Imagining Anchorage:
a Centennial Symposium, June 2015
In order to celebrate the founding of Anchorage in 1915 and to offer a greater awareness of the city’s rich history, the Cook Inlet Historical Society (CIHS) is sponsoring a centennial symposium “Imagining Anchorage”beginning Thursday evening, June 18,and concluding Saturday, June 20, 2015. All symposium events, except for the John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour, will be held at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center (625 C Street, Anchorage, AK 99501; The Symposiumis a community-wide event supported by a Centennial Grant from the Municipality of Anchorage, the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska Humanities Forum. As part of the project, CIHS hopes to introduce a younger audience to Anchorage’s history along with long-time residents, visitors, and friends.
The celebration will be followed by the annual John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour at the Anchorage Memorial Park Cemetery (7th & Cordova Streets) on Sunday, June 21, 2015, where our guides, Audrey and Bruce Kelly, will remember ten key players buried at the cemeterywho undertook critical roles in the development of the community.
This celebration of the community will complement related exhibitions at the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, including a presentation on James Cook’s Third Voyage,Arctic Ambitions: Captain Cook and the Northwest Passage,which opened in lateMarch. The exhibit is also reflected in an expansive and beautifully illustrated anthology of the same name featuring eighteen scholarly essays, edited by Jim Barnett and Dave Nicandri, with a Preface by Robin Inglis, and published through the University of Washington Press. Copies of the anthology are available for sale at the Anchorage Museum Shop.
The Anchorage Museum is also hostingtwo exhibits with a specific centennial theme, City Limits, Home Field Advantage: Baseball in the Far North, and 100: Images from the Archives, which are complemented by a legacy publication by local author, Charles Wohlforth, From the Shores of Ship Creek: Stories of Anchorage's First 100 Years, published by Todd Communications of Anchorage.
Captain James Cook’s Third Voyage and Visit to Alaska (1778):
Thursday and Friday, June 18-19, 2015
The first part of the symposium will concentrate on British Captain James Cook’s visit to Alaska in 1778. As he left Cook Inlet in June of that year, Cook was of the opinion that it could become a center of beneficial commerce, even though he might not have quite “imagined Anchorage”as it has evolved into the 21st century. But that is what we will be doing at conference, as we look back at the Alaska of nearly 250 years ago, trace the more recent history of Anchorage and look ahead to the future of the city as the nation’s window onto a rapidly changing Arctic region.
On the Thursday evening, June 18, 2015, we will celebrate our relationship - through James Cook - with our sister city of Whitby in Yorkshire. Both the Mayor of Whitby and the Mayor of Anchorage will offer keynote remarks. From 6.00 to 7.00 PM refreshments, a book signing, and registration will accompany these remarks in the Anchorage Museum Foyer, co-hosted by the Anchorage Sister Cities Commission and the Cook Inlet Historical Society.
After the mayoral presentations, at 7:30 pm Dr. Sophie Forgan, Chairman of Trustees of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, will give the opening symposium lecture,“James Cook from Whitby,” in which she will explore the various themes of the great captain’s formative years and experiences that resonated in his later career and particularly during his three Pacific voyages, including his third voyage to Alaska.
The Friday session will be given over to seven illustrated lectures about Cook and his voyage to the North Pacific and Arctic in 1778. Two introductory lectures are envisaged: the first taking off from Dr. Forgan’s presentation the previous evening to look at the experiences and ideas from the captain’s first two voyages in the South Seas that Cook, and indeed a number of his companions, brought with them to the north. The second will present a fresh look at the third voyage itself and the work and achievements of its commander, particularly in Alaska.
These presentations will be followed bythreepresentations that will explore, with reference to Cook’s voyage (and a nod to the work of some of his contemporaries who sailed in his wake), how the legacy we have received in collections of Native “curiosities”, charts and artwork complemented the journals to reveal to a wider world the coastal region of Alaska, its geography, and its peoples.
The day’s final two lectureswill examineCook’slegacy. We will first gain a perspective of the changes that soon came to dominate the region, from the fur trade and native-visitor encounters to European powers jockeying for imperial advantage, and then trace the results of Britain’s continuing interest in the Northwest Passage from Cook to Franklin, exploring themes that have resonated into our own time from the 19th century, as the search for the elusive passage continued.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Introductory Lecture
Chair: James K. Barnett
President of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
7.30 - 9.00 PM:
Dr. Sophie Forgan
Chairman of Trustees of the Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby
“James Cook from Whitby”
This paper will discuss Cook’s early years: his background - a Scottish father who was undoubtedly literate and respected education, the sort of mathematical and technical training he received in Whitby, the inspirationalnature of the environment in which he lived, ship management in a Quaker dominated town, and the fact that he was a countryman by background and youthful upbringing. This last has particular relevance to his concern with diet, and to the transport of animals on board and transplantation of 'useful plants' to the South Seas. The paper will explore how these elements of character, learning and environment shaped and developed Cook as a commander and explorer over three Pacific voyages.
