"150 Years: Defining Moments in the Great Land"
Cook Inlet Historical Society 2017-2018 Lecture Series
Auction sale of Wasilla townsite lots, June 20, [19]17. Alaska Engineering Commission Collection, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center.
Cook Inlet Historical Society 2017-2018 Lecture Series
Lectures: Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 7:00 pm on the third Thursday of each month (Sept.- Nov. and Jan.–May)
This year marks the sesquicentennial of the Treaty of Cession between Russia and the United States (1867-2017). Over the past century and a half, Alaska has undergone remarkable change. Its Native population has persisted and thrived; settlers have arrived from around the world; the culture and economy of the territory and then state has transformed several times. Throughout the fall and spring of 2017-2018, the Cook Inlet Historical Society will present lectures on some of the topics that have defined Alaska’s history since the cession. While it is impossible to encapsulate the full scope and breadth of 150 years of Alaskan history, we’ll explore a few topics that have made the state what it is today. The series will proceed chronologically. Our first speakers will discuss the politics behind the Treaty of Cession and its impact of Alaska’s indigenous population. Other topics will include the settlement in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, the economy of the early territorial days, the discovery of oil, the role of the military in our state, and the involvement of the federal government in shaping Alaska’s vast public lands. We hope you’ll join us for a provocative and informative speaker series.
| CIHS Lecture Series 2017-18.pdf |
Thursday, September 21, 2017, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Mike Dunham, award winning author and editor and reporter (retired), Alaska Dispatch News
Topic: The Man Who Bought Alaska: William H. Seward and The Man Who Sold Alaska: Tsar Alexander II of Russia
Longtime Alaska reporter Mike Dunham has written a pair of short biographies that tell the stories of the most important diplomats in the 19th century—Tsar Alexander II of Russia and American Secretary of State William Henry Seward. He will discuss the lives of the men who arranged the United States’ acquisition of Russian America in 1867.
Thursday, October 19, 2017, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Participants include Sergei Grinev of St. Petersburg Russia, Ilya Vinkovetsky of Simon Fraser University of British Columbia, Andrei Znamenski of the University of Memphis, Tennessee, archivist/historian Joaqlin Estus (Tlingit), and Andrey Khalkachan, a Native of eastern Siberia.
Topic: Treaty of Cession: Causes and Consequences: A Panel Discussion
UAA Distinguished Professor Emeritus Stephen Haycox will moderate a panel discussion with Russian historians about why Russian America was sold to the United States and three indigenous speakers who will examine the consequences of the 19th century Americanization of Alaska and the later Cold War.
Thursday, November 16, 2017, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Katherine L. Arndt, Alaska and Polar Regions Bibliographer and Curator of Rare Books and Rare Maps, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks
Topic: Russia’s American Colonies in 1867: A Baseline
Though the Russian-American Company (RAC) was ostensibly a trading firm, as an imperially chartered monopoly it had many non-commercial responsibilities in Russia’s North American colonies, including medical care, education, support of the Orthodox Church, and assistance to company pensioners. With departure of the RAC following the transfer of Alaska to US ownership, any Company-supported institutions were significantly crippled or entirely swept away. It took time before they were restored or replaced under US rule.
No December Lecture
Thursday, January 18, 2018, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Rex Wilhelm, President and COO of the North West Company International, Inc., owner of the Alaska Commercial Company
Topic: The Alaska Commercial Company, 150 years of Operation
The Alaska Commercial Company (ACC) began mercantile services in Alaska within months of the Treaty of Cession. Early company activities included fur trading, banking, shipping, and building infrastructure as well as operating an exclusive 20-year lease of the lucrative Pribilof Islands fur seal industry. This presentation details 150 years of ACC operations in Alaska.
Thursday, February 15, 2018, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Bethany Buckingham Follett, Curator, Wasilla Museum and Visitor’s Center
Topic: Wasilla at 100: Where Mining, Agriculture, and Commerce Converge
Wasilla was founded in 1917 when the Alaska Railroad intersected the Carle Wagon Road that headed into the Willow Creek Mining District. Miners were supplied by merchants in Wasilla and a thriving community emerged. Well-known members of the early community, how their history shaped Wasilla, and the activities from the centennial celebration that brought these stories and history to life will be discussed.
Thursday, March 15, 2018, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: JBER Command Staff
Topic: Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Mission and Units: Why We Are Here
Alaska’s strategic military position is based on geography. Alaska is an ideal hub for the great "Over-the-Pole” circle routes connecting the Orient with Europe and North America. JBER's location is much closer to the Orient and Europe than many parts of the contiguous United States, and provides an ideal staging for a rapid military response capability today, just as it did during World War II and the Cold War. In this lecture, JBER Command Staff will discuss the strategic geopolitical importance of Alaska today and in the past.
Thursday, April 19, 2018, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Speaker: Tim Bradner, economics and natural resources writer for Alaska professional and general-interest publications, with a specialty in energy and oil and gas
Topic: $141 billion since 1977! Where’d all the money go? A historical perspective of Alaska’s petroleum industry and state government
Mr. Bradner will review the history and development of Alaska’s petroleum industry from its early days until the present. He will discuss the interconnections between the industry and the development of Alaska’s state government and economy. He will speak to current problems and challenges facing both the state and industry as the worldwide energy industry appears to enter a period of surplus and lower prices.
Thursday, May 17, 2018, 7:00 pm
Anchorage Museum Auditorium, 625 C St. (enter through 121 W. 7th Ave. entrance)
Panelists: TBA
Topic: ANILCA: A discussion about how the “Alaska Lands Act” of 1980 came to be, what it contains, and how it has shaped Alaska
This concluding lecture will discuss the federal government’s role in managing public land in Alaska. The Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA), signed into law in 1980, was an achievement in the environmental movement and an important domestic achievement for the Carter administration, according to some. Others view it as federal overreach and a law that has continued to hinder Alaska’s economic development. Wherever your perspective, few would disagree that ANILCA profoundly transformed the management of Alaska’s public lands. The panel discussion features a diversity of analysis as we come to grips with, and better understand, this landmark legislation.
