Class of 2010
1928 – 2009
Achievement in: Civil Rights
As a teenager, Alberta Schenck knew segregation was wrong and she set out to do something about it. After being removed from a segregated movie theater in Nome, she was jailed because the theater’s policies forbade Natives and ‘half-breeds’ from sitting with whites. She subsequently spoke out in an historical essay that appeared in the Nome Nugget in 1944 and she followed up by writing to elected officials expressing the sentiment that was echoed later in the civil rights movement of the 1950s: “I only truthfully know that I am one of God’s children regardless of race, color or creed.” She directly helped to bring about the Alaska Civil Rights Act passed by the Territorial Legislature 10 years before the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision.
Much of Alberta’s advocacy was linked to her family, in particular her Aunt Frances Longley and Frances’ partner, Territorial Senator O.D. Cochran, their children, and friend, Ernest Gruening. Alberta’s unique family relationships allowed her to share her ideas with people directly involved in voting on the Alaska Civil Rights Act. Alberta’s aunt was a member of the Arctic Native Sisterhood in Nome which provided the connection with Roy and Elizabeth Peratrovich. Alberta was able to provide crucial testimony from Northwestern Alaska that directly contributed to the passage of the Anti-Discrimination Bill.
Throughout her life Alberta Daisy Schenck Adams believed it is not possible to hold moral norms without practical compassion for the very people to whom Truth is spoken with love, even if they disagree.
1912 – 1973
Achievement in: Political Activism
Alice was best known for her work to pass the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act and her commitment to improving conditions in rural and urban health, education, human rights and subsistence issues. As a member of the first Alaska Federation of Natives Board of Directors, Chairman of the Board for the Alaskan Native Political Education Committee and a member of the rural Affairs Commission to name a few, Alice fought tirelessly for the rights of Alaskan Natives during a pivotal time in Alaskan history. She championed the causes of all people who were disadvantaged or disenfranchised through her work with humanitarian causes like the Hope Cottage, Jesse Lee Home and she was honored to be selected to attend the United Nations conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972.
Alice worked tirelessly promoting civic responsibility and with courageous tenacity helped build consensus on many important issues of her day. Her work on the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act helped shape the course of Alaskan history. As noted in the Alaska Senate resolution honoring her in 1973 – “her life and her devotion to her fellow Alaskans will long stand as an example to those who may follow in her footsteps.”
As the only woman on the original Board of Directors of the Alaska Federation of Natives and the only woman on the many committees, boards and commissions she served on, she became a role model for Native and non-Native women alike. She exemplifies what a powerful role women have in shaping the direction of future generations. With her actions she paved the way for many other dedicated women leaders and activists.
Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Tlingit name is Keixwnéi )
1927 -
Achievement in: Literature
Nora Marks Dauenhauer has devoted her life to studying, translating, and writing books about the Tlingit language and Tlingit oral history. She is internationally recognized for her fieldwork, transcription, translation, and explication of Tlingit stories and literature. She has also written numerous poems and plays. She served as Principal Researcher, Language and Cultural Studies, at the Sealaska Heritage Foundation for fourteen years, and has written ten books and many articles about Tlingit language. She has taught generations of Tlingit people about their language, their stories and their culture.
She is married to Richard Dauenhauer, writer and linguist, with whom she has co-authored and co-edited several editions of Tlingit language and folklore material. Nora has 4 children, 12 grandchildren, and 12 great grandchildren and is semi-retired, but she continues with research, writing, consulting, and volunteer work with schools and community.
1938 -
Achievement in: Politics
When she retired as a Social Worker in 1986, Bettye Davis moved on to a second career in government. She served as a member of the Anchorage School Board from 1982-1989, and 1998-1999. She was a State Representative from 1990-1996, Chair of the State Board of Education from 1998-1999, and then became the first African-American to be elected as a State Senator in 2000. Born in Homer, Louisiana, she obtained a certificate in nursing in 1961 and a Bachelor of Social Work in 1972. She moved to Anchorage in 1973. She is a member of many organizations, including the Alaska Black Leadership Conference, Church Women United, Common Ground, NAACP, League of Women Voters, the Delta Sigma Theta, and the Zonta Club of Anchorage. She has served on numerous legislative committees, including serving as the Vice Chair of the Education Committee and the Chair of the Health, Education and Social Services Committee. The numerous bills she has sponsored show her concern for these areas. She is also a member of the Senate Bipartisan Working Group and sponsor of Senate Bill 69 which calls for the reinstatement of the Commission on the Status of Women. “Alaska with its unique culture, history, and challenges combined with its large size and small population, calls for innovative forward thinking to deal with many of the difficult issues facing Alaskan women and their families. The creation of a Commission on the Status of Women will once again focus the attention of Alaskans on these critical issues.”
