Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

The Alaska Women's Hall of Fame (AWHF) recognizes women natives or residents of the U.S. state of Alaska for their significant achievements or statewide contributions. It was conceived by the board of directors of the Alaska Women's Network (AWN) in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Alaska's statehood. The large inaugural class of fifty women were inducted weeks after that anniversary, on March 6, 2009, with subsequent classes inducted every year since. As of the class of 2015, 135 women and one organization, the Sisters of Providence,^[1] have been honored.^[2] The principal organizations involved with the AWHF are the Zonta Club of Anchorage, the YWCA, Alaska Women for Political Action, the Anchorage Women's Commission, the University of Alaska Anchorage, Alaska Women's Network and the ATHENA Society.^[3]

Inductees

Alaska Women's Hall of Fame

Name	Image	Birth and death years	Class year	Area of achievement
Audrey Aanes		1944 –	2012	Advocate for the physically disabled[4]
Elaine Abraham		1929 – 2016	2011	First registered nurse from the Tlingit people.[5]
Alberta Daisy Schenck Adams		1928 – 2009	2010	Civil rights activist of the Iñupiat, whose 1944 challenge of Alaska's segregation policies was a factor in the passage of Alaska's 1945 Anti-Discrimination Bill.[6]
Annie Aghnaqa (Akeya) Alowa		1924–1998	2016	Yupik Alaskan environmental activist, healer, and leader in health and justice advocacy for indigenous peoples.[7]
Eleanor Andrews		1944 –	2014	Civic entrepreneur[8]
Changunak Antisarlook Andrewuk (Sinrock Mary)		1870 – 1948	2009	Of Iñupiaq and Russian ancestry, known as the Queen of the Reindeer, became the owner of the largest reindeer herd in Alaska after challenging Alaska's laws that disqualified women from owning property[9]
Jane Ruth Angvik		1948 –	2014	Former Anchorage Assemblywoman and member of the Anchorage Charter Commission[8]
Evangeline Atwood		1906 – 1987	2009	Author, historian, president of Alaska Statehood Association.[10] Wife of Robert Atwood and sister of Elmer E. Rasmuson.
Arne (Buckley) Beltz		1917 – 2013	2013	Public health nurse.[11] Second wife of Bill Beltz, the first president of the Alaska Senate following statehood. The building housing the Anchorage municipal health department (the original location of what is now Alaska Regional Hospital) is named for her.
Laura Mae (Beltz) Bergt		1940 – 1984	2015	Activist who pushed for the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act.[12]
Gretchen T. Bersch		1944 –	2012	Adult education advocate[13]
Daisy Lee (Andersen) Bitter		1928 –	2015	Science educator[12]
Lydia Black		1925 – 2007	2009	Anthropologist[14]
Rita (Pitka) Blumenstein		1936 –	2009	Elder of the Yupik peoples, first state certified practitioner of traditional medicine[15]
Connie Boochever		1919 – 1999	2012	Patron of the arts.[16] Wife of Robert Boochever and grandmother of Hilary Lindh.
Judith "Judy" (King) Brady		1941 –	2013	Public policy director[11]
Alice E. Brown		1912 – 1973	2010	Champion of native rights who helped the passage of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act[17]
Daphne Elizabeth Brown		1948 – 2011	2013	Architect[11]
Tikasuk "Emily" Brown (Ivanoff)		1904 – 1982	2009	Educator, chronicler of Iñupiaq cultural history[18]
Thelma Buchholdt		1934 – 2007	2009	Alaska House of Representatives, first Filipino American to serve in a U.S. state legislature[19]
Edith Bullock		1903 – 1994	2009	Freighting businesswoman in Nome and Kotzebue, Alaska Territorial House of Representatives, Alaska Territorial Senate[20]
Susan Butcher		1954 – 2006	2009	Multi-year winner Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race[21]
Ellen "Nellie" Cashman		1845 – 1925	2009	Yukon gold prospector, restaurateur, advocated against violence and against public hangings, caregiver to orphans[22]
Orah Dee Clark		1875 – 1965	2009	Educator, namesake of an Anchorage middle school[23]
L. Arlene "Buddy" Clay		1912 –	2015	Judge[12]
Carol Comeau		1941 –	2009	Superintendent Anchorage School District[24]
Carolyn Covington		1936 –	2013	Educator and advocate for women[11]
Katharine "Kit" Crittenden		1921 – 2010	2011	Urban beautification and historic preservation[25]
Marvel Crosson		1904 – 1929	2009	Aviator[26]
Betti Cuddy		1924 – 2010	2011	Member of the family which runs First National Bank Alaska, patron of the arts.[27] Mother of David Cuddy.
