August 2014 Centennial Update
Friends
The Anchorage Centennial Celebration continues to achieve major milestones and is beginning in earnest. I write to advise donors and supporters of the Cook Inlet Historical Society of the status of activity with this periodic update.
Legacy Projects
Working with Mayor Dan Sullivan and Susan Duck, his Centennial Director, we secured $500,000 funding from the Anchorage Assembly for Anchorage's Centennial celebration last year. Working with the Alaska Humanities Forum the Centennial Advisory Committee helped appropriate these funds through an RFP process managed by, to complete three “legacy” projects:
1. Centennial Book. A book chronicling the history of Anchorage written by lifelong
Alaskan and award-winning author Charles Wohlforth, published by Todd Communications of Anchorage. The book is now written and has been turned over to the publisher this week.
2. Documentary Film. A feature-length documentary film commemorating the centennial, presented by Alaska Video Postcards, to be reported by Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, John Larson. The film with premiere on Saturday night, September 13, 2014.
3. Internet Application. A web application and interactive online archive have been developed to document and promote the Centennial, produced by Alaska Channel.
This application is now on line and will soon be turned over to the Municipality for updating during the next year’s celebration. See http://anchoragecentennial.org.
Grant Projects
While there are probably nearly 100 projects approved to use the centennial logo
celebrating this milestone in the next year, the initial Municipal funds were
supplemented by a generous $500,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation for
community organizations planning centennial projects and events. There were two awards in late 2013 and last month to many deserving organizations. Please see the attached listings. The Society is involved in several of the approved projects, including the Symposium project described below.
Centennial programming will also feature marketing and a number of merchandising
opportunities, including an exclusive, numbered centennial print signed by all living mayors, which is available at Artique, Ltd.
Cook Inlet Historical Society Centennial Projects
The Society has been active in Centennial planning and has a host of projects that will continue to give focus to this important community milestone:
1. Lecture Series. The Society will begin the second of its two-year centennial series with monthly programming at the Museum, described in greater detail on this website. Last year we featured lectures supporting the Dena'ina Way of Living exhibit and the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Alaska Earthquake. Beginning in September, we will feature lectures on the conclusion of the Cold War, followed by a series of lectures supporting Museum exhibitions about both Captain Cook and the Centennial. We have added special programs for July and August 2015 to celebrate the exact date of the centennial, as well as the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Municipality of Anchorage.
2. Symposium. In order to give historical focus to the Centennial, the Society is sponsoring a 4-day “Imagining Anchorage” symposium, co-hosted by the Sister Cities Commission and Anchorage School District. It will be held at the Anchorage Museum in June 2015 and will recognize two important exhibits, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, as well as the Centennial-specific exhibits, City Limits and Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
At the Symposium the Society will host speakers from around the world, including
the director of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby, England, our sister
city, as well as a host of local speakers about Anchorage’s past 100 years. We will also support a series of school field trips to the Museum so local students can become more knowledgeable about the Cook and Centennial exhibits.
3. Cemetery Tour. Finally, our annual offering at the Anchorage Cemetery will focus on the10 most fascinating and significant Anchorage residents buried in our community cemetery.
4. Legends and Legacies. John Bagoy’s remarkable on-line exhibition of the early residents of our community is due for a facelift and significant expansion. With the support of a grant from the Atwood Foundation, the Society will be upgrading the software and equipment that displays the project at the Museum’s Alaska History Gallery. We will also be adding a host of names to the project list and extending the project’s timeline to consider residents of the community before the start of World War II. See http://www.alaskahistory.org
The Society was thrilled to lead initial planning of the Centennial project, as the Centennial will truly be a community-wide celebration that concludes next summer. Anchorage residents are welcome to participate in monthly Advisory Committee meetings and serve on the many sub-committees and learn more about project planning at monthly public meetings. All meetings and planned events are listed on the Centennial web page, http://anchoragecentennial.org.
We will continue to keep you informed of the Centennial and Symposium projects on
this website page, http://www.cookinlethistory.org.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical
Society
The Anchorage Centennial Celebration continues to achieve major milestones and is beginning in earnest. I write to advise donors and supporters of the Cook Inlet Historical Society of the status of activity with this periodic update.
Legacy Projects
Working with Mayor Dan Sullivan and Susan Duck, his Centennial Director, we secured $500,000 funding from the Anchorage Assembly for Anchorage's Centennial celebration last year. Working with the Alaska Humanities Forum the Centennial Advisory Committee helped appropriate these funds through an RFP process managed by, to complete three “legacy” projects:
1. Centennial Book. A book chronicling the history of Anchorage written by lifelong
Alaskan and award-winning author Charles Wohlforth, published by Todd Communications of Anchorage. The book is now written and has been turned over to the publisher this week.
