Last updated: February 18, 2025
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Black History in the Last Frontier: Willard Bowman
William Egan Collection, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rasmuson Library.
Willard Bowman Collection, University of Alaska Anchorage Archives and Special Collections.
Director of the Alaska Commission on Human Rights
Upon his arrival in Alaska, Bowman worked as a labor-management consultant with the territory during the 1950s. He later served in Governor William E. Egan’s administration in the early years of statehood as a Director of the Alaska Commission on Human Rights. He held that position from 1963 to 1970. As director, Bowman spoke candidly about the prevalence of racial discrimination in the newly admitted state and proposed solutions to address the inequities.
Bartlett, July 12, 1968.
Edward Lewis Bartlett Papers, 1938-1970. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Rasmuson Library.
Working on Behalf of African Americans and Alaska Natives
Bowman’s work with the Human Rights Commission led him to advocate on behalf of African Americans and Alaska Natives who faced discrimination in the workplace and when searching for homes. He documented how an area grocery store refused to hire qualified African Americans to positions of management during the 1950s and 1960s. He also provided evidence that city and state contracts bypassed qualified black and Alaska Native workers and skilled tradesmen in favor of whites. Financial institutions failed to extend loans on an equal basis as well. “Make no mistake about it,” Bowman boldly concluded in his report to the governor, “this is just as discriminatory as lunch rooms and hotels of the South.”Bowman also investigated what he described as conditions reminiscent of servitude among seal harvesters in the Pribilof Islands and the racist hiring practices among the oil industry on the North Slope.
Bowman’s research and experiences led him to develop the Citizens Council for Community Improvement (CCCI), a research group that acted under the broader authority of Governor Egan’s Human Rights Commission. These efforts brought greater awareness to the issues of segregation and discrimination in Alaska and positioned Bowman as a key advocate on behalf of those who had experienced discrimination.
Photo by David Reamer.
An Advocate in the State House
With his elevated profile, Bowman ran and was elected as a Democrat for the Alaska House of Representatives in 1970. As a representative, Bowman continued to give a voice to the people who had remained on the margins of Alaska.A Lasting Legacy
Bowman passed away in December of 1975, in the midst of his third term as a representative. Governor Egan memorialized Bowman with a proclamation that declared: “His contributions to the long-range welfare of the state will long be remembered.”The Anchorage School District dedicated an elementary school in his name in 1991. Willard Bowman’s contributions place among the thousands of perhaps lesser-known activists who fought for civil rights at local levels throughout the United States during the height of the civil rights movement from the 1950s through the early 1970s.
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Deeply involved in human rights in the 1960s and 1970s, Willard Bowman spoke candidly about the prevalence of racial discrimination in Alaska and proposed solutions to address the inequities. Serving African Americans and Alaska Natives across the state, his work left a lasting legacy.
Mahala Ashley Dickerson was not only the Matanuska-Susitna Valley's first Black homesteader, she was also the first Black lawyer in Alaska. Her groundbreaking career was filled with zeal for helping others and she was recognized nationally for her courtroom prowess.
Following Japan’s bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the fear of a military invasion in North America increased. The U.S. Armed Forces sought to fortify and connect Alaska to the nation’s contiguous 48 states. The work was difficult and the demand for additional workers was so high that the military reversed some of its discriminatory policies to allow black troops to participate in the construction effort.
Thomas Stokes Bevers set out to make a new life in the West after World War I. Settling in Anchorage, he quickly became a community leader while serving as Anchorage's first paid firefighter and founding Fur Rendezvous, a yearly event that still occurs today.
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Black History in the Last Frontier: Company L, 24th Infantry
- Locations: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Black soldiers were among the first members of the United States military to arrive in Alaska on the heels of the Klondike Gold Rush. Today, arguably no single institution has had as large of an impact on Alaska as the United States military. The men who served in Company L, 24th Infantry might thus be seen as among the first soldiers who initiated a long, deep relationship between the military and Alaska.
Born in Georgia in 1839, the son of an Irish-born slaveholder and a black woman, Michael Healy grew up amid the tumult of sectional conflict and civil war. Though he was born enslaved, he would go on to live an accomplished life at sea. At the peak of his career, Healy knew the expanse of the North Pacific and Arctic waters better than anyone.
- Locations: Bering Land Bridge National Preserve, Cape Krusenstern National Monument, Iñupiat Heritage Center, New Bedford Whaling National Historical Park
Black whalers were among the first Americans to reach Alaska, specifically its southeast panhandle, in the early 1840s. Some of these men had escaped enslavement in the American South, while others were free men of color from the North. It would have been difficult to find a more racially and geographically diverse industry than whaling in the nineteenth century.