Lucy Evelyn (Huie Hon) Cuddy		1889 – 1982	2015	Anchorage civic leader[12]
Kathleen Dalton		1925–	2016	Community activist[28]
Marie (Hanna) Darlin		1925 –	2015	Senior citizens' advocate[12]
Nora Marks Dauenhauer (Keixwnéi)		1927 –	2010	Documentarian of Tlingit culture.[29] Wife of Richard Dauenhauer.
Bettye J. Davis		1938 –	2010	Alaska Senate, Alaska House of Representatives[30]
Mahala Ashley Dickerson		1912 – 2007	2009	Pioneering lawyer and civil rights advocate, early homesteader in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.[31] Mother of Chris Dickerson.
Beverly D. Dunham		1932 –	2014	Journalist and community advocate[8]
Neva Egan		1914 – 2011	2009	Alaska's first First Lady following statehood.[32] Wife of William Allen Egan and mother of Dennis Egan.
Dana Fabe		1951 –	2009	The first female associate justice as well as the first female chief justice of the Alaska Supreme Court[33]
Kay Fanning		1927 – 2000	2009	Publisher of the Anchorage Daily News, editor of the Christian Science Monitor.[34] Mother of Ted Field.
Dolly Farnsworth		1922 – 2014	2015	Soldotna community leader[12]
Mary Jane (Evans) Fate		1933 –	2014	Koyukon leader who lobbied for the Alaska Native Land Claims Settlement Act, co-chair of the Alaska Natives Commission[8]
Helen Fischer		1912 – 1986	2009	Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, Alaska Territorial House of Representatives, Alaska House of Representatives[35]
Nan Elaine "Lanie" Fleischer		1928 –	2011	Community activist, was the primary advocate for establishing the Chester Creek trail system in Anchorage[36]
Carolyn Floyd		1933 –	2012	First president Kodiak Community College[37]
Lucy Frey		1932–	2009	Educator[38]
Nora Venes Guinn		1920 – 2005	2009	U.S. Commissioner, magistrate and District Court judge in Bethel, the first Alaska Native and first non-lawyer to be appointed to an Alaskan state judgeship[39]
Dorothy Awes Haaland		1918 – 1996	2009	Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, Alaska Territorial House of Representatives, Alaska Assistant Attorney General[40]
Sandy Harper		1940–	2016	Art advocate and cultural entrepreneur[28]
Lorene Harrison		1905 – 2005	2009	Educator, community activist[41]
Cornelia Hatcher		1867 – 1953	2009	Suffragist, temperance advocate.[42] A national-level operative with the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, Cornelia Templeton Jewett visited Alaska in 1909, where she met and married Robert Lee Hatcher, the namesake of Hatcher Pass. Remaining in Alaska, she lobbied the newly formed territorial government for the right of women to vote, which was the first law passed by the territorial legislature, and for passage of the Bone Dry Law, which preceded and outlasted the Eighteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
Hazel P. Heath		1909 – 1998	2010	Founder Pratt Museum, business owner, community activist, Republican Party worker, mayor of Homer[43]
Juanita Lou Helms		1941–2009	2016	Mayor of the Fairbanks North Star Borough from 1985 to 1991.[44]
Mildred Robinson Hermann		1891 – 1964	2009	Lawyer, Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, Alaska Statehood Commission, newspaper and radio correspondent reporting on the territorial legislature.[45] In-law of Grover C. Winn.