1909 – 1998
Achievement in: Business and Politics
Hazel Heath will long be remembered as the founder of the Pratt Museum, the first woman president of the Alaska Municipal League, and, with her husband Ken, the first owners of Alaska Wild Berry Products, which began in Homer, Alaska. They also owned a café, and an art shop and gallery in Homer. She was committed to Alaska politics and served many years as the Mayor of Homer. She was a National Republican delegate many times, and was a member of numerous federal, state and local boards and commissions, including the University of Alaska, local and state chambers of commerce, local and state museum boards, and state and national senior citizens advisory boards. In 1977, she received the Homer Chamber of Commerce Citizen of the Year award and in 1989 Meritorious Service Award from the University of Alaska. Hazel’s pioneering role in local and state government paved the way for many other women to get involved in politics. She possessed an acute doggedness when undertaking something that would make life in Homer and Alaska better for herself and others.
1940 -
Achievement in: Education
Shirley Holloway is best known for establishing the Quality Schools Initiative, calling for high expectations for all students in Alaska and proving that all students, no matter their social, economic or ethnic background, can be academically successful. Holloway has been recognized as a woman breaking the glass ceiling to become one of the first female superintendents (North Slope Borough School District), the first female National finalist for Superintendent of the Year, and the first female Commissioner of Education in Alaska. Shirley holds a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership from Gonzaga University, has published and presented numerous papers, and served on many boards and commissions. In 2005, she founded the Avant-Garde Learning Foundation, a non-profit foundation that helps communities, families and schools prepare young people for bright, successful futures. She has actively reached out to girls and women to help them, through mentoring and support, to achieve their desired goals. Today, many educational leaders in Alaska and Outside attribute their success to her inspiration and effective influence. Her guiding philosophy is Children Come First.
Marlene Johnson (Tlingit name: Slath Jaa Klaa Lákooti)
1935 -
Achievement in: Public Service
Marlene Johnson has worked at the community, regional, state and federal levels to advance Alaska Native social and economic progress and has provided public service to promote quality education and access to health and legal services across Alaska. She participated in the fight for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) and was one of 5 original incorporators of Sealaska . She led that corporation as the Chairman of the Board for its first decade. Marlene also served on the Hoonah School Board for 25 years and on the Board of Trustees of Huna Heritage Foundation and the Sealaska Heritage Institute. On a statewide basis, Marlene led the fight against rural poverty through her service on the RuralCAP Board of Directors – including 10 years as the president. She has also served on the Board of Regents of the University of Alaska, the Board of Alaska Legal Services and numerous state boards and commissions. Nationally, Marlene has served as an Advisory Committee member to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and also participated in numerous pieces of federal legislation such as the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA).
Marlene has received the Alaska Democratic Party’s Lifetime Achievement Award, the Alaska Federation of Natives Citizen of the Year Award and Outstanding Women of America Award. She and her husband, Clifford, have five children and thirteen grandchildren.
1943 -
Achievement in: Politics
Georgianna Lincoln was born in Rampart, Alaska, and moved to Fairbanks as a young woman. She worked to secure Alaska Native land claims in the ‘70s, developed health and education programs in her region in the ‘80s, and shaped Alaska public policy in the Alaska State Senate in the ‘90s. In 2010, she leads Doyon Corporation and its subsidiaries as the Chairman of the Board, a board on which she has served for 33 years.
Senator Lincoln is Athabaskan and served in the Alaska legislature for 14 years. She is the first, and as of this writing, the only Native woman who has been elected to the Alaska State Senate, where she championed issues of women and children as well as natural resource management. In 1996, she was the first Native woman to be a candidate for the US Congress from Alaska, and she has served as a mentor for women across the state within and outside of the Native community. Georgianna also worked as the Executive Director of the Fairbanks Native Association and as a Director at Tanana Chiefs Conference. She believes that her most significant achievement has been to raise two self-actualized children, who are nurturing her eight curious and joyful grandchildren in Alaska.
