Today’s episode of The Empty Office Podcast features a conversation about the history of the Fairview area of Anchorage with noted Alaska historian David Reamer. The conversation touches on the history of housing discrimination in Anchorage and the Black migration to Alaska in the years following World War II.
In 2022, David Reamer co-authored the award-winning book “Black Lives in Alaska: A History of African Americans in the Far Northwest.” It examines the often untold story of how Black people made a home for themselves in the northwesternmost corner of the country.
Many Alaskans know David Reamer from the weekly column he writes for the Anchorage Daily News entitled “Histories of Alaska.” Reamer is a graduate of the Univesity of Alaska and his academic focus is the intersections of social justice, history, and community construction.
You can learn more about the journey of Black people in Alaska by visiting the Anchorage Museum’s online exhibition entitled “Black Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy.” The exhibit features archival photographs and the untold personal stories of people who have lived the Black experience in Alaska.
Information about legendary territorial journalist E.J. “Stroller” While is available through the Library of Congress and in a story published in 2023 in the Juneau Empire titled “Rooted in Community: Stroller White – a man and a mountain.”
The music for this episode is the song “I’m Gonna Move Right In” by the Velvet Underground.