Diddy R. M. (Seyd) Hitchins		1945 –	2013	International relations educator, political science professor at the University of Alaska Anchorage[11]
Shirley Holloway		1940 –	2010	Educator, Quality Schools Initiative[46]
Joerene Savikko Hout		1934 –	2011	From a longstanding Douglas family, influenced by childhood experiences at Tsimshian Indian village, became an advocate for health education and care for native peoples.[47]
Frances Howard		1944 –	2009	First female Alaska State Trooper[48]
Wilda G. "Burch" Hudson		1924 – 2012	2012	Anchorage City Council and Municipal Assembly, public service, volunteerism[49]
Karen L. (Lueck) Hunt		1938 –	2013	Judge and educator[11]
Celia Hunter		1919 – 2001	2009	Environmentalist, ecotourism[50]
Katie Hurley		1921 –	2009	Longtime aide to Ernest Gruening, Alaska Constitutional Convention staff, Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor in 1978, Alaska House of Representatives[51]
Joan Hurst		1927 – 2003	2013	Youth advocate[11]
Sarah Agnes James		1946 –	2009	Gwich'in environmental activist opposes oil drilling on the Porcupine caribou habitat[52]
Ruth Jefford		1914 – 2007	2009	Aviator, Alaska's first female commercial air taxi operator, first female pilot licensed to teach at Merrill Field[53]
Crystal Brilliant Jenne		1884–1968	2016	Member of the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives[28]
Katie John		1915 – 2013	2014	Ahtna elder and culture bearer who advocated for Native subsistence rights[8]
Margy K. Johnson		1948–	2016	Mayor of Cordova and president of the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce[28]
Marlene Johnson (Slath Jaa Klaa Lákooti)		1935 –	2010	Public service, advocate for the Tlingit people[54]
Alice Johnstone		1925 –	2015	Conservationist[12]
Carolyn E. Jones		1941 –	2012	Human rights advocate[55]
Dorothy M. (Knee) Jones		1923 –	2013	Anthropologist[11]
Eliza Peter Jones		1938–	2016	Koyukon Athabascan linguist[28]
Jewel Jones		1943 –	2013	Public health and community development leader[11]
Mary Joyce		c. 1899 – 1976	2013	Entrepreneur and adventurer[11]
Della Keats		1907 – 1986	2009	Iñupiaq traditional medicine healer[56]
Louise Kellogg		1903 – 2001	2012	Dairy farmer, philanthropist (particularly benefiting Alaska Pacific University), Women's Army Corps veteran[57]
Alice Dove (Montgomery) Kull		1897 – 1991	2015	Social worker[12]
V. Kay Lahdenpera		1936 –	2014	Public health nurse[8]
Thelma (Perse) Langdon		1925 – 2012	2013	Educator, advocate for mental health and elder care[11]
Anne P. Lanier		1940–	2016	Cancer researcher[28]
Janie Leask (Gyetm Wilgoosk)		1948 –	2014	Former president and CEO of the Alaska Federation of Natives[8]
Georgianna Lincoln		1943 –	2010	The first Alaska Native female to serve in the Alaska Senate[58]
Kay Muriel (Townsend) Linton		1933 – 2003	2014	Organizer and volunteer[8]
Ethel Lund (Aan Wugeex’)		1931 –	2010	Founded South East Alaska Regional Health Consortium; Jimmy Carter appointee to the President's Commission on Mental Health[59]
Wilda Marston		1930 –	2009	Educator, philanthropist[60]
Janet McCabe		1935–	2016	Justice system reformer and preservationist[28]
Blanche McSmith		1920 – 2006	2009	First African American to serve in the Alaska Legislature[61]
Marie (Nick) Meade (Arnaq)		1947 –	2015	Yup'ik elder[12]
Leonie von Meusebach–Zesch		1882 – 1944	2012	Early 20th century dentist.[62] Granddaughter of Texas pioneer John O. Meusebach[63]
Jo Michalski		1947–	2016	Businesswoman and philanthropist[28]
Emily Morgan		1878 – 1960	2013	Public health nurse[11]
Lael Morgan		1936 –	2011	Author, historian, journalist, wrote biographies of Ray Mala and Tundra Times founder Howard Rock[64]
Lena Morrow Lewis		1862 – 1950	2009	Journalist, Socialist Party of America leader[65]
Ruth E. Moulton		1931 – 2006	2013	Community activist and educator[11]
Marge Mullen		1920 –	2010	Early homesteader on the central Kenai Peninsula, historian and archivist for Kenai Peninsula College[66]
Rie Muñoz		1921 – 2015	2009	Bureau of Indian Affairs educator, artist who creates watercolors and prints of life in Alaska.[67] Mother-in-law of Cathy Muñoz.