2. Documentary Film. A feature-length documentary film commemorating the centennial, presented by Alaska Video Postcards, to be reported by Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, John Larson. The film with premiere on Saturday night, September 13, 2014.
3. Internet Application. A web application and interactive online archive have been developed to document and promote the Centennial, produced by Alaska Channel.
This application is now on line and will soon be turned over to the Municipality for updating during the next year’s celebration. See http://anchoragecentennial.org.
Grant Projects
While there are probably nearly 100 projects approved to use the centennial logo
celebrating this milestone in the next year, the initial Municipal funds were
supplemented by a generous $500,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation for
community organizations planning centennial projects and events. There were two awards in late 2013 and last month to many deserving organizations. Please see the attached listings. The Society is involved in several of the approved projects, including the Symposium project described below.
Centennial programming will also feature marketing and a number of merchandising
opportunities, including an exclusive, numbered centennial print signed by all living mayors, which is available at Artique, Ltd.
Cook Inlet Historical Society Centennial Projects
The Society has been active in Centennial planning and has a host of projects that will continue to give focus to this important community milestone:
1. Lecture Series. The Society will begin the second of its two-year centennial series with monthly programming at the Museum, described in greater detail on this website. Last year we featured lectures supporting the Dena'ina Way of Living exhibit and the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Alaska Earthquake. Beginning in September, we will feature lectures on the conclusion of the Cold War, followed by a series of lectures supporting Museum exhibitions about both Captain Cook and the Centennial. We have added special programs for July and August 2015 to celebrate the exact date of the centennial, as well as the 40th anniversary of the founding of the Municipality of Anchorage.
2. Symposium. In order to give historical focus to the Centennial, the Society is sponsoring a 4-day “Imagining Anchorage” symposium, co-hosted by the Sister Cities Commission and Anchorage School District. It will be held at the Anchorage Museum in June 2015 and will recognize two important exhibits, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, as well as the Centennial-specific exhibits, City Limits and Take Me Out to the Ballgame.
At the Symposium the Society will host speakers from around the world, including
the director of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum in Whitby, England, our sister
city, as well as a host of local speakers about Anchorage’s past 100 years. We will also support a series of school field trips to the Museum so local students can become more knowledgeable about the Cook and Centennial exhibits.
3. Cemetery Tour. Finally, our annual offering at the Anchorage Cemetery will focus on the10 most fascinating and significant Anchorage residents buried in our community cemetery.
4. Legends and Legacies. John Bagoy’s remarkable on-line exhibition of the early residents of our community is due for a facelift and significant expansion. With the support of a grant from the Atwood Foundation, the Society will be upgrading the software and equipment that displays the project at the Museum’s Alaska History Gallery. We will also be adding a host of names to the project list and extending the project’s timeline to consider residents of the community before the start of World War II. See http://www.alaskahistory.org
The Society was thrilled to lead initial planning of the Centennial project, as the Centennial will truly be a community-wide celebration that concludes next summer. Anchorage residents are welcome to participate in monthly Advisory Committee meetings and serve on the many sub-committees and learn more about project planning at monthly public meetings. All meetings and planned events are listed on the Centennial web page, http://anchoragecentennial.org.
We will continue to keep you informed of the Centennial and Symposium projects on
this website page, http://www.cookinlethistory.org.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical
Society
Teach & Travel says "Consider...Anchorage, Alaska"
2013 Centennial Celebration Milestones
The Anchorage Centennial Celebration achieved major milestones in 2013! We
wanted donors and supporters of the Cook Inlet Historical Society to learn the
status of activity through this periodic update.
Working with Mayor Dan Sullivan and Susan Duck, his Centennial Director, we secured $500,000 funding from the Anchorage Assembly for Anchorage's Centennial celebration last April. The Centennial Advisory Committee helped appropriate these funds through an RFP process managed by the Alaska Humanities Forum, to begin crucial legacy projects:
1. A book chronicling the history of Anchorage written by lifelong Alaskan and award-winning author Charles Wohlforth, published by Todd Communications of Anchorage.
2. A feature-length documentary film commemorating the centennial, presented
by Alaska Video Postcards, Inc., to be reported and written by Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, John Larson.
3. A web application and interactive online archive to document and promote
the centennial, produced by Alaska Channel, a specialty media company that
created and operates the widely downloaded “Alaska App.”
