| Molly
Hootch and Anna Tibeluk |
Prior
to 1976, many rural Native villages in Alaska lacked educational
facilities beyond the 8th grade. Students who wished
to attend high school were forced to fly long distances and
live nine months of the year away from their homes. In 1972,
a number of Native students joined together in a suit against
the State of Alaska to provide high schools in over 100 Native
villages. While the case is officially named Tibeluk v. Lind,
for the Eskimo girl who joined the list of plaintiffs in 1975,
it is commonly referred to as the Molly Hootch case for the
student who headed the original list of plaintiffs. In 1976,
the court ruled in the plaintiffs' favor and 126 villages were
granted high schools. This case revolutionized education in
Native Alaskan villages. |
| Howard
Rock |
An Inupiat Eskimo, Howard Rock
was born in Point Hope, Alaska where he learned the subsistence
lifestyle of his ancestors and became an activist for his
people. He helped prevent the Atomic Energy Commission from
performing above-ground nuclear tests in a harbor near his
village, edited the Tundra Times, and helped lead the Native
land claims struggle which led to the Alaska Native Claims
Settlement Act.
|
| Elizabeth
Peratrovich |
Elizabeth
Wanamaker Peratrovich was born July 4, 1911, in Petersburg,
Alaska. Her Tlingit name was Kaaxgal.aat. As Grand Camp President
of the Alaska Native Sisterhood, Elizabeth provided the crucial
testimony that cultivated passage of the Anti Discrimination
Bill. The Senate passed the bill, which mandated equal treatment
for all citizens in public accommodations, 11 to 5. A new era
in Alaska's racial relations had begun. Elizabeth Peratrovich
died on December 1, 1958, after a lengthy battle with cancer.
She is buried in Evergreen Cemetery in Juneau. |
Jefferson
"Soapy"
C. Smith |
Soapy
arrived in the Gold Rush frontier town of Skagway in the autumn
of 1897. Soapy and his gang fleeced newcomers at crooked gambling
or at gunpoint. In 1898, a shooting in Skagway resulted in the
death of Smith, who is buried there. |
| Big
Mike Heney |
Without
technical education, Michael James Heney built two railroads,
the White Pass and Yukon Route and the Copper River and Northwestern,
considered impossible by leading engineers of his day. |
| Ernest
Gruening |
Ernest
Gruening was territorial governor of Alaska in 1935-1953 and
territorial senator in 1956-58. As governor, Gruening formed
the Alaska Territorial Guard during WWII to alert the military
of potential Japanese attacks from isolated areas like the Bering
Sea. The guard was made up primarily of Alaska Natives from
rural villages. As territorial senator, Gruening lobbied for
Alaska statehood in Washington, D.C. and, following statehood,
became a U.S. senator from 1958 to 1968. Gruening was an outspoken
opponent of U.S. involvement in Vietnam. |
| Benny
Benson |
Thirteen-year-old
Benny Benson's fame comes from designing the Alaska flag. Born
in Chignik and raised in Unalaska. Benny was the winner of the
contest conducted for Alaska students in grades seven through
twelve in 1926. The Alaska
Legislature adopted his design as the official flag for the
Territory of Alaska on May 2, 1927. Later, the drafters of the
Alaska constitution stipulated that the territorial flag would
become the official flag of the State of Alaska. |
| Libby
Riddles |
Libby
Riddles was the first woman to win the "Last Great Race
on Earth," the 1,049-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race,
in 1985. At 29 years, Riddles turned in a time of 18 days, 2
minutes, 17 seconds on the route from Anchorage to Nome. |
| Susan
Butcher |
The
only woman to win the Iditarod Sled Dog Race three consecutive
years---placing first in 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1988, a T-shirt
appeared in Alaska which read, "Alaska: Where Men are Men
and Women Win the Iditarod!" |
| Joe
Reddington, Sr. |
Joe
Reddington Sr. pioneered modern distance mushing and is considered
the Father of the Iditarod. He created the event in 1973 and
funded it in its first year. |
| Hilary
Lindh |
Born
in Juneau, Hilary Lindh is a five-time U.S. National Champion
and the 1992 Olympic silver medalist in downhill skiing. |
| Tommy
Moe |
Alpine
skier, Tommy Moe won the gold medal in downhill skiing and the
silver medal in the super-G event at the 1994 Winter Olympics
in Lillehammer, Norway. He was the first U.S. man to win two
Alpine Olympic medals in one year. |
| Jewel |
Shortly
after she was born in May of 1974, Jewel's parents moved to
Homer, Alaska, settling on an 800-acre homestead. After graduating
from a performing arts college, she moved to San Diego and began
a successful career in pop music. |
| Scott
Gomez |
Scott
Gomez of Anchorage was the National Hockey League's rookie of
the year in 2000. His team, the New Jersey Devils, won the Stanley
Cup. |
| Irene
Bedard |
Irene
Bedard is an actress originally from Anchorage. She was the
voice of Disney's Pocahontas and starred in the film "Smoke
Signals." |
| Carlos
Boozer |
Juneau's
Carlos Boozer plays basketball for the Utah Jazz. |
| Trajan
Langdon |
Anchorage's Trajan Langdan plays basketball for the NBA's Cleveland
Cavaliers. |
| Famous
People Who are Associated with Alaska/the Yukon |
| Skookum
Jim |
Skookum
Jim, a Tagish Native, discovered the gold in Rabbit Creek that
started the Klondike Gold Rush. |
| Jack
London |
Writer
and adventurer, Jack London spent the winter of 1897 in the
Yukon and from that experience wrote the books, "Call of
the Wild" and "White Fang." |
| Wyatt
Earp |
After
the infamous shootout in Tombstone, Arizona, Wyatt would live
almost another 50 years, well into the 20th century. He was
never able to settle down in all his further years, and was
mining almost to his death at age 80 in 1929. He continued to
move around to different towns in the west and spent several
years in Nome, Alaska during the gold rush of the late 1890s. |
Follow
these Related Links and Find More Famous Alaskans
Note:
When you click on these links, you will be leaving the Alaska
Division of Community and Business Development web pages - we
are not responsible for their accuracy nor are we able to make
changes to the sites. They are provided for your convenience. |
| Alaska's
Studies: Teacher's Tool Box |
| Women
in Alaska's Gold Rush History |
| Women
of the Iditarod |
| Learn
About More Famous Alaskans |
