Iñupiaq men in qayaqs, Noatak, Alaska, circa 1929. Edward S. Curtis Collection, Library of Congress Digital Collections.
Crossing the Chilkoot Pass, circa 1898. Courtesy Candy Waugaman and Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park.
The Gold Rush boomtown of Nome on the Seward Peninsula, 1900. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey Photographic Library.
The Cook Inlet Historical Society invites the public to attend Imagining Anchorage: A Centennial Symposium.
Thursday, June 18 through Saturday, June 20
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 625 C Street
The first part of the Symposium (Friday, June 19) will concentrate on Captain James Cook and his visit to Alaska in 1778. The second part (Saturday, June 20) covers the history and development of Anchorage.
All symposium events, except for the John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour, will be held at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, 625 C Street. Featured speakers are Dr. Sophie Forgan, Chairman of Trustees of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby, England, as well as Charles Wohlforth, local author, who has written the official centennial publication, From the Shores of Ship Creek, Stories of Anchorage’s First 100 Years. The symposium will complement related exhibitions at the Anchorage Museum, including a presentation on James Cook’s Third Voyage, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage.
Thursday evening: June 18:
From 6:00 to 7:00 pm, refreshments, a book signing, and registration in the Anchorage Museum Foyer, co-hosted by the Anchorage Sister Cities Commission and the Cook Inlet Historical Society. Dr. Forgan will give the opening lecture, “James Cook from Whitby,” following the evening reception.
Friday, June 19: Captain Cook’s Third Voyage and his Visit to Alaska (1778):
From 9:00 am to 4:30 pm at the Anchorage Museum there will be the following presentations:
Dr. Michele Hetherington: Cook from the South Seas to the North Pacific
Dr. David Nicandri: To the North Pacific and Arctic with James Cook
Dr. Ian MacLaren: Imaging Alaska in North Pacific America – The Documentary Record from Cook’s Third Voyage and its Successor
John Robson: Imaging Alaska in North Pacific America – Cook’s Cartographic Contribution to Alaska and the North Pacific
Robin Inglis: Imaging Alaska in North Pacific America – The Visual Record
Aron Crowell: Imagining Alaska in North Pacific America: The Material Culture
Dr. Barry Gough: In the Wake of Cook
Saturday, June 20, The Anchorage Centennial (1915-2015):
The sessions on Anchorage will feature panel discussion from a host of speakers. Four concurrent sessions have already been planned, with an introductory and closing lecture. Included with the registration is a buffet lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 pm in the Museum Atrium.
Sunday, June 21, John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour, Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery, 7th and Cordova Streets, 7:00 pm (enter through Bagoy Gate). The Symposium will be followed by the annual John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour. Guides Audrey and Bruce Kelly will remember ten key players who strongly influenced the development of Anchorage.
Register online at http://www.cookinlethistory.org/registration-form.html. Registration includes admission to all symposium events, including the Thursday evening reception, Saturday luncheon, presentations, and complementary museum tours.
The Hotel Captain Cook in downtown Anchorage (939 West Fifth Avenue) is providing special discounted rates for accommodations at the hotel and its companion Voyager Hotel across the street during the symposium. Call for reservations at 800-843-1950 or 907-276-6000. When making reservations, please mention the “Captain Cook Symposium” room block to obtain the preferential rate.
The symposium is a community-wide event supported by an Anchorage Centennial Community Grant awarded by the Municipality of Anchorage’s Anchorage Centennial Commission and the Alaska Humanities Forum, with major funding support from the Municipality of Anchorage and the Rasmuson Foundation. Other support is provided by the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, Hotel Captain Cook, Odom Corporation, and from private donors.
