Black Lives in Alaska: Journey

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.

Black whalers were among the first non-Indigenous North Americans to view Alaska’s shores 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 established inns, restaurants, brothels, and other businesses in hopes of 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.  

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. 

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.  

 

While military service brought many Black families to Alaska, the Alaska Railroad, the  Trans-Alaska Pipeline, commercial fishing, and 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. The journey that brought thousands to Alaska echoes a broader story of the Great Migration: one of opportunity, perseverance, trial, and success.

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. 

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. 

Zula Swanson worked as a dressmaker, then became a sex worker and managed to amass a large savings. In 1929 she relocated to Anchorage where she purchased property downtown, which she turned into a brothel in disguise. She owned the Rendezvous Hotel, which served as a meeting place for new arrivals seeking housing and job opportunities.  She was also among Alaska’s wealthiest residents. While growing her business empire, Swanson maintained an active role in civic life in Anchorage.