his family are advocates working to build support networks for Black individuals and families. Ed has served on boards and in leadership positions for several organizations including the NAACP, the African American Business Council, and the Alaska Black Leadership Conference.

The Business Networking Directory and Black Leadership Family Plan created by the Alaska Black Caucus aim to provide information and resources for Black community members living and working in Alaska.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.85A

Cal Williams holding a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a Black Lives Matter rally, Anchorage, 2020

After the killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, nationwide protests erupted over systemic racial injustice and the deeply rooted and historic devaluation of Black lives in the US. The refrain, “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from Sanford, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska. The movement gained still more traction after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement in Minneapolis and Louisville, respectively, in the spring of 2020. Amid the global pandemic, tens of millions of people protested and demanded an end to racism, white supremacy, and police violence. Again, Alaskans took to the streets, not only in Anchorage and Fairbanks but also in smaller communities such as Palmer and Homer. A multi-racial coalition of Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and whites stood in solidarity with Black Alaskans. By the end of the year, Black Lives Matter had become one of the largest, most sustained social movements in the nation’s history.

Photograph by Jovell Rennie

MoHagani Magnetek at a Black Lives Matter Rally, Anchorage, 2020

After the killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, nationwide protests erupted over systemic racial injustice and the deeply rooted and historic devaluation of Black lives in the US. The refrain, “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from Sanford, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska. The movement gained still more traction after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement in Minneapolis and Louisville, respectively, in the spring of 2020. Amid the global pandemic, tens of millions of people protested and demanded an end to racism, white supremacy, and police violence. Again, Alaskans took to the streets, not only in Anchorage and Fairbanks but also in smaller communities such as Palmer and Homer. A multi-racial coalition of Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and whites stood in solidarity with Black Alaskans. By the end of the year, Black Lives Matter had become one of the largest, most sustained social movements in the nation’s history.

Photograph by Jovell Rennie

A mother and her child at the “I Can’t Breathe” rally protesting the murder of George Floyd at the Midtown Mall, Anchorage, 2020

After the killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, nationwide protests erupted over systemic racial injustice and the deeply rooted and historic devaluation of Black lives in the US. The refrain, “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from Sanford, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska. The movement gained still more traction after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement in Minneapolis and Louisville, respectively, in the spring of 2020. Amid the global pandemic, tens of millions of people protested and demanded an end to racism, white supremacy, and police violence. Again, Alaskans took to the streets, not only in Anchorage and Fairbanks but also in smaller communities such as Palmer and Homer. A multi-racial coalition of Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and whites stood in solidarity with Black Alaskans. By the end of the year, Black Lives Matter had become one of the largest, most sustained social movements in the nation’s history.

Anchorage Museum, Branstetter Collection, B2021.1

Protester holding a poster representing Black people killed by police (Breonna Taylor, second-to-last row, third from left), 2020

After the killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, nationwide protests erupted over systemic racial injustice and the deeply rooted and historic devaluation of Black lives in the US. The refrain, “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from Sanford, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska. The movement gained still more traction after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement in Minneapolis and Louisville, respectively, in the spring of 2020. Amid the global pandemic, tens of millions of people protested and demanded an end to racism, white supremacy, and police violence. Again, Alaskans took to the streets, not only in Anchorage and Fairbanks but also in smaller communities such as Palmer and Homer. A multi-racial coalition of Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and whites stood in solidarity with Black Alaskans. By the end of the year, Black Lives Matter had become one of the largest, most sustained social movements in the nation’s history.

Anchorage Museum, Branstetter Collection, B2021.1

Crowd members raise peace signs in Midtown Anchorage, 2020

After the killings of Trayvon Martin in Florida in 2012 and Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014, nationwide protests erupted over systemic racial injustice and the deeply rooted and historic devaluation of Black lives in the US. The refrain, “Black Lives Matter” could be heard from Sanford, Florida to Anchorage, Alaska. The movement gained still more traction after the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor by law enforcement in Minneapolis and Louisville, respectively, in the spring of 2020. Amid the global pandemic, tens of millions of people protested and demanded an end to racism, white supremacy, and police violence. Again, Alaskans took to the streets, not only in Anchorage and Fairbanks but also in smaller communities such as Palmer and Homer. A multi-racial coalition of Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, and whites stood in solidarity with Black Alaskans. By the end of the year, Black Lives Matter had become one of the largest, most sustained social movements in the nation’s history.

