State Library preserves historical salary tool for Alaskan cities and boroughs
The Alaska State Library recently processed a generous gift from the Alaska Municipal League – A run of salary surveys for various Alaska communities dating back to 1972. Coverage of communities, professions and wages varied between years, but you’re often able to find specific communities, job titles, weekly hours and either salary or hourly wage. Dozens of job types are represented over the years, including Mayor, Harbor Master, Laborer, Librarian, Refuse Collector and Volunteer Firefighter. The survey books are broken into the sections that vary somewhat by year. Here’s an example from 1989:
Elected and Appointive
Office and Clerical
Public Safety
Labor and Trades
Technical and Professional
Supervisory and Management
The State Library has paper issues for 1972 – 2015 (incomplete) in our Historical Collections at JS451.A47M86 OVERSIZE shelved under four different titles:
Salary survey / 1972-1974
Municipal salary survey / 1980-1984, FY1999
Alaska municipal benefits & salary survey, FY1996
Alaska municipal salary & benefits survey / 1997-FY2015
Starting with the 2016 issue we have PDF copies in our digital repository. For the latest issue of the Alaska municipal salary and benefits survey, contact the Alaska Municipal League.
We hope that some of you will find this series useful in tracking historic wages and salaries for Alaska muni employees.
Our friends at the State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management (DHS&EM) have alerted us to a pretty exciting funding opportunity, especially for security enhancements. Non-profit organizations – including museums if you are a 501(c)3 organization -- can apply for up to $150,000 per project per funding cycle, and there is no match required. The Nonprofit Security Grant Program uses federal FEMA money, passed through the State DHS&EM agency, to fund security projects statewide in every state. Over $1.2 million has been allocated for Alaska this funding cycle. The NSGP focuses on “target hardening” projects such as purchase and installation of equipment such as security cameras, alarm systems, card reader systems, bollards, and can also include staff training, planning-related costs, exercise and practice drill-related costs and more.
An online informational webinar will be offered on May 6 at 10:00. If you are interested in attending, please emailmva.grants@alaska.govor call 907-428-7000, or toll-free: 800-478-2337.
The DHS&EM agency will review and offer feedback on draft proposals submitted to them two weeks in advance of the grant application deadline which is May 31.
If you’d like to brainstorm potential security projects, I’d love to help. Just send me a note and we’ll set up a time to talk.
Alaska Center for the Book is seeking nominations for its annual Contributions to Literacy in Alaska (CLIA) Awards. The deadline for nomination is May 15, 2024.
The awards recognize people and groups who have made significant contributions in literacy, the literary arts, or the preservation of the written or spoken word in Alaska. Previous CLIA award winners include teachers, writers, tutors, booksellers, reading programs, web sites, businesses, and others dedicated to making the world a better place through the gift of language. Last year’s winners were Anchorage author Tricia Brown; poet Erin Coughlin Hollowell of Homer; and the Kenai Peninsula community of Moose Pass, whose residents worked together to create “People, Paths, and Places: The Frontier History of Moose Pass, Alaska.”
The sounds of live music, laughter and games ripple through the bookshelves Monday as the Soldotna Public Library marks the 10th anniversary of its expanded location. The library officially opened in 1972 and has undergone numerous renovations, most recently in 2013 when the space more than doubled in size.
Since then, the library has increased its circulation and has seen major growth in the number of community members it serves. It’s also onboarded more staff members, including clerk and program coordinator Kim McMilin.
“We want people to know this is a community asset, a community hub," McMillin said. "We’re here to stay for the community. Really, it’s a celebration of the community more than it is just the library.”
The Kodiak History Museum is launching a unique exhibit highlighting Kodiak's rich tavern history. The exhibit kicks off this Friday evening with a downtown walk and some of the stories behind Kodiak's current lineup of bars with "Notorious Bars of Alaska'' author Doug Van De Graft. Van De Graft will convene a "First Friday'' crowd at 7 p.m. at the Kodiak History Museum for a walking talk on the histories of Tony's, the Village, the Mecca and Bernies, ending at "Alaska's Oldest Bar," the B&B on Shelikof St. "We won't be going in to the bars, since this is sponsored by the Alaska State Museum, we can't go inside." But, Van De Graft said, the tour officially ends on the sidewalk outside the B&B. The walk is a free event open to the public. Attendance is limited to 30, first-come, first-served.
Once upon a time on May 1, 2023, the Noel Wien Fairbanks Public Library closed its doors for a makeover. After nearly a year of construction and renovation, it is in the final stages of preparing to reopen.
