The Sheldon Jackson School shortly after the current buildings were constructed in 1911. Photo by E. W. Merrill, collection Rebecca Poulson.
A Chronology of Sheldon Jackson School and College
By Rebecca Poulson
Founded in 1878, Sitka’s Sheldon Jackson College was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska when it closed abruptly in 2007. The windows were boarded up, and the already neglected buildings remained unheated and empty as the college board of trustees struggled to address a massive debt. Then, in 2011, the core campus was turned over to Alaska Arts Southeast and its Fine Arts Camp, who are restoring the physical campus, and filling it with arts and cultural education programs. Along with the physical campus, the Fine Arts Camp soon found they had inherited a deep and complicated history. In addition to the strife surrounding its closure, Sheldon Jackson has a legacy as a Presbyterian mission school of repressing Native language and culture. In spite of this purpose, many staff and graduates of the high school and the college have strong affection for this place. The relationships of graduates to the school and the impact of the school on the lives of both students and staff add to our understanding of Alaska Native experiences in the 20th century.
This chronology is a start at shedding light on some of the apparent contrasts and contradictions in the school’s history. The early history of the school is especially relevant because Alaska today is the product of the the power struggles of this crucial era, and the legacy of Sheldon Jackson and his mission.
I’ve tried to footnote information that’s not widely documented. Just about everything about the school from the mid-1920s to the early 1980s comes from Les Yaw’s memoir 60 Years in Sitka.
Founded in 1878, Sitka’s Sheldon Jackson College was the oldest institution of higher learning in Alaska when it closed abruptly in 2007. The windows were boarded up, and the already neglected buildings remained unheated and empty as the college board of trustees struggled to address a massive debt. Then, in 2011, the core campus was turned over to Alaska Arts Southeast and its Fine Arts Camp, who are restoring the physical campus, and filling it with arts and cultural education programs. Along with the physical campus, the Fine Arts Camp soon found they had inherited a deep and complicated history. In addition to the strife surrounding its closure, Sheldon Jackson has a legacy as a Presbyterian mission school of repressing Native language and culture. In spite of this purpose, many staff and graduates of the high school and the college have strong affection for this place. The relationships of graduates to the school and the impact of the school on the lives of both students and staff add to our understanding of Alaska Native experiences in the 20th century.
This chronology is a start at shedding light on some of the apparent contrasts and contradictions in the school’s history. The early history of the school is especially relevant because Alaska today is the product of the the power struggles of this crucial era, and the legacy of Sheldon Jackson and his mission.
I’ve tried to footnote information that’s not widely documented. Just about everything about the school from the mid-1920s to the early 1980s comes from Les Yaw’s memoir 60 Years in Sitka.
Origins of the Mission
The High School 1917-1967
The College and After
Selected Sources
Armstrong, Neal A. “Sheldon Jackson Scenes: A Documentary History of Sheldon Jackson Junior College, 1878-1967.” MS Thesis, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1967.
Beck, Mary Giraudo. Ka.Gun.Da: George James Beck, Alaskan Pioneer Teacher, Missionary, Leader. Ketchikan, Alaska: Rocky Point Publishing, 1999.
Bovee, Dr. Charles. “SJ Historical Summary,” Draft. Unpublished manuscript, author’s collection, 2012.
Brady, Carol Feller. Through the Storm Towards the Sun. Bloomington, Indiana: Author House, 2006.
Crittenden, Edwin B. The Architecture of the Sheldon Jackson College Campus 1887-1990. Sitka, Alaska: Sheldon Jackson College Press, 1991.
Clemens, Janet, Chris Allan, Linda Cook, Heidi Siegel, and Amanda Zeman, edited by Patty Henry. Nomination for Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark, Sitka, Alaska. National Register Number 72000193, designated August 7 2001.
The Daily Sitka Sentinel newspaper, Sitka, Alaska
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks and Richard Dauenhauer, eds. Haa Kusteeyi, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories, Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature, Volume 3. Seattle: University of Washington Press; Juneau, Alaska: Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1994.
Goldschmidt, Walter R. and Theodore H. Haas. Haa Aani, Our Land. Edited and Introduction by Thomas F. Thornton. Seattle: University of Washington Press and Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1998.
Hinckley, Ted C. Hinckley. Alaskan John G. Brady: Missionary, Businessman, Judge and Governor, 1878-1918. Miami, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1982.
Kan, Sergei. Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Mayberry, Genevieve. Sheldon Jackson Junior College: An Intimate History. New York: Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1953.
Mitchell, Donald Craig. Sold American: The Story of Alaska Natives and Their Land, 1867-1959. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 2003.
Munro, Neil. “A Personal Evaluation of Mission in Alaska and Yukon Presbyteries” at http://www.yukonpresbytery.com/history/Interviews/munromemories.htm, 1994. Retrieved March 2013.