Friday, June 19, 2015
SESSION ONE
Chair: Dr. Iris Engstrand,
Professor of History, University of San Diego, San Diego, California
9.00 - 9.45 AM:
Dr. Michelle Hetherington
Senior Curator, Australian Society and History program, National Museum of Australia, Canberra
“James Cook: from the South Seas to the North Pacific”
This paper will discussCook’s Pacific voyages, particularly as they related to the South Seas in the context of the Age of Enlightenment and the role of Cook’s companions - officers, scientists and artists– in adding new dimensions to voyages of exploration. The paper will discuss Cook’s experiences of command, exploration and encounters with “other” cultures and peoples that hebrought with him to the North Pacific on his Third Voyage.
9.45 - 10.30 AM
Dr. David Nicandri
Director Emeritus of the Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma
"Intimations of Cook's Mortality and other features of his Third Voyage evident from his earlier voyages"
This paper will trace the progress of Cook’s voyage in the North Pacific and Arctic to take a fresh look at the under-appreciated Third Voyage after his two much-heralded voyages in the South Seas. It will discuss Cook’s substantial achievements in light of the orthodox view that he should never have undertaken what proved to be his final expedition.
SESSION TWO
Chair: Jenya Anichenko
Research Fellow, National Natural History Museum, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, and doctoral candidate at the University of Southampton, Southampton, England
11.00 - 11.45 AM
Dr. Aron Crowell
Alaska Region Director, Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center, Anchorage, Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
“Imagining Alaska in North Pacific America: Native Peoples and their Material Culture”
This paper by one of Alaska’s pre-eminent scholars of indigenous people will describe the peoples encountered by James Cook in North Pacific Alaska, the artifacts collected by the Cook expedition and how these reflected native life and culture in pre-contact Alaska. It will also refer to the collections of some of the other voyages in the same era – before and after Cook - that expanded on the picture of cultural similarity yet diversity across the sweep of the Gulf of Alaska and into the Bering Sea.
11.45 - 12.30 PM
John Robson
Map Librarian, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
“Imagining Alaska in North Pacific America:Cook and Vancouver’s Cartographic Contributions to Alaska and the North Pacific”
This paper will look at the vague and misleading picture of Alaska and the Northwest Coast of America that Cook brought with him to the North Pacific; his remarkable work over the summer of 1778, and how it was achieved; and the extent to which his student George Vancouver and his contemporaries in the1780s and 90s (both fur traders and officer son naval vessels) completed the picture and removed the doubts that the entrance to a passage to the Atlantic might still be found in the temperate latitudes.
Lunch and exhibit visits on your own.
2.00 - 2.45 PM
Robin Inglis
Former Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum and Honorary Research Associate at the Alessandro Malaspina Research Centre, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia.
“Imagining Alaska in North Pacific America - The Visual Record”
This paper will discuss the contribution of Cook’s artists, John Webber and William Ellis, to the image of Alaska and the Northwest Coast and the people they encountered, as their work emerged in the public realm in the 1780s. It will also explain how by the end of the 18th century the works of other artists on both trading and formal naval expeditions expanded the picture of a dramatic coast and home to nations of widely diverse native peoples.
SESSION THREE
Chair: Dr. Sophie Forgan,
Chair, Board of Trustees, Captain Cook Memorial Museum, Whitby
2.45 – 3.30 PM
Dr. Barry Gough
Professor Emeritus of History, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario and Honorary Research Associate, Alessandro Malaspina Research Centre, Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, British Columbia.
"Alaska and the Northwest Coast beyond Cook: Russian, British and American Trade and Encounters"
This paper will discuss what happened in the North Pacific after James Cook had revealed Alaska and the wider Northwest Coast to the outside world. Led by the Russians, already active as far east as the Alaska Peninsula, fur traders arrived in earnest from Europe, Asia and New England, and the Native worlds were changed forever.Exploration and charting continued through to Vancouver's magisterial and definitive survey and then political and commercial empires squared off against each other in a struggle for hegemony that divided the coast between three nations in the 19th century.
3.45 - 4.30 PM
Dr. Ian MacLaren
Professor in the Department of History and Classics, University of Alberta, Edmonton
“Bones of Empire: Imagining Alaska in the North Pacific and Arctic North America”
In 1779 and again in 1847, the bodies of two of the most famous naval explorers that ever served Britain’s Royal Navy disappeared. Their bones have never been retrieved. The eight decades between the death of James Cook and the end of the unsuccessful official search for Sir John Franklin, mark the zenith of British publishing history, for Britain, unlike Spain or Russia, laid claim to territory through publication. During these decades, northern North America underwent intense exploration by the Royal Navy, chiefly by water but also by land. The vast expanse of today’s Alaska, Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut was given form in word and imagethrough publications issued in the names of Cook, Franklin, and those of their colleagues and successors who made new geographical discoveries or searched for the missing expedition. Because they perished on their voyages, the absence of the two most well known explorers in the region left books of exploration as the veritable bones of empire.