1931 -
Achievement in: Health, Native issues
Best known as a former member of the Sealaska Board of Directors, Ethel was one of the original founders of this Native Corporation that is “committed to the advocacy.” She also had the stick-to-itiveness to help found the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consortium (SEARHC) and is actively involved as SEARHC president emeritus. She led a Native Health organization for a quarter of a century. Recognizing Ethel’s significant years of dedicated work in the area of health, she was appointed by President Carter to represent Alaska Natives on the President’s Commission on Mental Health where she spoke on “Alaska Health Needs” for the World Health Organization, International Symposium on Circumpolar Health in Copenhagen, Denmark. Those who know her say not to let Ethel’s quiet demeanor fool you: she is very capable of asking the tough questions. It is this quiet power and her numerous achievements that lead other Alaska Native women to hold her in high esteem, as evidenced by the positions she has held with the Alaska Native Sisterhood.
1920 -
Achievement in: Community Activism
A city girl from Chicago, Marge walked 65 miles through the wilderness to stake a homestead on Soldotna Creek near the Kenai River. She is the first woman to live in Soldotna under the Homestead Act in1947. As a young wife and mother making her home in a log cabin on Soldotna Creek in 1947, Marge learned many skills she never dreamed of as a child in Chicago. Living without a grocery store meant that she would have to learn to hunt, catch, grow and preserve the family food
Inspired by the first Earth Day, Marge organized the first roadside litter pickup in 1970. She also served as a member and chair of the local planning commission. With her hiking “buddies” (most of who were male), Marge organized the Kenai Peninsula Conservation Society and served a term as its president in the 1980s.
Today, Marge is unofficial historian for Soldotna. She has archived over 1000 photos at Kenai Peninsula College. She chairs the local historical society and coordinates activities at the town’s Homestead Museum. She brings a digital slide show, a charming wit and her vast knowledge of the early days to the local speaker circuit.
Marge, now in her ninetieth year, still takes a brisk walk daily and is a continuing inspiration for generations of local women as she actively maintains her health and her connections with her family and community. Marge continues to reside in the community she helped to build and where she raised her four children.
1936 -
Achievement in: Environmentalism
Helen was raised in Pennsylvania, received a BA degree from Brown University (Pembroke College) and a MPA from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. She first visited Alaska for a summer job in 1957 and moved permanently to Alaska in 1959, homesteading in Eagle River. She has been a significant player in shaping Alaska. In 1970, she organized a successful statewide grassroots movement to reform Alaska’s abortion law. In 1971, Helen helped establish the Alaska Center for the Environment and served as volunteer staff and board member. As a planner at the Department of Natural Resources, Helen developed procedures for state land selections and land use planning. She has long served as a trustee, including chair, of the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Helen chaired the Governor’s TRAAK Board and has served on the Municipality of Anchorage’s Parks and Recreation Commission. Helen is credited with the creation of the Cuddy Family Midtown Park for her advocacy over twenty-five years.
Helen is undoubtedly best known as the co-author of the pioneering hiking book 55 Ways to the Wilderness in Southcentral Alaska. Now in its fifth edition, this book set the standard for Alaska hiking guides. She received many awards, including those from the Governor, Legislature, Department of Natural Resources, Mayor, Municipality of Anchorage, YWCA (Woman of Achievement) and Mountaineering Club of Alaska. Helen’s commitment to founding and then doing the hard work of our environmental, park and community organizations has made Alaska’s lands, trails and communities all better places.
1929 -
Achievement in: Education
A Fairbanks resident for the past 57 years, Jo Ryman Scott is known as a passionate educator and advocate of the Arts. She has received numerous awards for her contributions in these areas, including two Governors Awards for the Arts and an honorary Doctorate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. She began her teaching career 63 years ago in a little country school near Aberdeen, South Dakota. Three years later, she left to attend college at San Jose State. After graduating in 1953, she accepted a teaching position in Fairbanks. In addition to teaching in the public school system, she founded the first educational pre-school there in 1962 and started a junior high school fine arts camp in 1976. In 1980, she realized a dream by establishing a study-performance arts festival in Fairbanks known as the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival. Jo retired last summer after producing the 30th season. She and her husband, Dick, were married in 1954 and have three children.
Mary Taylor “Tay” Pryor Thomas
1927 -
Achievement in: Journalism
Telling the story of life in Alaska, Tay Thomas is the author of eight books, including Free from Fear and An Angel on His Wing, and of many articles appearing in such magazines as National Geographic. In addition, she is a founder of F.I.S.H. (Fellowship in Serving Humanity), a food distribution agency.
