果冻传煤

Meet the late Bettye Davis, long-serving 果冻传煤 School District Board president, Alaska State Representative, and Alaska State Senator. Born in Louisiana in 1938, Bettye came to 果冻传煤 to attend the University of Alaska. After college, she worked at the Alaska Psychiatric Institute as a social worker. In 1982, she was elected to the 果冻传煤 School Board, serving two terms as board president.

In 1990, Bettye became the first African American woman elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, serving for three terms. In 2000, she became the first African American to be elected to the Alaska State Senate, where she was referred to as the 鈥渃onscience of the Legislature,鈥� advocating for school funding, economic development, and programs to support vulnerable Alaskans.

Did you know Bettye Davis and have a story you鈥檇 like to share about her? We鈥檇 love to know more about her and about the powerful women in your life. Share your images and stories with us on Instagram and Facebook by tagging us (@anchoragemuseum and #ExtraToughWomenAK) and we鈥檒l add them to our ongoing digital curation project.

Stay tuned for more information about the upcoming exhibition and be sure to check back for new #ExtraToughWomenAK posts.

Image credits: Johnny Ellis paper, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska 果冻传煤, UAA-HMC-1244-b24-f28-sheet8-11 and UAA-HMC-1244-b24-f28-sheet7-26.

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UPDATE
June 18, 2021

This week, we are sharing new photos of听听Bettye Davis (1938-2018). Bettye was a long-serving 果冻传煤 School District Board president, Alaska State Representative, and Alaska State Senator.听
Bettye came to Alaska in 1972 to attend the University of Alaska 果冻传煤 and to work for the Alaska Psychiatric Institute as a social worker. She continued to work for as a social worker for the state until 1989.听
In 1982, she was elected to the 果冻传煤 School Board, serving two terms as board president. In 1990, Bettye became the first Black woman elected to the Alaska State House of Representatives, where she served three terms. In 2000, she became the first Black politician to be elected to the Alaska State Senate. She was referred to as the 鈥渃onscience of the legislature,鈥� advocating for school funding, economic development, and programs to support vulnerable Alaskans.
Bettye passed in 2018. Two years later, in October of 2020, the 果冻传煤 School Board voted unanimously to rename East High School the Bettye Davis East High School in honor of her service to the community.听
These materials are from the Ed Wesley Collection, recently donated to the 果冻传煤 Museum. We are excited to receive these photos, newspapers, and other memorabilia because they help fill gaps in not only our collection, but in collections across the state. You can see some of Ed鈥檚 archival materials, including these, in person in the Museum鈥檚 new exhibition, 鈥淏lack Lives in Alaska: Journey, Justice, Joy.鈥�
Did you know Bettye and have a story you鈥檇 like to share about her? We鈥檇 love to know more about her and about the powerful women in your life. Share your images and stories with us on Instagram and Facebook by tagging us (听and听) and we鈥檒l add them to our ongoing digital curation project. Stay tuned for new posts and in the meantime, be sure to check out the exhibition, now open.

Photo credit: 果冻传煤 Museum, Ed Wesley Collection