“We’re really hoping the community will enjoy it...we think they will. It’s really beautiful.” said Jamia Alexander Ball, the library director.
Among the largest changes is the addition of a café called the Countryman Café. It is located between the front entrance and the children’s Berry Room. The café will also double as a used book store.
Cook Inlet Region, Inc. (CIRI) and the Alaska Native Heritage Center (ANHC) are proud to announce the launch of Nakenaghch’ Sutdu’a, a one-of-a-kind traveling exhibit exclusively assembled and designed to share ancestral knowledge and cultural education with CIRI Shareholders and Descendants. Nakenaghch’ Sutdu’a was unveiled on April 20, 2024, at the CIRI Shareholder Information Meeting in Anchorage, Alaska.
Nakenaghch’ Sutdu’a, meaning Our Traditional Legacy, Stories of Our History in Dena’ina, is a captivating collection of Alaska Native cultural artifacts, historical imagery and information. The exhibit also incorporates unique immersive film experiences including the world’s first co-produced, Indigenous-led virtual reality experience spotlighting a Dena’ina Beluga whale hunt. Other notables features in the collection:
Over 20 cultural artifacts on loan from the Alaska Native Heritage Center, Anchorage Museum, and Dena’ina Elder Marilyn Balluta.
Rare footage courtesy of the Alaska Movie Images Preservation Association showcasing a historic Eklutna semi-subterranean house.
A digital slide show featuring over 50 archival photographs from the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) 14h1 Program, University of Alaska Fairbanks photo collection, University of Alaska Anchorage photo collection, and the Anchorage Museum collection.
Research shows cultural tourism is on the rise in Indian Country, because travelers crave authenticity and want deeper experiences with Indigenous peoples – a trend that could help Alaska tribes develop their own tourism businesses.
The Alaska Native Heritage Center is one of five Native groups that will receive federal money to expand cultural tourism. The Heritage Center’s director, Emily Edenshaw, predicts it will benefit the state’s entire travel industry...
“Come and see the mountains and the brown bears -- and come explore and discover and go on the glaciers and look at the berries,” says Edenshaw, reciting the typical travel industry pitch that she says needs to be updated. “What about the Indigenous experience? Our people have been here for 10,000 years, in some cases even longer than that.”
Sitka Indian Village was once home to over forty Lingít clan houses. Today, only eight of those are still standing, and even fewer serve as active clan houses. Now, the area has been recognized as one of 11 endangered historic places in the US. Organizers are hoping that the attention will inspire efforts to creatively conserve – and rebuild – a cultural hub that has fallen into disrepair.
Katlian Street stretches along the waterfront just north of downtown Sitka. Today, it’s a bustling commercial hub. Workers unload fish totes at the seafood processor, and cars whiz by on their way to the harbors. Dotted between the shops and restaurants are houses – some standing, others collapsed – that tell the story of this street’s past.
“Just this short little walk, there’s multiple clan houses here,” says Chuck Miller, gesturing to lots now occupied by metal shops and parking lots. He’s pointing out sites that once served as cultural centers for Lingít people – places where members of a clan gathered for meetings, ceremonies, and even wakes.
Growing up in Utqiagvik, Alaska, Inupiaq fashion designer Bobby Brower remembers being surrounded by hides, fur pelts, and seal skins at her house. “My aaka [grandmother] Emily was a master seamstress, and my grandpa was a trapper,” says Brower, now based in Anchorage. “He would have fox furs along the walls to clothe him, his wife, and children—or he would sell them to make money to feed the family.”
Given her upbringing, it’s no surprise that Brower is now a garment maker herself. Through her label, Arctic Luxe, Brower creates traditional handmade parkas (called atigis) trimmed with fox and wolverine furs or spotted-seal skins. Her designs reflect the Indigenous teachings she was brought up with, which include using every part of an animal—whether it’s the meat for substance or the fur for warmth and style. “We’ve always been really sustainable with everything that we hunt,” says Brower. “Seal is a big part of our diet. As a young adult, my aunt showed me how to skin the seal and cut the meat. If we’re cooking it, we’re using pretty much all of it—we even make a delicacy with the intestines”...
Whereas large-scale fur farms procure mass quantities of pelts (sometimes through inhumane killing methods, where the meat and other parts of the animal are often wasted), Indigenous artists hunt in much smaller quantities, and they take a zero-waste approach to their final designs. “They’re using fur for luxury, but we as Indigenous people use fur to respect the animal,” says Golga Oscar, a Yup’ik artist based in Bethel, Alaska.
Christian Allaire, April 23, 2024. Vogue.
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