Photograph by Marc Lester for the Anchorage Daily News

Black individuals who settled in Alaska built durable cultural institutions, churches, and businesses. Beyond recognizable modes of activism and resistance to discrimination, the presence of joy shared among friends, colleagues, and families is a testament to the love within Alaska’s Black communities.

These images capture subtle and routine moments of joy, from an evening date night to purchasing a new car or a first home. They showcase outdoor recreation and organized sports, weekends at the Alaska State Fair and Sunday morning worship. In sum, they present a history defined as much by intimate connections, familial bonds, and celebratory gatherings as struggles for justice.

Image: The Alaska Black Caucus’ Fourth Annual Awards Banquet, 1980. University of Alaska Anchorage Collection, Alaska Black Caucus, Inc. records, 1975-1993, UAA-HMC-0003-b7-s5-p13-2.

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Ed and Frances Wesley with their baby daughter, Chairita, in front of the Armstrong Apartments in Delta Junction, 1973

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.121

Willow Park dedication, Alaska Housing Authority, n.d.

Black home ownership in Anchorage was generally restricted to a few neighborhoods until the passage of the Fair Housing Act in 1968. These included Eastchester Flats, Fairview, and Green Acres. Here, a family completes the paperwork to settle in Willow Park, one of Anchorage’s few public housing developments available to Black families. The Alaska Housing Authority purchased a corner of the Cemetery Reserve to develop into the Willow Park Apartments, just east of downtown. The Municipality of Anchorage eventually demolished the apartment complex in 1993.

Anchorage Museum, Steve McCutcheon Collection, B1990.14.5.Anc.Hous.3.330.2

"Doc" and Theresa Quarles, New Year's Eve celebration, Anchorage, ca. 1960

Anchorage Museum, Samuel Fleming Collection, B2021.2

Alaska Spotlight, Anchorage International Airport, 1955

This photo was published in an April 1955 issue of *Alaska Spotlight*. It shows two hunters getting out of small plane. The *Alaska Spotlight* was the first and largest statewide newspaper dedicated to Black issues in Alaska. It was published by George Anderson from 1952 to 1969.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C1655.3

Clarence Harris, Anchorage, 1969

Clarence Harris stands in front of the Greater Friendly Temple Church of God in Christ in East Anchorage, founded in 1953 and still in operation today.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C7946.13

Ed and Frances Wesley dressed for a night out on the town, Chicago, IL, 1972

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.159

Girl Scouts at Harding Lake, 1950s

The Girl Scouts of the USA was founded in 1912 by Juliette Gordon Low to inspire young girls everywhere to build confidence, character, and courage. The first all-Black Girl Scout troop was formed in 1917, but full integration didn’t begin to occur until the 1940s and 1950s and it wasn’t until 1975 that the first Black national board president, Dr. Gloria D. Scott, served the organization.

University of Alaska Fairbanks, Farthest North Girl Scout Troop Vertical File Small Photograph Collection, UAF-1987-172-6

Little League team, 1955

In 1938, Carl Stotz founded the first organized baseball league for pre-teen boys in his hometown of Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Little League came to Anchorage in May of 1951, sponsored by the Mt. McKinley Lions Club. Games were played at the fields at 9^th & C Street, still in existence today.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.S1644.3

Shiloh Baptist Church, 1954

The Black Church embodies the intersection of joy, activism, and community. Arguably, no other single institution has played such a leading role in the struggle for Black freedom as the Church. Black individuals worship in thousands of churches throughout the nation; there they articulate the struggles of daily life, organize in the face of discrimination, celebrate the joy of community, and share a sense of belonging. Anchorage’s Black churches have long been pillars of strength and vibrancy. Notable Anchorage places of worship include Shiloh Baptist Church, Greater Friendship Baptist Church, the New Hope Baptist Church, and the First Christian Methodist Episcopal Church, among others. Faith remains central to the lives of many Black Alaskans.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C1317

Theresa Quarles at New Year's Eve celebration black-tie event, Anchorage, ca. 1960

Anchorage Museum, Samuel Fleming Collection, B2021.2

These images convey the subtly defiant and creative ways in which Black individuals respond to continued discrimination. Representations of Black joy, pleasure, and leisure are an embodiment of resistance and a way to hold space for a politics of liberation.

