Black History in the Last Frontier - NPS

provides a chronologically written narrative to

encompass the history of African Americans in

Alaska. Following an evocative foreword from activist

and community organizer, Ed Wesley, the book

begins with a discussion of black involvement in

the Paci?c whaling industry during the middle and

late-nineteenth century. It then discusses how the

Gold Rush and the World Wars shaped Alaska and

brought thousands of black migrants to the territory.

¡ãe ?nal chapters analyze black history in Alaska

in our contemporary era. It also presents a series

of biographical sketches of notable black men and

women who passed through or settled in Alaska and

contributed to its politics, culture, and social life. ¡ãis

book highlights the achievements and contributions of

Alaska¡¯s black community, while demonstrating how

these women and men have endured racism, fought

injustice, and made a life and home for themselves

in the forty-ninth state. Indeed, what one then ?nds

in this book is a history not well known, a history of

African Americans in the last frontier.

University of Alaska Anchorage

Ian C. Hartman / Ed Wesley

National Park Service

Black History in the Last Frontier

Black History in the Last Frontier

Black History

in the Last Frontier

by Ian C. Hartman

With a Foreword by Ed Wesley

Black History

in the Last Frontier

by Ian C. Hartman

With a Foreword by Ed Wesley

National Park Service

University of Alaska Anchorage

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Hartman, Ian C.

Black History in the Last Frontier

ISBN 9780996583787

National Park Service

University of Alaska Anchorage

HIS056000 History / African American

Printed in the United States of America

Edited by Kaylene Johnson

Design by David Freeman, Anchorage, Alaska.

Portions of chapter 4 have appeared as ¡°¡®A Bonanza for Blacks?¡¯: Limits and

Opportunities for African Americans in Southcentral Alaska,¡± in Imagining Anchorage:

Te Making of America¡¯s Northernmost Metropolis, ed. James K. Barnett and Ian C.

Hartman (Fairbanks: University of Alaska Press, 2018). Any opinions, fndings, and

conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and

do not necessarily refect the views of the Department of the Interior or the University

of Alaska.

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Contents

Living through History:

A Foreword and Refections by Ed Wesley ....................................5

Introduction

Black History in Unlikely Places ...................................................11

Chapter One

Black Exploration and Arrival in the Icy Northwest .................19

Chapter Two

Black Life in the Gold Rush Era .....................................................35

Chapter Tree

World Wars and a Changing Alaska..............................................53

Chapter Four

Statehood and the Cold War...........................................................73

Chapter Five

Civil Rights Under the Northern Lights.......................................93

Conclusion

Black History in Alaska at Century¡¯s End ..................................117

150 Years of Black History in Alaska: A Timeline....................126

Biographical Sketches ....................................................................130

Sources by Chapter ........................................................................177

Selected Bibliography ....................................................................189

Index ..................................................................................................192

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Utqiagvik

(Barrow)

Kotzebue

Nome

Fairbanks

ALASKA

Bethel

Anchorage

Seward

Skagway

Juneau

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