Lori Townsend: The accomplishments of Alaska women are as varied as they are wide-ranging, from CEOs running major corporations to vessel captains to breaking new ground in politics.

Unknown: A short woman, five foot tall and very dark skinned, as a legislator, was beyond the understanding of her fellow government workers.

Lori Townsend: We'll learn about some of the early barrier busters and hear from contemporary leaders tonight on Alaska Insight.

Women of color have often been overlooked when it comes to documenting Alaska's history.

The Extra Tough: Women of the North exhibit highlights more than 30 women from before and after statehood, including former state legislator Thelma Buchholdt, who was the first Philippine-born legislator in the country.

Alaska Public Media's Jeff Chen spoke with Buchholdt's daughter to Titania and has this profile.

Unknown: Thelma Buchholdt was elected to serve in the Alaska House of Representatives for four terms from 1975 to 1982.

She knew every single apartment house trailer in all of Spenard.

During her time in office, Buchholdt was the vice chair for the finance committee and eventually the chair of the health and social services committee.

She appropriated funds for the Spenard Recreation Center, established the Asian Alaskan Cultural Center, helped found the Alaska Woman's Commission, and she also worked internationally to advocate for Alaska Native subsistence rights.

My mother became very involved in the work that the North Slope borough Mayor Eben Hopson did to educate the International Whaling Commission about the need for food in these areas.

Buchholdt was part of a younger generation of non establishment Alaskan democrats called the ad hoc Democrats, which included former governor Tony Knowles.

They pushed for civil rights, which is what drew Buchholdt to get involved.

Initially, she couldn't find anyone who would perform the wedding for her and her, her husband, my father, because the color of her skin didn't match the color of my father's skin.

Also, they couldn't find any landlord who would rent to them.

So my parents became involved in civil rights, in the civil rights movement, because they were thinking initially, people should have the ability to have housing during her time running for office, and while she was in office, she was often questioned because of her race and gender.

A short woman, five foot tall and very dark skinned, as a legislator, was beyond the understanding of her fellow government workers.

But she carried on knowing that her purpose was about representing her community.

She was an instrument for change.

That's what she was on this earth for.

After four terms, Buchholdt moved on to work on national efforts.

That's when she went on and became a national president of the National Order of Women Legislators.

She went on to earn a law degree and in the 90s wrote a book documenting the hundreds of years of Filipino history in Alaska.

My mother was born in the northern Philippines in a little fishing village just on the North Shore of Luzon.

She was Ibanag from Apayao.

She was here to make the world a better place, and a more tolerant place and a more understanding place.

Thelma Buchholdt's love of culture and community brought the world just a little closer.

And that made a big impact for many Alaskans.

In Anchorage, I'm Jeff Chen.

Lori Townsend: What an amazing story.

Thelma Buchholdt died in 2007.

She was inducted into the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame in 2009.

Joining me this evening is Francesca de Brock, the curator of the anchorage museum exhibit Extra Tough: Women of the North, Jane Anvik is a founding board member of the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.

And Celeste Hodge Growden is the President and CEO of the Alaska Black Caucus.

Welcome, all of you.

Thank you.

Unknown: Thanks for having us.

Lori Townsend: Thanks so much for being with us this evening.

Jane, I want to start with you.

The profile of Thelma Buchholdt is a good reminder of the impressive firsts of Alaska women and also a glaring example of how little is taught and recognized about these accomplishments.

Thelma was in the is the first class of inductees, I believe.

What can you tell us about her brand of politics, known as ad hoc democrats?

What was going on at that time that Thelma could prevail as the first Filipino woman elected anywhere in the nation.

Unknown: The ad hoc Democrats were young, and that was in contrast to the old white Democratic Party.

And, and I and, and so it was an it was in the early 70s.

And they went to have a convention in Fairbanks that came back and they had taken over the Democratic Convention.

And they had elected all young people to be the leadership of the Democratic Party.

And the, so the ad hoc Democrats were young, they wanted to make sure civil rights, they wanted to make sure education equal opportunity for education, as well as employment was available everywhere.

They took on issues of housing, they took on issues associated with poverty, and certainly injustice any place that it was located.

Hmm.

Lori Townsend: Francesca, thank you for that.

Jane, I want to turn to you now.

Thelma is also as we noted in the Extra Tough exhibit.

I'm amazed at her political accomplishments.

What do you think it says about state leadership in those earlier days?

Hmm.

Unknown: Well, I guess it's leadership that myself is a 36-year-old born and raised Alaskan would love to see again.