Click to Enlarge

Orchestra for the Alaska Day Dance, McKinley Park Hotel, 1948

Anchorage Museum, Alaska Railroad Photograph Collection, B1979.2.73

Billie Holiday, Anchorage, 1954

When jazz legend Billie Holiday visited Alaska in 1954, she was among many iconic Black performers who made their way north to perform in the territory and then state during the postwar decades. In fact, Anchorage’s Eastchester Flats neighborhood was the nation’s northernmost Black community with a cluster of Black owned businesses and clubs. Performers like Holiday, T-Bone Walker, Jimmy Rushing, and others were known to play deep into the night before a diverse audience. Holiday’s trip to Alaska came towards the end of her career after she had gained considerable fame and was generally recognized as among the most talented vocalists in the history of American music.

To see more historic photographs of the Black performing artists who have visited Alaska, visit Roscoe's Restaurant at 120 E. 6th Avenue, next door to the Anchorage Museum.

Anchorage Museum, Ward Wells Collection, B1983.91.C1351.1

Welcome Satch! signed program, 1965

One of the best pitchers in the history of professional baseball, Satchel Paige, first made a name for himself in the Negro leagues before he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1948. At age 42, he was among the first Black players to integrate Major League Baseball and the first Black pitcher in the American League. After he retired, Paige came to Alaska in 1965 to play, claiming that he wanted to start a new Anchorage baseball team, the Earthquakers. Although the Earthquakers never took to the field, Alaskans certainly took to Satchel Paige and baseball. Aside from Satchel Paige, Alaska’s summer league drew dozens of well-known players over the years, including Dave Winfield, Barry Bonds, and Aaron Judge.

Private loan

Paige to lead City’s team, 1965

One of the best pitchers in the history of professional baseball, Satchel Paige, first made a name for himself in the Negro leagues before he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1948. At age 42, he was among the first Black players to integrate Major League Baseball and the first Black pitcher in the American League. After he retired, Paige came to Alaska in 1965 to play, claiming that he wanted to start a new Anchorage baseball team, the Earthquakers. Although the Earthquakers never took to the field, Alaskans certainly took to Satchel Paige and baseball. Aside from Satchel Paige, Alaska’s summer league drew dozens of well-known players over the years, including Dave Winfield, Barry Bonds, and Aaron Judge.

Anchorage Daily News

Boxing win for Team Alaska, 1974

The Arctic Winter Games began in 1970 with the express goal of allowing athletes from the Circumpolar North to compete against their international peers. The first Games were held in Yellowknife and included athletes from Alaska and Canada’s Northwest Territories and Yukon. Boxing was a featured sport in the Games in 1970 and 1974. Today’s Games include Dene and Inuit sports, basketball, mushing, and curling.

Alaska State Library Collection, Arctic Winter Games Team Alaska, 1967, ASL-P399-0113

Ten-year-old Greg and five-year-old Sheldon Fleming dressed for church, Anchorage, 1963

Each year, Alaskans join millions around the country on June 19, or Juneteenth, to recognize Black freedom. The roots of the holiday reach back to the Civil War’s conclusion in 1865. Over two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers marched on Galveston, Texas, to spread word of liberation and an end to the war to those still enslaved. In the 156 years since, Juneteenth has emerged as an occasion to celebrate freedom, gather with friends for a barbeque, or convene at Anchorage’s downtown Park Strip or other locations to enjoy a day of festivities.

Anchorage Museum, Samuel Fleming Collection, B2021.2

Juneteenth pamphlet, Anchorage, 1995

Each year, Alaskans join millions around the country on June 19, or Juneteenth, to recognize Black freedom. The roots of the holiday reach back to the Civil War’s conclusion in 1865. Over two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers marched on Galveston, Texas, to spread word of liberation and an end to the war to those still enslaved. In the 156 years since, Juneteenth has emerged as an occasion to celebrate freedom, gather with friends for a barbeque, or convene at Anchorage’s downtown Park Strip or other locations to enjoy a day of festivities.

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.43

Nariyah Morgan, 9, and Janya Evans, 14, perform a dance with Sankofa Dance Theater at Juneteenth in Anchorage, 2020

Each year, Alaskans join millions around the country on June 19, or Juneteenth, to recognize Black freedom. The roots of the holiday reach back to the Civil War’s conclusion in 1865. Over two years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Union soldiers marched on Galveston, Texas, to spread word of liberation and an end to the war to those still enslaved. In the 156 years since, Juneteenth has emerged as an occasion to celebrate freedom, gather with friends for a barbeque, or convene at Anchorage’s downtown Park Strip or other locations to enjoy a day of festivities.