A community and church activist, Tay is also a philanthropist, contributing monetarily and through personal service to St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, YWCA Anchorage, Alaska Conservation Society, and Alaska Pacific University. A role model for women and girls, she is known for her generosity of spirit and willingness to help others, as well as her dedication and loyalty to the people in her life and to enterprises that appeal to her values. Tay’s calmness, perhaps shaped by events of the 1964 earthquake that she wrote about in Free from Fear and her ability to mediate differences within contentious situations, make her a rock in whatever situation confronts her.
Tay married Lowell Thomas, Jr. in 1950 and they and their two children moved to Alaska in 1960. She served two terms on the Anchorage School Board from 1968 to 1974. Her husband became Lt. Governor of Alaska in 1975 serving one four-year term.
Achievement in: Conservation
1931 -
Peg was raised in Indiana, graduated from Earlham College and has participated in continuing education at the University of Alaska Anchorage.
Ever since Peg’s arrival in Alaska in 1972, whenever an important conservation or community issue has arisen, she has become involved by helping to establish the needed organization and then serving as a volunteer, director, chair or advisor. Such organizations include: Alaska Common Ground; Trustees for Alaska; Alaska Center for the Environment; Alaska Women’s Environmental Network and the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Additionally, she has served on a variety of boards such as: Chugach Electric Association, Anchorage Parks and Recreation Council, Alaska Conservation Voters, Commonwealth North Permanent Fund Study Group, and the Anchorage Recycling Task Force. Peg has been appointed to several gubernatorial advisory committees.
Major awards received include Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement; YWCA Woman of Achievement; Who’s Who of American Women, and in May 2009 an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from UAA. Additionally, in recognition of Peg’s and her husband’s (Jules) contributions, the Alaska Conservation Alliance and the Resource Development Council jointly created the “Tileston Award” to honor environmentally responsible resource development.
Perhaps Peg’s greatest and most enduring influence will prove to be her role as a mentor to young women leaders: she identifies a promising leader, mentors her to a professional path and then treats her as a colleague.
Elizabeth “Betsy” Ann Tower, M.D.
1926 – 2010
Achievement in: Health Care
Dr. Elizabeth (Betsy) Tower graduated from medical school in 1951 and moved to Anchorage in 1954. She worked for 25 years for the Alaska Division of Public Health. As a public health physician, Dr. Tower directed a major program to combat hepatitis. During her early years in Anchorage she set up an office in her home to attend to the medical needs of prostitutes.
After retiring in 1986, she began researching and writing about prominent people in Alaska’s history including biographies of Sheldon Jackson, Austin E. “Cap” Lathrop and William Egan. Her work has provided other authors, such as Edna Ferber and Rex Beach, with back stories and inspiration for some of the colorful, real-life personalities appearing in their fiction. She has also written a guide to skiing in Alaska, several prize-winning magazine articles, a book, Icebound Empire, a history of the Kennecott Copper Company that earned her the award Historian of the Year from the Alaska Historical Society in 1996. While raising three children who have all settled in Alaska she led an active professional career and traveled widely in the Bush. She is past president of the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage and an active member of the Cook Inlet Historical Society. She holds a pilot’s license and is a talented artist.
Achievement in: Conservation
1917-
Ginny landed (literally) in Alaska on New Year’s Day, 1947, by ferrying a plane to Fairbanks. During WW II she ferried military planes hroughout the country as a member of the WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots).
In 1952, she co-founded Camp Denali, initiating eco-tourism in Alaska, with her husband, Morton Wood, and friend, Celia Hunter and operated it until 1975. In 1960 she helped organize the Alaska Conservation Society in Fairbanks to present an authentic Alaskan voice on conservation issues. Ginny was heavily involved in the D-2 land selections and in campaigns to stop Project Chariot and the Rampart Dam.
Ginny’s written and spoken testimony at the local, state and national levels contributed to the creation of the Alaska National Wildlife Range now Refuge) and the on-going efforts to protect it from drilling. She helped found the Northern Alaska Environmental Center and was its long-time newsletter columnist.
Major honors received: the Sierra Club’s John Muir Award, 1991 and the Alaska Conservation Foundation’s Lifetime Achievement Award, 2001.
Ginny has been a committed, persistent, eloquent voice for conservation values and environmental issues. In 2001, Former Governor Jay Hammond called her (and Celia) “the grand dames of the environmental movement”. She has inspired legions of young women seeking a home in Alaska through her independent lifestyle and advocacy for conservation values.