You know, Thelma, was instrumental in founding the Women's Commission, or what was known earlier as the status on the, Commission on the Status of Women.

And the book that you showed in the introduction to this show the cover, that was Profiles and Change: Names, notes and quotes of Alaska women.

That book was published in 1983, which was two years before I was born.

And it was a really instrumental resource in creating the exhibition.

And sadly, there's been very little published on women since that time in 1983.

So it just shows how important leaders like Thelma are and how much we we need to have strong female leadership, even in today's world.

Lori Townsend: Yes, and even more.

So.

Celeste, we know that documenting women's accomplishments were not prioritized like those of men, and for women of color, even less.

So you've documented Black Caucus Alaskans going back 40 some years?

Where do you go to find the histories of women of color who deserve to be recognized?

And, and kind of doing the verification that's needed?

Unknown: How do you go about that?

So we go about it by connecting with our community, because unfortunately, our history isn't documented in any certain place, I mean, it we're starting to see more areas that will actually hold or host our information.

So so we have to actually go to the individuals, the families who keep that important history, that important information within their homes.

And so that's where I find information about our community by, by going to the individuals themselves.

And and, like I said, I'm just looking forward to having that change, so that other individuals can learn about our history in places like the library, and the museum, and, and just getting that historical experience by venturing to public places.

Lori Townsend: Well, and, and the importance of, as you said, seeing the reflections of women of color in all those places.

Talk just a minute about the importance of that for young people.

Unknown: It is so important, because if you can't see it, you can't achieve it.

And so it is important that we see role models in every component piece of life, whether it's a doctor, whether it's a principal, you know, in leadership positions, that tells us that we too, can be that person.

And unfortunately, there wasn't a lot of that when I was growing up.

And, you know, even today, it's not how it really should be, but we are making small progress.

And so whatever we can do to to make change to bring that about even more, is what the Alaska Black Caucus is all about.

Lori Townsend: Mm hmm.

Thank you.

Jane, I want to turn back to you.

Another barrier breaker was Mary Ann Warden, an Alaska Native woman serving in the ministry tell us about her work.

She was the first Alaska Native woman ordained.

Unknown: In the Presbyterian Church, and she grew up in Kaktovik.

She lived in Kaktovik and Fairbanks and Juneau and returned to Utqia!vik, which is previously Barrow, to serve her community.

And one of the things she used was indigenous cultural activities to help with the liturgy of the community.

So when she was in se, she got the Tlingits to come in and and dance and perform at in the Tlingit churches.

She obviously was working with Athabaskans when she was in Fairbanks, and with Inupiaq people when she was in the far north, but it was the it was the sound in the mixture of both culture and religion that really provided her the opportunity to be so effective with indigenous communities across the state.

Mm hmm.

Lori Townsend: And what a, what an amazing accomplishment and important service to all of those communities.

Absolutely.

She Unknown: was inducted this year, we inducted 10 women this year, Lori Townsend: It's fantastic, the celebration of all of their in 2021.

And she is inducted as are five others, excuse me nine others.

And they are come from all over the state.

So the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame is really designed to celebrate women in all kinds of roles.

If you can imagine it as Celeste just said, if you can imagine it, we've done it.

And what we don't know is it they've been spectacularly well accomplished people from flying planes to managing corporations to birth ng babies.

These are women who ave been taking care of their ommunities and their cultures nd our communities for the last illennia.

And now accomplishments.

Francesca, even though the exhibit at the anchorage museum is called Extra Tough, were there still stories that sort of stood out and surprised you at the degree of toughness of some of these Alaska women?

Maybe Ada Blackjack or Alaska Nellie?

Some of the women that were truly Yeah, really extra tough?

Unknown: Well, certainly I do want to say though, you know, we we chose the title Extra Tough because of the pop cultural resonance and Alaska, obviously with the Extra Tuff boot.

But we also really wanted to expand that notion of toughness, because there are women like Ada Blackjack, who was an Inupiaq woman who went as the only woman and only native person on an Arctic expedition where all of the other men perished.

And she was able to survive by herself over a year in the high arctic, and also keep a little cat that was on the boat alive with her.

So there are stories of this, you know, heroism and tenacity that sort of falls within this more kind of masculine tradition of, of toughness.

But we also wanted to really think about the ways women are extra tough, in a more expansive notion of the idea of toughness, which is sort of what Jane was alluding to, you know, this idea of care, of resilience, of sustainability, of sort of bringing everyone along with you.