Sankofa Dance Theater was established in 2017 and teaches students of all ages African dance and cultural creative arts, including art, music, and literary works. The dancers in this photo are part of Sankofa’s Watoto Tribe, named for the Swahili word for children.

Photo by Loren Holmes/Anchorage Daily News

Jasmin Smith with her children, Elohim and Akaiya, 2020

Jasmin Smith is an entrepreneur, teacher, business consultant, community activist, and single mother of twins.

She says, “being a Black woman is not easy and it's not for the faint of heart. I was born into an amazing history of powerful women who did so much to help change this country—but, on the flip side, it comes with inherited struggles and barriers. Sometimes I have to laugh and smile to keep from crying because that's how heavy it feels.

So, the idea of Black joy is real to me. When I think about all the work that I do in the community, the people who came before me and laid the foundation, my kids, the legacy I want to leave them, and the world I want them to live in it makes me happy. Visualizing what I know we're capable of as a people, seeing that manifested and lived every day—that gives me joy. I don't want to pass down the hardships of being Black to my kids, I want to pass down the good the stuff that they can be proud of and the accomplishments and a strong culture and history. That's legit Black joy to me.”

Photo courtesy of Shannon Kuhn

Alaska Railroad conductor Harry Ross, 2018

Harry Ross and his family came to Alaska in 1957. He graduated from East Anchorage High School in 1964 and was hired by the Alaska Railroad as a student brakeman in 1968. He became a professional brakeman in 1970, and the following year he made history as the first Black conductor of the Alaska Railroad. From 1979 to 1984, Ross monitored train operations in the Anchorage rail yard, first as a yardmaster trainee and later as a yardmaster. In 1985, he resumed conductor/brakeman duties and remained in this position until he retired in 2019. Ross and his band *The Diamonds* performed R&B around Anchorage for several decades and he would often sing to himself and guests onboard the train, leading to his nickname, “the singing conductor.”

On loan from the Alaska Railroad

Black calendar and event guide, 1992

Anchorage Museum, Ed Wesley Collection, B2021.004.82

Click to Enlarge

Read Up

These books about Black lives are just a few available through the Anchorage Public Library:

*Stamped from the Beginning*, by Ibram X. Kendi

*Eloquent Rage*, by Brittany Cooper

*The New Jim Crow*, by Michelle Alexander

*The Fire This Time*, edited by Jesmyn Ward

*Killing Rage*, by bell hooks

For other racial equity resources, visit: https://bit.ly/APLRacialEquityResourceCenter

Support provided by the Anchorage Public Library

Get Schooled

These books for young readers and are just a sample of those available through the Anchorage Public Library:

For Children:

*A Place Inside of Me*, by Zetta Elliott

*The Undefeated*, by Kwame Alexander

*M is for Melanin*, by Tiffany Rose

For Teens:

*Stamped*, by Jason Reynolds

*Black Enough*, edited by Ibi Zoboi

*Midnight Without a Moon*, by Linda Williams Jackson

*Little Leaders: Bold Women in Black History*, by Vashti Harrison

Support provided by the Anchorage Public Library

Eat Some Soul Food

Walk over to Roscoe’s Catfish and Barbeque, located just across A Street from the Anchorage Museum, at 120 E. 6th Avenue.

Roscoe’s has been serving Southern food in Anchorage since 1988. Dishes include barbeque, crispy fried catfish, savory greens, and peach cobbler.

This Black-owned restaurant also is home to a display of photographs chronicling decades of visits to the restaurant and Anchorage by Black celebrities from across the nation.

Support Black Business

Support Black business and your community by buying local.

Download the Black Business Directory for Anchorage. This resource was created by the Business Boutique and Hair Science.

Know Your City

Fifth and D Streets in Downtown Anchorage

The Anchorage 5th Avenue Mall was once the site of the Rendezvous Building, owned by Zula Swanson. Once declared “Alaska’s Richest Black” by the magazine Ebony, Swanson’s real estate holdings were among the most expansive and lucrative in Alaska. The Rendezvous Building housed a hotel, bar, and club. From the 1930s until its demolition in 1971, it was a well-known spot for entertainment and served as a center for Black social life as new arrivals to the city made connections, heard about job opportunities, and fostered community ties.

