100 Years Ago
Not all “100 Years Ago Today…” posts mark moments of fancy.
Here is a more sobering one.One hundred years ago today, December 17, 1925, an official charter for Mount Juneau Klan No. 2 was finalized in Juneau. Thirteen individuals had enrolled earlier, on September 13, committing themselves to defined roles within the organization. By mid-December, the charter had its requirements met and was formally witnessed and notarized in Alaska.
The notarization was carried out by J. A. Bracewell of Texas, who told local newspapers he was in Alaska on a “business trip.” The co-signer was Douglas Mead, a man locally recognized at the time as the “First White Child of Douglas.”
Those familiar with, or who deeply get into, Alaska’s early territorial history may recognize several of the names on the charter. They include mayors of Douglas, a U.S. Deputy Marshal, Juneau and Douglas city councilmen, the territory’s first auditor, individuals who ran for territorial office and worked with our States early legislature, as well as well-known community leaders and businessmen of the era.
The subject of the Ku Klux Klan in Juneau is one that has long remained largely unexamined and after the information journey we've been on, it's time to start bringing some of this to light. As Mac Metcalfe wrote in 2009, “As far as I know the Klan’s presence in Juneau has always remained in the back alleys of Juneau’s collective memory.” The charter itself, however, is very real, and the documentary record survives.
After hours in the newspaper archives and searching for pieces high and low; The first edition of our research paper examining this history is now available: ALASKKKA - The Invisible Empire in the Last Frontier: A Look into the 1920s Klan of the North
The Northern Lights have seen Queer sights but the Queerest they ever did see Was on the marge of lake LeBarge, where I cremated sam McGee.
