Ronan Rooney is marking the fifth anniversary of exploring local history through podcasts and essays on his website Wrangell History Unlocked — and now with recognition from the Alaska Historical Society.
Last month, he received a Contribution to Alaska History award, given to individuals and groups for projects, publications and other efforts that have significantly promoted and added to understanding history.
It started in March of 2020, at the beginning of the COVID shutdown, Rooney was searching for some connection to ground him.
“I thought back to an earlier version of myself, of growing up in Wrangell. Since I was a toddler, I was always looking under stones at the beach, to see what would come out. Looking into Wrangell’s past is the same — it’s endlessly fascinating,” he explained.
“While I live in Oregon, these stories let me live in the past, connecting me now to where I’ve been.”
Wrangell History Unlocked features a variety of stories, many rooted from the late 1800s to the early 1900s.
While the history of the 1908 sinking of the cannery ship Star of Bengal or President Warren. G. Harding’s 1923 visit to Wrangell as part of his “Voyage of Understanding” have become more well known, Rooney’s first story, published in September 2020, concerned William King Lear, who owned Fort Wrangel (as it was spelled then) in the late 1800s.
He discovered that “King” was not a nickname, but a tribute to his father’s commanding officer William King, and the family name was Lear. It made Rooney wonder how much the name influenced his character.
“Here’s a guy in a little gold rush town, acting like a king, always wanting to be in charge. He really thought he ran the show and was angry when the Army returned and took over!”
Lear was a great start to unlocking stories about Wrangell. “He became one of the first settled old-timers in town, who had lived through so much of its history, who’d just seen everything. By following his story, I got to watch someone become a respected elder who had lived through all kinds of changes.”
The story of the 1869 Christmas Day bombardment of the Tlingit village by the U.S. Army changed the way Rooney physically understood the geography of Wrangell.
Before working on that story, “I had no sense of the village and the Tlingit people, where things were, who lived there.”
That story led to another pivotal understanding. He was invited to participate in the ceremonies surrounding the Army’s formal apology in January of this year in Wrangell.
In the program, he is listed as “historian.”
“I was so moved, it wasn’t how I described myself, it was given to me. I don’t have a Ph.D., my job isn’t in a museum or an archive. It was an honor.”
He also was honored in 2023 with the American Association for State and Local History Award of Excellence.
Rooney looks for the overlooked. People gather, rummage and play bingo at the Merlin Elmer Palmer American Legion Hall. Who, he wondered, was Mervin Elmer Palmer?
Unraveling the story of a Nebraska farm boy who had lived in Wrangell, a Marine who served bravely and died in World War I, was like “finding a friend,” he said.
“It was thrilling — he’s not a stranger any more, he belongs to me forever.” Finding the person behind the name was like “welcoming him back into the family.”
A favorite tale is just a beat in a larger story — the way Tlingit elder Shak-Ish-Tin would keep a supply of bone labrets (inserts in a lip piercing) on hand, which she would take out and sell to curious tourists.
“The joke is on the tourists. We love tourists, but they do come wanting something,” Rooney said. The story also reflects humor and laughter, elements that are sometimes overlooked in history.
“The pictures of the times required people to sit very still for some time, so everyone looks sober and solemn. But that’s not the whole picture.”
When writing about Native people or topics, he works to be sensitive.
“As a non-Native person, I had to find a way of talking about history. These are Wrangell stories for a Wrangell audience, so we’re talking about our own family history,” he said.
“It’s inescapable that the stories will be personally relevant to the audience. I know these will be deeply personal to people, so I do my best to elevate the voices in the historical record, to put them in conversation. It’s not about taking sides, but helping people understand the stakes in the past and to help people understand the circumstances they were thrust into.”
Rooney makes no money on his work, although he is considering some possible merchandising, just to get more things out into the world.
His biggest hope is that others tap into his histories to broaden their own expressions.
“I want people to find a way to incorporate these histories into their own livelihoods. History is so malleable, it can become a song, a painting, a destination. I hope a painter reading the website will be inspired to make art, or a tour guide finds interesting stories to share.”
While he usually is working on several stories at a time, he said the next probable podcast is based on a 1953 short story, “The Strangest Story Ever Told.” What exactly did some gold miners see in Thomas Bay? Catch that story, and many more, on Rooney’s website Wrangell History Unlocked.