Learn Our History

Eastchester Flats, Ingra and Orca Streets to 15th Avenue to Chester Creek

The Anchorage neighborhood known as Eastchester Flats was once Alaska’s largest Black community. It was roughly bounded on the west by Ingra Street, on the east by Orca Street, on the north by 15th Avenue, and on the south by Chester Creek. In the 1950s, one estimate put three-quarters of Anchorage’s Black population in Eastchester Flats, likely the result of having been denied access to other neighborhoods. Eastchester Flats was known for its lively nightlife. The neighborhood was largely dismantled through a process known as ‘urban renewal’ by the early 1970s. What exists of the community today has been absorbed by the Fairview neighborhood.

Join the Conversation

The Alaska Black Caucus was founded in 1975 to serve the Anchorage community as a non-profit, bipartisan organization that focuses on education and increasing the political and economic status of all Black people. Relaunched in November of 2019, the ABC is active in community engagement, including a series of open dialogues held on Sundays at 7pm AKST. Topics have included racism as a health crisis, youth conversation on race, media bias, and more.

You can register for the next conversation online at: https://www.thealaskablackcaucus.com/media- center/events-2/

Take Action

There are many ways to get involved and take action in our community. Organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) are nationally recognized for their work in social justice and anti-racism. All have local branches in Anchorage.

There are also other ways to get involved through local and grassroots organizations and affinity groups, such as community councils and service groups.

Your Vote is Your Voice

Did you know that Alaskans are automatically registered to vote when we apply for our Permanent Fund Dividend? Voting rights advocates organized a successful ballot initiative in 2016 to automatically register eligible voters who apply for the PFD. This measure expanded the voter rolls and registered thousands of Alaskans to vote. When was the last time you exercised your right to vote?

For more information on laws governing Alaska’s elections, visit the Division of Elections webpage at: elections.alaska.gov

Celebrate Juneteenth

The 1863 Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery immediately in places under Confederate control in the United States.

Two years after the Proclamation, on June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston Bay, Texas, and announced that the enslaved Black people there were free by executive decree. This day came to be known as Juneteenth, observed primarily through local celebrations. In 2020, a group of U.S. Senators (including now Vice President, Kamala Harris) proposed a bill to declare Juneteenth a national holiday. The bill was re-introduced in 2021 by Senate and House lawmakers as the Juneteenth National Independence Day Act.

Learn about Anchorage’s Juneteenth celebration and national events here: www.juneteenthanchorage.com

ADMISSION IS FREE at the Anchorage Museum on Juneteenth, June 19th, 2021

Support Black Artists

Check out these organizations founded by local Black visual and performing artists:

African American Artists of Alaska

Sankofa Dance Theatre Alaska

Underground Dance company

The Drift Gallery Dance Studio

Mostly Melanin Arts Improv Troupe

Black Alaskan Arts Matters

The Cyrano’s Theatre Company production, *Hekima*, features interviews with some of the most influential members of Alaska's Black community. Click here to watch *Hekima* on Youtube.

#BlackLivesinAK

What is your vision of Black life in Alaska?

Add your voice to the story by sharing a photo from your daily life and using the hashtag #BlackLivesinAK.

The HistoryMakers is a national 501(c)(3) non-profit research and educational institution committed to preserving and making widely accessible the untold personal stories of both well-known and unsung African Americans. Through the media and a series of user-friendly products, services, and events, The HistoryMakers enlightens, entertains, and educates the public, helping to refashion a more inclusive record of American history.

See what some of our Alaskan HistoryMakers have shared:

BLACK LIVES IN ALASKA: JOURNEY, JUSTICE, JOY

Journey

Great Migration

Whaling in Icy Waters, c. 1880s

Black whalers posing for a photo at Point Barrow, c. 1900s

William Shorey and his wife, Julia Ann Shelton Shorey, and daughters, Zenobia Pearl and Victoria, c. 1890s

