Found Objects #1: Photos from Alaska
Researching and writing comics that deal with complicated history
The lights are on in my studio this morning as the sun is obscured by a gray drizzle. I’m feeling grateful to spend Black Friday at my desk, working on my book and listening to cars splash through puddles, without the noise of construction across the street.
The graphic memoir I started in 2019, Finding Hope, explores my connection to a distant relative who was imprisoned in the Philippines for three and a half years during WWII. I grew up reading excerpts of her memoir to my great-grandmother (her sister), and the story stuck with me enough that I’ve spend countless hours researching and illustrating her life over the past few years.
Due to several factors, but most recently some exciting life changes, I haven’t consistently worked on the book since graduating from my MFA program in 2020. However, last March, as a way to motivate myself, I decided to serialize and print each part as a 32-page comic book. (The first part won an award this year at the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo in Boston, and it can be purchased in my Etsy shop or at Radiator Comics. ) In total, there will be eight parts.
Although I’ve found a solution to reignite my enthusiasm, there are other reasons why I haven’t been working on the book. Mainly, I’ve had a hard time finding the best way to approach Hope’s back story when she left New Hampshire to teach at a government boarding school in Alaska.
In Hope’s obituary, I learned that she taught at Eklutna Vocational School, near Anchorage, from 1927-1929. In 1924, the Bureau of Indian Affairs established this school for orphaned children affected by the 1918 Spanish Influenza Epidemic. Students were brought from around the territory to stay in a three-story dorm, and they had academic classes in the morning and vocational training in the afternoon. By 1930, 110 students were enrolled at the school, and it lasted for about 20 years until the school was so run-down, it was forced to close.
Even though the students at Eklutna were technically considered “orphans,” I’ve spoken to several scholars and librarians who agree that some of the children were likely taken from their families. Before I began my research, I was aware of the trauma that boarding schools inflicted upon Alaska natives and other indigenous groups throughout the United States and Canada. Now, with easy access to information and testimonies from survivors on social media, most would agree that these schools were highly problematic. Not only were students forced to assimilate to American culture through the complete erasure of their language, religion, appearance, and cultural traditions, but many were separated from their families and physically and emotionally abused.
I have scoured the internet prepared to find horror stories from Eklutna, but I’ve mostly come across the same basic facts and photos, with exception to one short article featuring this woman who turned 100 in 2016. I’m sure there are more stories that aren’t digitized and widely available.
Before beginning the project, I also worried about what I’d find in Hope’s diaries and letters. Although I’ve only read entries from her first year in Eklutna, they mostly revolved around nature, her daily interactions, and her love for Alaska and its culture. She regularly mentioned her students in a way that was positive, but vague. For example, after a few months of teaching, she wrote, “Eklutna is interesting but discouraging at times, for the children are so far behind.” She wrote about a couple of girls running away one day, and feeling sorry for some of the young boys who were homesick. She often wrote about playing with the children, and she recorded funny quotes from their interactions. It’s evident that she cared about her students and her job. However, I have to remind myself not to idealize her character in the story. She was still a woman of her time, teaching in a flawed system, and even though the situation was perceived differently in the past, the complicated history is something to reckon with, not erase.
Nevertheless, I can imagine how exciting it must have been to embark on a two-week journey to teach in Alaska in the early 1920s, especially since these opportunities were limited for women. When she arrived at the school, she wrote:
August 29, 1927
Audrey and I slept till nine, and I said little rhymes to myself so I wouldn’t think. Got to Eklutna at 2 pm. I almost cried on the train - did in fact - just hating to get off -leaving Audrey and surely for an uncertainty! But I think it will be OK. I have a good big room in the boys’ dormitory. We had a real good dinner and spent the evening with the Briffetts who are lots of fun. The Indian kids are cute but different. There will be moments when I’ll be lonely as hell, I know. But it will be an experience and that’s what I wanted!
Recently, I came across a photo album that was donated to the Archives and Special Collections at the University of Alaska Anchorage Consortium Library, originally belonging to Ella Bramford, an Eklutna teacher in the late 1920s. In my research, I’ve mostly come across photos from the 1940s, so I was curious to see if there were any photos of Hope or scenes from her diaries.
The photo album is not digitized, so I reached out to an archivist named Arlene, and she generously offered to flip through the images together on Zoom. I explained my project and my current conundrum, and Arlene admitted that they are having the same conversations about sensitivity in regards to digitizing and allowing public access to their own archival materials.
As we flipped through the photo album, I noticed so many of the same names from Hope’s diaries— the nurse Miss Hyde, a little girl named Sassa, and Ella herself. Some of the photos in Ella’s albums were copies of photos in Hope’s.
After our meeting, Arlene sent me a few articles she found in the Anchorage Times. One article featured Hope’s marriage to her husband George, and I discovered that Ella was one of the witnesses. After years of periodic research, it’s thrilling to find new connections that delve deeper into the story.
There are only eight pages set in Alaska in my entire 200+ page book, but I’ve spent countless hours researching and talking to librarians. Arlene assured me that many researchers have had this same expectation— We plan to spend a day or two gathering information before realizing that the history is a lot more complicated than we’d imagined. Although this section of the book is short, it’s so important for the reader to know Hope’s back story. Her enthusiasm for teaching, travel, and adventure reminds me of my own experiences embarking on long journeys and teaching abroad, which directly ties into the narrative. But to be totally honest, it also worries me, and makes me wonder if one day, my own choices will be scrutinized in the same way.
Ultimately, I’ve decided to ground the narrative in Hope’s diary entries, while weaving in my own questions and historical research. Because I only have a smattering of diary pages, articles, letters, and photos to work off— rather than an entire memoir— I want the text and drawings to be as historically accurate as possible, true to her experiences, and sensitive to the complicated history of the time. I think these layers will make the story richer and Hope’s character more multi-dimensional. It will be a challenge, but I’m going to try my best to get it right.
(Learn more about the long term effects of boarding schools in this journal article by Diane Hirshberg, “‘It was bad or it was good’: Alaska Natives in Past Boarding Schools.” as well as this sociological study, “Thirty Years Later: The Long-Term Effect of Boarding Schools on Alaska Natives and Their Communities.” Additionally, published in 2022, “Federal Indian Boarding School Initiative Investigative Report” provides more information about Alaskan boarding schools on pages 68-73.)
Have you written stories or drawn comics that deal with challenging topics and complicated history? I would love to hear about your own experiences in the comments.
The research you’re doing around the existing family evidence is fascinating and really broadens the story. It’s also really tough, and admirable, to keep from idealizing your main subject. So looking forward to seeing how this unfolds!
Wow, I loved reading about this. It's fascinating what you've been able to uncover, and I imagine it can be daunting to juggle some of the questions you've been asking yourself along the way. I'm excited to keep reading on!