Lisa Murkowski		1957 –	2009	Alaska House of Representatives, United States Senate, won reelection to the Senate as a write-in candidate in 2010.[68] Daughter of Frank Murkowski and in-law of Arliss Sturgulewski.
Marie (Matsuno) Nash		1943 –	2013	Human rights advocate[11]
Sadie Neakok		1916 – 2004	2009	Longtime magistrate in Barrow, Iñupiaq Inuit rights advocate[69]
S. Anne Newell		1946 –	2013	Police officer and detective[11]
Jane Vallett Sutherland Niebergall		1931 –	2014	Rural education advocate[8]
Helen Nienhueser		1936 –	2010	Environmentalist[70]
Katherine Nordale		1902 – 1994	2009	Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, postmaster of Juneau[71]
Ruth Elin Hall Ost		1886 – 1953	2011	Ran missions and children's homes; one of the founders of Elim.[72] Grandmother of Gail Phillips, the second (and most recent) female speaker of the Alaska House of Representatives (1997–1999).
Sarah Palin		1964 –	2009	Governor of Alaska, Republican nominee for Vice President of the United States, news commentator, author[73]
Ellen Evak Paneok		1959 – 2008	2012	Aviation[74]
Elizabeth Peratrovich		1911 – 1958	2009	Civil rights[75]
Leah Webster Peterson		1908 – 2007	2011	Pioneer educator on Kodiak Island.[76] In 1976, her home in downtown Anchorage became the site (and she became the namesake) of the Peterson Tower, an office/condominium highrise where she continued to reside.
Alice Petrivelli		1929–2015	2016	Advocate for the Aleut people[28]
Ramona Gail (McIver) Phillips		1944 –	2015	Alaska House speaker and majority leader[12]
Verna E. Pratt		1930 – 2017	2014	Educator on native flora[8][77]
Sisters of Providence			2009	Established hospitals in Nome, Anchorage and Fairbanks[1]
Mary Louise Rasmuson		1911 – 2012	2009	Colonel in the Women's Army Corps; founded Anchorage Museum.[78] Wife of Elmer E. Rasmuson.
Sharon Richards		1941 –	2012	Community activist in non-profit organizations[79]
Martha M. Roderick		1931 – 2008	2011	Educator, president of Anchorage School Board.[80] Mother of Libby Roderick.