In the Fall of 2013 this important support was augmented by a $500,000 grant from the Rasmuson Foundation to be disbursed over the next two years to offer community grants in support of organizations planning centennial projects and events. Following an extensive review process, a portion of these funds were awarded in December to 13 deserving organizations. Please see the attached Media Advisory to learn the names of these groups and their planned projects. A second round of grants are planned for the Spring of 2014. We anticipate additional private and governmental donations to supplement the Rasmuson Foundation grant.
Additionally, the Society and Anchorage Museum will add to the celebration with a number of scheduled events:
1. The Anchorage Museum has already presented the remarkable exhibit about
the first residents of our community, Dena'inaq' Huch' ulyeshi: The Dena'ina Way of Living. The Society was a major contributor and supporter of the project, which just concluded its four-month display, with world-wide acclaim.
2. The Society has already begun its two-year celebration with monthly programming at the Museum, described in greater detail on this website. After presenting lectures supporting the Dena'ina Way of Living exhibit, this spring the Society will feature lectures commemorating the 50th anniversary of the 1964 Alaska Earthquake. Our lecture series with centennial themes will continue through 2015.
3. In the Spring of 2015 the Museum plans to present an important exhibition about the first European contact of our area, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage. The British Library plans to loan Cook’s personal third voyage journal and the voyage artist’s dramatic landscape in Prince William Sound, the first time these
objects have traveled in the two centuries since they arrived in England after the voyage! The Society and Washington State Historical Society are partners in the exhibition.
The Society was thrilled to lead initial planning, as the Centennial will truly be a two-year,
community-wide celebration. The Advisory Committee has already approved dozens
of these projects and through its sub-committees will help identify others. Anchorage residents are welcome to participate in Advisory Committee meetings and serve on the many sub-committees.
December 20, 2013 Press Release: The Alaska Humanities Forum and the Anchorage Centennial Committee announced today the awarding of $231,000 to 13 Anchorage
Centennial Community Grant projects.
We will continue to keep you informed of centennial planning on this website
page.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical Society
So we are underway!
Mayor Dan Sullivan, the Anchorage Assembly and many residents of our community have begun Anchorage's Centennial celebration! The mayor recently appointed a Centennial Advisory Committee and formally initiated the two-year celebration with the dedication of the USS Anchorage in early May. He also hired Susan Duck, former CEO of Anchorage Fur Rendezvous, to lead the process. Finally, with the Mayor’s considerable assistance, we just secured funding from the Anchorage Assembly.
This process began over a year ago when the Mayor issued a proclamation inviting residents to provide ideas on how Anchorage should remember its centennial, designating the Cook Inlet Historical Society as the recipient for all ideas. The Society and the hundreds of residents who participated in the effort issued a report on February 1, 2012. Among other things we concluded that the “official” centennial date should be July 2015 to recognize the July 1915 auction and sale of Anchorage's first lots.
As we see it today, there will be at least four elements to the effort:
1. Legacy Projects. The report encourages Centennial support for important legacy projects, including three Anchorage Museum exhibits: Dena'inaq' Huch' ulyeshi: The Dena'ina Way of Living, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, and Anchorage: the First 100 Years. In addition, the Centennial will engage the Alaska Railroad with its proposed amphitheater project to commemorate the role of the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage's history, as well as a documentary film and book, and an app that can be downloaded by all citizens.
2. Centennial Scheduling and Marketing. The Municipality has already developed a centennial logo and web site (http://www.anchoragecentennial.org/) and will begin to develop a formal schedule and market the centennial to citizens and tour operators. This will hopefully generate further centennial activities, providing a framework for tour operators to promote travel to Anchorage during centennial celebrations. We anticipate considerable economic benefit to the community from coordinated Centennial marketing of all approved events.
3. Celebrations. The Centennial is not complete with the many legacy projects, as this will be a two-year, community wide celebration. The Society initiated these concepts with an invitation issued in 2012. Ms. Duck and the Advisory Committee have already approved dozens of these projects and through its sub-committees will help identify others. Hundreds of people are already involved and Ms. Duck residents are welcome to participate in Advisory Committee meetings and serve on the many sub-committees.
4. Alaska Humanities Forum. When it approved Centennial funding, the Anchorage Assembly understandably insisted on financial accountability and transparency with the funds it appropriated, as well as funds raised in the private sector. As a result, Mayor Sullivan will hire the Alaska Humanities Forum, which has considerable experience in similar projects, to oversee the expenditure of the funds consistent with these purposes. Nina Kempell, President/CEO, will have personal involvement in the project as it develops. Nina, Susan and I will keep the Assembly regularly informed; Mayor Sullivan plans to attend most Advisory Committee meetings.