Dinner on your own—Museum curator tours of the exhibition will be available.
[For the information of registrants, the Mayor and First Lady of Anchorage and the Centennial Advisory Commission are sponsoring a Centennial Gala this evening at Anchorage’s Dena’ina Center. The Gala is not related to the Symposium and requires separate registration.]
The Anchorage Centennial (1915-2015):
Saturday and Sunday, June 20-21, 2015
Saturday, June 20, 2015
SESSION ONE
Introductory Lecture
Chair: Ayse Gilbert
Treasurer of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
9.00 – 10.00 AM:
Bill Bittner, Esq.
Long time local resident and attorney
“Growing Up in Anchorage”
Explanation
SESSION TWO
9.00 – 10.00 AM:
Complimentary Coffee and Tea Service
10.30 AM – 12.00 PM:
Chair: Judy Bittner Vice President of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Alaska State Historic Preservation Officer
Jack Roderick, Tom Fink and Rick Mystrom
Former Mayors of Anchorage
“Coffee with the Mayors”
Explanation
SESSION THREE
12.00 – 1.30 PM (includes buffet lunch):
Chair: Museum Representative
Member of the Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Senior Alaska Gallery Curator, Anchorage Museum
Participant names
Participant titles
“Title”
Explanation
SESSION FOUR—two Optional Break Out Panels
1.30 – 3.00 PM:
Panel One
Chair: Ian Hartman
Member of the Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Assistant Professor of History, University of Alaska Anchorage
Jim Blasingame, Former Vice President, Alaska Railroad and Member of the Board
of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Steve Haycox, Emeritus Professor of History, University of Alaska Anchorage
and former member, Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Aaron Leggett, Associate Alaska Gallery Curator, Anchorage Museumand Member
of the Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Vic Fisher, Author, Statesman, former Member of the Alaska Constitutional Convention
and former member, Alaska State Senate
“Envisioning Early Anchorage: from Fish Camps to Fourth Avenue”
Explanation
Panel Two
Chair: Ayse Gilbert
Treasurerand Member of the Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Sherri Buretta, Chairman of the Board, Chugach Alaska Corporation and
Treasurer and Member of the Board, Tatitlek Corporation
Eleanor Andrews, President/CEO of the Andrews Group, and former Alaska
Commissioner of Administration
Archana Mishra, Director of the Live Work Play program, Anchorage Economic
Development Corporation
Neil Fried, Economist, StateofAlaska,DepartmentofLaborWorkforceDevelopment
“The 61st Parallel in the 21st Century: A Modern and Diverse Community”
Explanation
SESSION FIVE
3.00 – 4.30 PM:
Chair: James K. Barnett
President of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
Mr. Charles Wohlforth
Lifelong Resident, Historian and Author, "From the Shores of Ship Creek: Stories of Anchorage's First 100 Years," the Centennial legacy publication.
“Searching for the Heart of Anchorage: Reflections on Writing the
Centennial History”
Local author Charles Wohlforth took a novel approach to the challenge of capturing Anchorage in an official centennial history: he focused on profiles of individuals and how their personal stories reflected their times. The resultisFrom the Shores of Ship Creek: Stories from Anchorage's First 100 Years. In today's talk, illustrated with scores of photographs from the book, Wohlforth describes the process of finding something essential about each period of the city's life through the lives of emblematic residents. After 100 years, what is the true identity of Anchorage?
Dinner on your own—Museum curator tours will be available.
[For the information of registrants, Anchorage and the Centennial Advisory Commission are sponsoring a Centennial Solstice Concert this evening from 6-10 pm at the Alaska Railroad Depot—free and open to the public.]
Sunday, June 21, 2015
21st Annual John Bagoy Memorial Cemetery Tour
John Bagoy Gate and Cordova Streets, Downtown Anchorage
7.00 - 8.30 PM
Presented by Audrey and Bruce Kelly
Members of the Board of Directors of the Cook Inlet Historical Society
“From Unruly Boom Town to All-American City”
This years guided walking tour in the downtown cemetery will feature graveside presentations of ten prominent local leaders whose historic adventuressignificantly shaped the transformation of Anchorage from an unrulyboomtown toan All-American city. These men and women who settled in the Cook Inlet area, some before the tent city was established at Ship Creek, left a legacy still visible today. We will discuss a variety of notable early business people, politicians, miners, bankers and Native leaders whose histories provide insight into the early days and the development of Anchorage.
Imagining Anchorage Symposium Program
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