Elizabeth Peratrovich

A Timeline of Elizabeth's Life and Work:

(written by Richard F. Weingroff, US DOT Highway History)

• 1911 - Elizabeth Peratrovich was born on July 4, in Petersburg, Alaska, as a member of the Lukaax.ádi clan in the Raven moiety of the Tlingit nation and with the Tlingit name of Kaaxgal.aat.
• Early in her life Elizabeth was adopted by Andrew and Mary Wanamaker. She spoke both Tlingit and English. Elizabeth grew up poor while experiencing discrimination by the territory's white residents, as reflected in the common signs of that era: "No Natives Allowed," "No Dogs, No Natives," "We cater to white trade only."
  Indigenous Alaskans were restricted in where they could live, which hospitals would accept them and which restaurants or theaters they could enter. They could send their children only to Indian schools. Elizabeth was able to attend Ketichikan High School, which had been integrated as a result of a lawsuit filed by a Tlingit leader. She then attended Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka and the Western College of Education in Bellingham, Washington
• 1933 - Elizabeth married Roy Peratrovich, who was also Tlingit.
• 1941 - Elizabeth and Roy moved to Juneau. Roy was leader of the Alaska Native Brotherhood; Elizabeth was grand president of the Alaska Native Sisterhood. One day late that year, they spotted a "No Natives Allowed" sign on the door of the Douglas Inn across the channel from Juneau. With the United States having just entered World War II, they were outraged by this sign of discrimination. They wrote to Governor Ernest H. Gruening.
  "The proprietor of Douglas Inn does not seem to realize that our Native boys are just as willing as the white boys to lay down their lives to protect the freedom that he enjoys." The sign, they said, was "an outrage."
  That letter was the start of Elizabeth's campaign, with the support of Governor Gruening, to pass an anti-discrimination bill through the Territorial Legislature.
• 1943 - The anti-discrimination bill failed in the House by a tie vote. Despite this disappointment, Elizabeth and her husband traveled around the State urging Native Americans to join their fight for justice.
• 1945 - the House, which now included two indigenous people, passed the bill, which went to the Senate where it had enough votes to pass. However, one opponent, Senator Allen Shattuck, asked, "Who are these people, barely out of savagery, who want to associate with us whites with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind us?"
  During the public comment period, Elizabeth, who always knitted while attending legislative sessions, put down her needles to speak:
  "I would not have expected that I, who am barely out of savagery, would have to remind the gentlemen with 5,000 years of recorded civilization behind them of our Bill of Rights."
  After she described the restrictions her family faced, the senator asked if she thought the bill would end discrimination. She replied:
  "Do your laws against larceny and even murder prevent those crimes? No law will eliminate crimes but at least you as legislators can assert to the world that you recognize the evil of the present situation and speak your intent to help us overcome discrimination."
  The gallery broke out in loud applause. On February 16, 1945, Governor Gruening approved the country's first anti-discrimination law.
• 1958 - Elizabeth died of breast cancer, at the age of 47, on December 1st.
• 1989 - February 16 was established as "The Annual Elizabeth Peratrovich Day." As one account explained, "Every year since that day, Alaskans pause to remember her, dedicating themselves to the continuation of her efforts, to achieving equality and justice for all Alaskans of every race, creed, and ethnic background." The Alaska House of Representatives named a gallery in her honor, while a bronze bust was placed in the lobby of the State Capitol.

Read more about Elizabeth on her Wikipedia Entry