Company L of the 24th Infantry Division marching in a Skagway parade, 1899

Six soldiers with three halibut, Skagway, c. 1896-1913

Company L of the 24th Infantry Division, Dyea, Alaska, 1899

Black miners working a claim on Dominion Creek, Alaska, c. 1890s

Portrait of Bessie Couture, late 19th to early 20th century

Soldiers baking and pancake serving, Dutch Harbor, c. 1942-1945

One of the Black Engineers who broke the route of the new Alaska Highway, 1942

Black troops in Attu mess area, Aleutians, c. 1942-1945

Novelist Dashiell Hammett with the integrated staff of The Adakian c. 1942-43

Map of the Alaska-Canada Highway, 1994

Black in the Business World

Soldier in tower, Galena, Alaska, 1955

Houston Oil. Cook and Tucker, Houston, 1954

Florine Walker, Trans-Alaska Pipeline culinary worker, 1974-1977

Ed "Sarge" Wesley, security supervisor at Delta Camp on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, 1975

Dr. Joshua Wright, Anchorage, 1969

Zula Swanson, n.d.

Justice

Blanche Louise Preston McSmith, c. 1960

The North Star Reporter, 1982

The New Horizon newspaper, 1979

The Anchorage Gazette, 1993

Anchorage NAACP chapter members, 1952

Tarea Hall Pittman with Velma Aiken presenting the weekly television program Your NAACP Reporter, 1958

Alaska NAACP events, 1955

NAACP float, Fairbanks Winter Carnival Parade, 1960

Celebrating Alaska youth participating in national African American Cultural Technological Scientific Olympics (ACT-SO) sponsored by NAACP, 1981

Woman picketing outside FW Woolworth Company Store, Fairbanks, Alaska, c. 1960

Anchorage Mayor George Henry Byer with members of the Alaska NAACP, including Blanche McSmith (seated), Anchorage City Hall, 1959

Alvin C. Campbell, 1969

Anchorage Times article on the Campbell arson, 1950

Eastchester Map, 1965

Civil Rights Movement

Attorney Mahala Ashley Dickerson, n.d.

Pat Berkley with a display board for the Alaska Black Caucus, 1979

JoAnn Overstreet with actress Ruby Dee, 1981

Ed Wesley with Rosa Parks at the New Hope Baptist Church in Anchorage, 1982

Voting advertisement from the North Star Reporter, 1982

Quest for Equality

Past Presidents of the Anchorage NAACP at the C. T. Lewis NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet. Pictured are Cal Williams, Ed Wesley, Celeste Hodge Growden, and Antonio Anderson, c. 2010

African Americans in Alaska Resource Guide, 1996

The Black Leadership Family Plan, 1982

Business Networking Directory, 1994

Cal Williams holding a portrait of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at a Black Lives Matter rally, Anchorage, 2020

MoHagani Magnetek at a Black Lives Matter Rally, Anchorage, 2020

A mother and her child at the “I Can’t Breathe” rally protesting the murder of George Floyd at the Midtown Mall, Anchorage, 2020

Protester holding a poster representing Black people killed by police (Breonna Taylor, second-to-last row, third from left), 2020

Crowd members raise peace signs in Midtown Anchorage, 2020

Joy

Ed and Frances Wesley with their baby daughter, Chairita, in front of the Armstrong Apartments in Delta Junction, 1973

Willow Park dedication, Alaska Housing Authority, n.d.

"Doc" and Theresa Quarles, New Year's Eve celebration, Anchorage, ca. 1960

Alaska Spotlight, Anchorage International Airport, 1955

Clarence Harris, Anchorage, 1969

Ed and Frances Wesley dressed for a night out on the town, Chicago, IL, 1972

Girl Scouts at Harding Lake, 1950s

Little League team, 1955

Shiloh Baptist Church, 1954

Theresa Quarles at New Year's Eve celebration black-tie event, Anchorage, ca. 1960

Creative Expression

Orchestra for the Alaska Day Dance, McKinley Park Hotel, 1948

Billie Holiday, Anchorage, 1954

Welcome Satch! signed program, 1965

Paige to lead City’s team, 1965

Boxing win for Team Alaska, 1974

Ten-year-old Greg and five-year-old Sheldon Fleming dressed for church, Anchorage, 1963

Juneteenth pamphlet, Anchorage, 1995

Nariyah Morgan, 9, and Janya Evans, 14, perform a dance with Sankofa Dance Theater at Juneteenth in Anchorage, 2020

Jasmin Smith with her children, Elohim and Akaiya, 2020

Alaska Railroad conductor Harry Ross, 2018

Black calendar and event guide, 1992

Activate: Digital Interactive Cards from the Exhibition

Read Up

Get Schooled