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 ALASKA LEGACY OF WILLIAM SEWARD
TV show to kick off Alaska events commemorating Alaska’s sesquicentennial
Wednesday September 21, 5:30 pm, Juneau, Alaska
The public is invited to be part of a TV audience for the taping of a program discussing the legacy of U.S. Secretary William H. Seward. The TV show, featuring a panel of eminent Alaskan historians and academics, is sponsored by the Alaska Historical Commission, chaired by Lieutenant Governor Byron Mallott.
The statewide special is the first in a series of events commemorating Alaska’s sesquicentennial, the 150th year since Seward signed the Treaty of Cession with Russia in 1867. The treaty began the process of transferring the vast territory to the United States.
The hour long TV taping in Juneau on Wednesday September 21, begins at 5:30 pm at Forum@360, a studio at KTOO TV studios. The public is invited to attend the taping, which will be broadcast at 8 p.m., Friday, September 30 on 360 North public television, or may be viewed on demand at 360North.org for broadcast on statewide public television.
The forum panelists include two of Alaska’s premier historians, Professor Stephen Haycox of the University of Alaska Anchorage and Terrence Cole of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Both have published books and monographs about Alaska’s past. Haycox is best known for his 0ne-volume history, Alaska: An American Colony, while Cole is recognized for his book on the Alaska statehood movement, Fighting for the 49th Star. Haycox will serve as moderator.
Also joining the panel will be Dalee Sambo Dorough, PhD, an Alaska Native (Inuit) associate professor at UAA who specializes in international indigenous human rights; Ross Coen, a doctoral candidate in history at the University of Washington and editor of Alaska History, the journal of the Alaska Historical Society; Jon Ross, former director of the Alaska Native Heritage Center who is currently working on the recovery and reconstruction of the Denaina languages; and Wayne Jensen, a Juneau architect and co-chair of the Seward Sculpture Committee.
Seward’s mixed legacy in Alaska will be the topic of discussion. On one hand, he is recognized as one of the great statesmen and humanitarians in American history, and on the other, a person who initiated the American colonization of Alaska, a process that nearly wiped out the indigenous populations along with their languages and cultures.
The taping coincides with the joint conference of the Alaska Historical Society and Museums Alaska, an annual meeting that rotates through Alaskan communities. The conference and workshops begin Wednesday, September 21, and extend through Saturday morning, September 24.
