The Civil Rights Movement From Alabama… to Alaska.

The Civil Rights The Civil Rights MovementMovement

From Alabama… to Alaska

Question of the Day:Question of the Day:

Civil Rights in the South- Civil Rights in the South- A TimelineA Timeline

• After the Civil War, many African Americans migrated to northern cities.

• During World War II, African Americans provided manpower and labor in factories and in the war itself.

• In 1954, the Supreme Court made their unanimous decision that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas

1955-• Thousands of

African Americans participate in the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott to protest discrimination in public transportation.

Rosa Parks: Rosa Parks: Civil Rights IconCivil Rights Icon

• The arrest of Rosa Parks touched off the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott.

1957-• President

Eisenhower sends troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to facilitate integration at Central High School.

1961-• Freedom Riders

challenge segregation on interstate busses.

1964-• Congress passes

the Civil Rights Act of 1964

From South to…North: Alaska’s RoleFrom South to…North: Alaska’s Role• One may initially think

Alaska might be as far removed from the American Civil Rights movement as you can get…but nothing could be farther from the truth!

• As racial tensions occurred between Blacks and Whites in the South, tensions also occurred in Alaska, between Natives and Whites.

• Racial segregation between Natives and Whites took place in Alaska well before WWII.

• Natives were refused the right to vote, home ownership, and were forced to send their children to separate schools.

• Numerous bars, restaurants, and hotels in Alaskan communities posted signs that said “No Natives Allowed” or restricted Natives to areas with signs saying “Natives Only”

1944: Nome, Alaska1944: Nome, Alaska

• 11 years before Rosa Parks Alabama bus protest, police arrest 17-year old Native, Alberta Schenck, for refusing to give up her seat in the segregated movie theater. 

Civil Rights Crusaders in Civil Rights Crusaders in AlaskaAlaska::

• Alaska Governor Ernest Gruening.

• Native Rights advocates Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich.

Civil Rights Crusaders in Civil Rights Crusaders in AlaskaAlaska::

• The Alaska Native Brotherhood was established in 1912 to work for the rights of Indians in America.

• The ANB was influential in making progress in Civil Rights for Natives.

Photo by E.W. Merrill that appeared in the February 1916 edition of "The Verstovian" newspaper. Courtesy of The Stratton Library, Sheldon Jackson College, Sitka, Alaska.

Creating the Creating the AlaskanAlaskan Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act

• Roy Peratrovich, president of the ANB, sat down with Gruening to work out a strategy. Anthony Dimond, Alaska’s representative to the U.S. House, supplied sample bills and information to help frame legislation.

• The bill was introduced into the state legislature in 1943 and defeated after a bitter floor fight.

• The law finally was enacted in 1945 after three ANB members were elected to the legislature.

Creating the AlaskanCreating the Alaskan Civil Rights Act Civil Rights Act

“Jim Crow is a scourge to Alaska as it

was to Alabama.”