Irene Sparks Rowan		1941 –	2012	Leading advocate and organizer in Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act[81]
Lisa Howell Starr Rudd		1933 – 1985	2012	Alaska House of Representatives, sponsored bill to create Alaska Commission on the Status of Women, was serving as a member of the cabinet of Governor Bill Sheffield at the time of her death[82]
Shirley Mae Staten		1946–	2016	Performer, educator, and cultural activist[28]
Susan L. Ruddy		1941 –	2012	Founded the Alaska chapter of the Nature Conservancy[83]
Irene Ryan		1909 – 1997	2009	Alaska State Senate, Territorial House of Representatives[84]
Grace Berg Schaible		1925 –	2009	First female Alaska Attorney General[85]
Ruth Anne Marie Schmidt		1916 – 2014	2015	Geologist[12]
Jo Ryman Scott		1929 –	2010	Educator,[86] founder and until 2009 director of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival
Nell Scott		ca. 1901 – ?	2009	Alaska Territorial House of Representatives, the first female to serve in the territorial legislature[87]
Lidia Selkregg		1920 – 1999	2009	Geologist who was a state planner on land use, Greater Anchorage Area Borough and Anchorage Municipal Assemblies[88]
Natalya Shelikof		1762 – ?	2009	First white woman to live in Alaska, cofounder of first government structure on Kodiak Island, helped bring the Russian Orthodox Church to Alaska.[89] Wife of Grigory Shelikhov.
Ann Mary (Cherrington) Stevens		1929 – 1978	2015	Community activist[12]
Barbara Sweetland Smith		1936 – 2013	2014	Russian scholar[8]
Hannah Paul Solomon		1908 – 2011	2012	Matriarchal elder of the Athabascan people; first female mayor of Fort Yukon.[90] Mother of Jonathan Solomon.
Arliss Sturgulewski		1927 –	2009	Alaska State Senate, twice Republican nominee for governor.[91] In-law of Frank Murkowski and Lisa Murkowski.
Clare Swan		1931 –	2011	Advocate for Kenaitze Indian Tribe fishing rights[92]
Dora Sweeney		1907 – 2001	2009	Alaska Constitutional Convention delegate, territorial and state legislatures[93]
Nancy Sydnam		1929–	2016	Physician, pilot, and dog trainer[28]
Francine Conat Lastufka Taylor		1937 –	2014	Advocate and preserver of Alaskan arts, history and culture[8]
Mary Taylor "Tay" Pryor Thomas		1927 – 2014	2010	Journalist, author.[94] Wife of Lowell Thomas, Jr..
Peg Tileston		1931 –	2010	Conservationist[95]
Elizabeth Ann "Betsy" Tower		1926 – 2010	2010	Public health physician, author, historian.[96] Wrote biographies of William Allen Egan, Michael James Heney and Austin E. Lathrop.
Fran Ulmer		1947 –	2009	Mayor of Juneau, Alaska House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor of Alaska, chancellor of the University of Alaska Anchorage; first female elected to statewide office in Alaska in 1994[97]
Pauline Utter		1942 – 2005	2012	Women's rights advocate[98]
Elvera Voth		1923 –	2015	Choral conductor[12]
Helen Stoddard Whaley		1924 – 1971	2011	Children's medicine and care[99]
Rosita Worl		1938 –	2012	Advocate for Alaska native cultures[100]
Ada Wien		1907 – 1984	2009	Staff to United States territorial court judge Gudbrand J. Lomen, delegate to Alaska Constitutional Convention.[101] Wife of Noel Wien, whom she assisted in building what became Wien Air Alaska.
Caroline Wohlforth		1932 – 2011	2011	Educator, influential in starting public broadcasting in Anchorage.[102] Mother of Charles Wohlforth, who himself has long been associated with Anchorage's public broadcasting outlets.
Patricia B. Wolf		1940–	2011	Museum director[103]
Gertrude M. Wolfe		1933 – 2007	2014	Community activist active in health care and education[8]
Virginia "Ginny" Hill Wood		1917 – 2013	2010	Conservationist, Alaska Conservation Foundation[104][105] Lifetime Achievement Award
Esther Wunnicke		1922 – 2013	2009	Land resources, native land rights, also served in Governor Sheffield's cabinet as commissioner of the Alaska Department of Natural Resources[106]

References

External links

• Official website