We will continue to keep you informed of centennial planning on this website page.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical Society
This process began over a year ago when the Mayor issued a proclamation inviting residents to provide ideas on how Anchorage should remember its centennial, designating the Cook Inlet Historical Society as the recipient for all ideas. The Society and the hundreds of residents who participated in the effort issued a report on February 1, 2012. Among other things we concluded that the “official” centennial date should be July 2015 to recognize the July 1915 auction and sale of Anchorage's first lots.
As we see it today, there will be at least four elements to the effort:
1. Legacy Projects. The report encourages Centennial support for important legacy projects, including three Anchorage Museum exhibits: Dena'inaq' Huch' ulyeshi: The Dena'ina Way of Living, Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage, and Anchorage: the First 100 Years. In addition, the Centennial will engage the Alaska Railroad with its proposed amphitheater project to commemorate the role of the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage's history, as well as a documentary film and book, and an app that can be downloaded by all citizens.
2. Centennial Scheduling and Marketing. The Municipality has already developed a centennial logo and web site (http://www.anchoragecentennial.org/) and will begin to develop a formal schedule and market the centennial to citizens and tour operators. This will hopefully generate further centennial activities, providing a framework for tour operators to promote travel to Anchorage during centennial celebrations. We anticipate considerable economic benefit to the community from coordinated Centennial marketing of all approved events.
3. Celebrations. The Centennial is not complete with the many legacy projects, as this will be a two-year, community wide celebration. The Society initiated these concepts with an invitation issued in 2012. Ms. Duck and the Advisory Committee have already approved dozens of these projects and through its sub-committees will help identify others. Hundreds of people are already involved and Ms. Duck residents are welcome to participate in Advisory Committee meetings and serve on the many sub-committees.
4. Alaska Humanities Forum. When it approved Centennial funding, the Anchorage Assembly understandably insisted on financial accountability and transparency with the funds it appropriated, as well as funds raised in the private sector. As a result, Mayor Sullivan will hire the Alaska Humanities Forum, which has considerable experience in similar projects, to oversee the expenditure of the funds consistent with these purposes. Nina Kempell, President/CEO, will have personal involvement in the project as it develops. Nina, Susan and I will keep the Assembly regularly informed; Mayor Sullivan plans to attend most Advisory Committee meetings.
We will continue to keep you informed of centennial planning on this website page.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical Society
An Invitation to Help Celebrate
Anchorage’s Centennial 2013-15
Dear Friends:
The Mayor of Anchorage and many residents of our community have begun planning Anchorage's Centennial celebration. As a first step last fall Mayor Sullivan issued a proclamation inviting residents to provide ideas on how Anchorage should remember its centennial. He designated the Cook Inlet Historical Society as the recipient for all ideas on how Anchorage's citizens, organizations, agencies, and businesses should recognize and celebrate Anchorage's first on hundred years.
Using this input, the Society issued a final report on February 1, 2012 assembling all ideas received. We suggested that Anchorage's official celebration begin in May 2013 with the opening of the Anchorage Museum's Dena'inaq' Huch' ulyeshi: The Dena'ina Way of Living exhibition, continue through 2014 with the celebration of the Alaska Railroad's Centennial, the Museum's Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage Exhibit, and conclude with the Museum's 2015 exhibit, tentatively titled Anchorage: the First 100 Years and recognition of the July, 2015 auction and sale of Anchorage's first lots.
We also made three overriding recommendations: First, the Mayor should appoint someone on his staff as the advocate and clearinghouse for all "official" Anchorage centennial celebrations and appoint a volunteer advisory committee. Second, we suggested the Municipality support four legacy projects that are planned to out last the centennial celebration and provide long-term benefits to the citizens of Anchorage: the three Anchorage Museum exhibits mentioned above, the Alaska Railroad Amphitheater commemorating the role of the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage's history, a documentary film and book, and an app that can be downloaded to capture Anchorage's history. Third, the Municipality should finalize a centennial logo, posters, and banners as well as a program of events as soon as possible to market the centennial to citizens and tour operators, generate further centennial activities, and provide a framework for tour operators to begin promoting travel to Anchorage during centennial celebrations.
A copy of our invitation letter, the form for suggestions, the Mayor's proclamation and the February 1, 2012 final report are available below. We welcome your continued interest in this celebration and urge you to offer suggestions to the Society via email at CIHS@anchoragemuseum.org or by mail to the Cook Inlet Historical Society at the Anchorage Museum, 625 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501. If you have questions please call me at 346-2755 or send an email to me at JBarnett@alaska.com.
We will continue to keep you informed of centennial planning on this website page.
Best personal regards,
James K. Barnett, President
Cook Inlet Historical Society