That's also tough.

It's just not in our kind of standard understanding of that word.

Lori Townsend: Mm hmm.

I love that expanding that use and giving it multiple meanings.

Celeste, tell us about a couple of the women that you worked to get included in the Extra Tough exhibit, and, and what stood out to you about them?

Unknown: So I actually listed a number of women of color because there are so many, but when I talk about an individual that is near and dear to my heart as a mentor, who was my second mom, I can't help but think of Bettye Davis.

Fierce, fierce, fierce trailblazer.

Pillar within our community.

First Black in so many areas, as we know first Black senator, no matter male or female, first Black female elected to the House of Representatives, champion of education, served for so many years on the school board.

She is the individual responsible for the African American Summit that I now champion.

It's actually named after her, the Bettye Davis African American Summit.

And I am just so honored to have East High School named after her the Bettye Davis East Anchorage High School, where children can learn about her as a Black woman who did so many great things for the city and for the state.

So lots of women of color should be recognized.

I named a few but there are a lot more that I could list.

Lori Townsend: Mm hmm.

Yeah, it's a fantastic accomplishment to have the high school name changed.

That's the high school in my neighborhood.

So I'm especially pleased that that's happening.

Jane, on Talk of Alaska earlier this week during a similar discussion we were having a caller named Ethel said she was Inupiaq woman, a retired attorney, and she let us know that although she appreciated our highlighting women, she struggled with the different cultural concepts, uncomfortable with celebrating the "I" rather than the "we."

And she took exception to some of the language I use, such as the word pioneer.

Jane, start us off, and then Francesca, I want to turn to you, how do you work to consider these different cultural norms to ensure respectful treatment?

And do you have people that sort of vet that for you the presentation so that you stay, you know, on firm ground there?

Unknown: Well, anyone, anyone from anywhere can nominate a woman to be inducted into the to be nominated for the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame.

So we get nominations from, from all over Alaska and all over the United States from people who had previously lived in Alaska.

The board and creates a selection committee and they go through it, and their objectives are to do three things.

One is to find the people who are most significantly contributing to Alaska.

And that might be at the community level, it might be at the statewide level, or it might be in a national forum.

But it is, and so you don't have or it might be as a result of a profession or a community of people.

Or it might be somebody who is an artist or or a tactician or so that it's a wide variety of choices.

The issue associated with making sure we are reflective of the community that we live in, really is that we are making sure that we have as many of the of the Indigenous community and the peoples of colors, the peoples of our, of our world in Alaska.

And so we are working very hard to make sure that, that the women who are inducted are not only extraordinary, but they are also representative of the very population that we have hit living here in Alaska.

I just want to mention one other thing.

And that is if you Celeste says that "if you can't see it, you can imagine it."

My five-year-old granddaughter said, when the Vice President took the oath of office "Grandma!

She's a girl, is that okay?"

Lori Townsend: Ok?

Boy, is it ever!

All right, thank you.

Francesca, how about you?

When you were working on putting this exhibit together, how did you work to make sure that the presentations were culturally accurate and respectful?

Unknown: Yeah.

So with any exhibition, we really try our best to do our due diligence and speak with as many community members and stakeholders as possible.

In the process of working on the exhibition, I spoke with both of the women on this program right now.

And many, many, many, many others.

I think, getting other people's opinions, being really humble, and listening to feedback.

We purposely didn't tell the pioneer story of Alaska women, front and center in this exhibition at all, it actually is very, very minor.

We chose to lead with the Indigenous story of Alaska, because that is the first story that's here.

And, you know, I think there are words that we use, today still in common language ideas like "frontier" and "pioneer" and I do think these are words that we need to kind of reconsider and think about how they might strike others, as as Ethel brought to our attention, when we were on the call, or earlier this week.

And I think there are other ways we can start to talk about and think about our place that is more respectful and inclusive of everyone that's here.

Lori Townsend: Mm hmm.

Yeah, I applaud that idea.

Celeste, where are you focusing your efforts currently, on behalf of Black women and Alaska who are working to break down barriers to equality?

What, where's an area right now where you're focused on?

Unknown: So right now we're focused on corporate America and gatekeepers.

Because we believe that they are the inroads to so many opportunities for people of color.

And, you know, I just want to back up a little bit to talk about that last question that you asked if I, if I could and, and that is it is so important to have in your core circle, diversity.

You know, not that you need to go out and find it, but you need to, you know, embrace yourself with it.