Raibmon, Paige. Authentic Indians: Episodes of Encounter from the Late-Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005.
Yaw, W. Leslie. Sixty Years in Sitka. Sitka, Alaska: Sheldon Jackson College Press, 1985.
Before the Transfer to the United States history:
Arndt, Katherine L. and Richard A. Pierce. A Construction History of Sitka, Alaska, as Documented in the Records of the Russian-American Company. Sitka, Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park, National Park Service, 2003.
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks Richard Dauenhauer, and Lydia T. Black, editors. Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká / Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 and 1804. Seattle and London: University of Alaska Press and Juneau, Alaska: Sealaska Heritage Institute, 2008.
Grinev, Andrei Val’terovich. The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741-1867. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
Thornton, Thomas F., ed. Haa Léelk’w Hás Aaní Saax’ú: Our Grandparents’ Names on the Land. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012.
Vinkovetski, Ilya. Russian America: An Overseas Colony of a Continental Empire, 1801-1867. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
Armstrong, Neal A. “Sheldon Jackson Scenes: A Documentary History of Sheldon Jackson Junior College, 1878-1967.” MS Thesis, George Peabody College for Teachers, 1967.
Beck, Mary Giraudo. Ka.Gun.Da: George James Beck, Alaskan Pioneer Teacher, Missionary, Leader. Ketchikan, Alaska: Rocky Point Publishing, 1999.
Bovee, Dr. Charles. “SJ Historical Summary,” Draft. Unpublished manuscript, author’s collection, 2012.
Brady, Carol Feller. Through the Storm Towards the Sun. Bloomington, Indiana: Author House, 2006.
Crittenden, Edwin B. The Architecture of the Sheldon Jackson College Campus 1887-1990. Sitka, Alaska: Sheldon Jackson College Press, 1991.
Clemens, Janet, Chris Allan, Linda Cook, Heidi Siegel, and Amanda Zeman, edited by Patty Henry. Nomination for Sheldon Jackson School National Historic Landmark, Sitka, Alaska. National Register Number 72000193, designated August 7 2001.
The Daily Sitka Sentinel newspaper, Sitka, Alaska
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks and Richard Dauenhauer, eds. Haa Kusteeyi, Our Culture: Tlingit Life Stories, Classics of Tlingit Oral Literature, Volume 3. Seattle: University of Washington Press; Juneau, Alaska: Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1994.
Goldschmidt, Walter R. and Theodore H. Haas. Haa Aani, Our Land. Edited and Introduction by Thomas F. Thornton. Seattle: University of Washington Press and Sealaska Heritage Foundation, 1998.
Hinckley, Ted C. Hinckley. Alaskan John G. Brady: Missionary, Businessman, Judge and Governor, 1878-1918. Miami, Ohio: Ohio State University Press, 1982.
Kan, Sergei. Memory Eternal: Tlingit Culture and Russian Orthodox Christianity through Two Centuries. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 1999.
Mayberry, Genevieve. Sheldon Jackson Junior College: An Intimate History. New York: Board of National Missions of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1953.
Mitchell, Donald Craig. Sold American: The Story of Alaska Natives and Their Land, 1867-1959. Fairbanks, Alaska: University of Alaska Press, 2003.
Munro, Neil. “A Personal Evaluation of Mission in Alaska and Yukon Presbyteries” at http://www.yukonpresbytery.com/history/Interviews/munromemories.htm, 1994. Retrieved March 2013.
Raibmon, Paige. Authentic Indians: Episodes of Encounter from the Late-Nineteenth-Century Northwest Coast. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2005.
Yaw, W. Leslie. Sixty Years in Sitka. Sitka, Alaska: Sheldon Jackson College Press, 1985.
Before the Transfer to the United States history:
Arndt, Katherine L. and Richard A. Pierce. A Construction History of Sitka, Alaska, as Documented in the Records of the Russian-American Company. Sitka, Alaska: Sitka National Historical Park, National Park Service, 2003.
Dauenhauer, Nora Marks Richard Dauenhauer, and Lydia T. Black, editors. Anóoshi Lingít Aaní Ká / Russians in Tlingit America: The Battles of Sitka, 1802 and 1804. Seattle and London: University of Alaska Press and Juneau, Alaska: Sealaska Heritage Institute, 2008.
Grinev, Andrei Val’terovich. The Tlingit Indians in Russian America, 1741-1867. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 2005.
Thornton, Thomas F., ed. Haa Léelk’w Hás Aaní Saax’ú: Our Grandparents’ Names on the Land. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2012.
Vinkovetski, Ilya. Russian America: An Overseas Colony of a Continental Empire, 1801-1867. New York: Oxford University Press, 2011.
