Bessie Kendall Couture, ca. 1900s
The Cook Inlet Historical Society celebrates Black History Month with talks on the role that African Americans have had in Anchorage, across Alaska, and the nation. Community activists and historians Ed Wesley and Cal Williams will speak on different aspects of this history. There will be a display and a book giveaway at this event.
Ed Wesley grew up in the Mississippi Delta during the era of segregation. He has lived in Alaska for more than forty-five years, in Fort Greeley, Delta Junction, and Anchorage. Wesley has spent most of his working career in Anchorage as a union laborer and insurance broker. He has served as president of the African American Business Council, Anchorage chapter of the National Council for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Black Leadership Conference and as a community activist and organizer. He served on the Alaska Council of PTAs, Alaska Retirement Management Board (as a trustee), Alaska Democratic Party (as a national committee person), Alaska Veterans Administration Hospital Volunteers Committee, Municipality of Anchorage’s Zoning Board of Examiners and Appeals, and American Legion (General “Chappie” James Post 34).
Cal Williams is a long-time leader in Anchorage’s black community, Vietnam War veteran, and outspoken advocate for civil rights. He grew up in Monroe, Louisiana, and graduated from the Little Flower Academy and then attended Grambling State University, majoring in speech and drama and television production. He left Louisiana for Alaska in 1965, where he held several jobs in media, including production manager for KTUU-TV (Channel 2). He produced and hosted “Cross Cultural,” on KAKM, Anchorage’s public television station. He has been active with the Anchorage chapter of the NAACP, and served as a delegate to the National Democratic Convention in 2000. Over his decades in Alaska, Williams has taught and presented African folktales and discussed black history with audiences in schools, libraries, and churches throughout Alaska. His other projects include running community programs to get youth involved in acting and performance, anti-domestic violence campaigns, and awareness campaigns on institutional racism.