So that if, let's just talk about businesses or organizations or corporations, you know, you could have that right in your mix.

And so when ever there's an issue or a concern, you can go directly to that person who is in your camp, who is in your corner, who has your best interest at heart because you have their best best interest at heart.

And so I just believe that, you know, we can develop our own core group of a diverse community.

So whenever issues arise, you go right in your own home to resolve the issue.

Lori Townsend: Thank you for that.

We we wanted our audience to get a glimpse of what an induction ceremony for the Alaska Women's Hall of Fame looks like, which is really tough because the speeches are all amazing.

But Lael Morgan's speech stood out because of what she wanted to do.

And it kind of encapsulates, I think, a lot of what women in Alaska and a lot of the women that are being held up, are all about.

She talked about coming to Alaska in 1959, with her husband to make money to sail around the world.

And they were able to do that in just a few years, she was when she was traveling, she said she saw extreme poverty, and decided that instead of working in other countries, she'd return to Alaska, where she noted that at that time, the infant mortality rate was highest in the world, that families along the Yukon River had terribly high numbers of deaths from tuberculosis, and that Native people had lost land they've lived on for centuries.

Unknown: My husband went back to New England, to his roots, to become a millionaire.

My return to Alaska is something I've never regretted.

Because I got to stay to see the TB hospitals close for want of business.

I got to watch the creation of local school boards, the passage of the Native Land Claims Settlement.

I get to participate in some pretty exciting journalism, and to see my Alaska hopes come true.

Lori Townsend: Jane, I want to turn back to you now, so much change here since the 1960s.

Labels desire to work for change and document, it seems to me to really encapsulate the mindset of all of the women who have been inducted community before self.

So, Jane, is that kind of a fundamental piece that you're looking for when you're selecting inductees?

Unknown: We certainly ask what her involvement has been with the community.

She might be the smartest medical researcher that's ever been, but she, how does she spend her off time?

And it's a very big question is how do you spend the research you have the most of which is your time?

And and it is a question that we pose relative to someone who is accomplished, but also a giver.

So that community engagement is a very big and important piece of the whole image of women who are leaders in our communities is people who are as astronomers who say, well, there's a part where you clawed your way to the top, but at the same time you served on the board for the school, or you went PTA or you were the coach for the, for your kids.

I mean, it's it's the mixture of your time and your energy, and the wellbeing of the community as a whole.

So it's definitely a value that we take into consideration.

Lori Townsend: All right, we're just about out of time.

Jane, beyond the concern of all of the barriers that women still need to achieve -- next week, we're, we're speaking about the chronic high rates of sexual assault and violence against women.

That's another thing that we have to overcome here.

What is one area that you would want to see women work on next, just in just a few seconds?

Unknown: I'd say science, technology, engineering and math, STEM is the pathway for young people to achieve great heights.

And traditionally, girls and women have been in very low numbers represented that my favorite movie Hidden Figures is that glorious example of African American women who literally got John Glenn back to earth after they shot him up in the capsule.

So I do think that that's an area where we can encourage expansion of the participation of women and girls.

Lori Townsend: thank you so much.

Thanks so much to my guests this evening.

To close out tonight on an up note, let's hear from a young Alaskan, Besse Odom, who has worked through the NAACP Youth Council to raise awareness of human rights, environmental rights and the rights of women.

She provided an affirmation for the extra tough exhibit that we can all embrace.

Unknown: Every morning when I wake up and look in the mirror and see the strength, resilience, courage, dedication and beauty flowing throughout me, I recognize that I am that phenomenal woman that Maya Angelou spoke of.

Lori Townsend: I just really love that.

Inspiring young women leaders like Besse give me hope for continued progress for all women going forward.

Thanks to my guests this evening Celeste Hodge Growden,Jane Eric and Francesca de Brock, Alaska women are innovative leaders in every professional setting and have overcome obstacles of gender bias, racism and gatekeeping.

to pave the way for the young leaders of tomorrow, we heard about some of the incredible accomplishments of women over the past 50 years here, just think of what the next 50 will look like.

With so many smart ambitious women leading the way.

That's it for this edition of Alaska Insight.

Be sure to tune in daily to your local public radio station for Alaska Morning News, and every weeknight Alaska News Nightly.

Be part of important conversations happening on Talk of Alaska every Tuesday morning, and visit our website alaskapublic.org for breaking news and reports from across the state.

We'll be back next Friday.

Thanks for joining us this evening.

I'm Lori Townsend.

Good night.