Elizabeth Peratrovich Day is Feb. 16, honoring Native rights activist Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich of the Tlingit Nation who championed equal rights and whose testimony paved the way for the Alaska Anti-Discrimination Act passed by the territorial Legislature in 1945.
In Wrangell, Tlingit storyteller and language expert Virginia Oliver is teaching schoolchildren at Evergreen Elementary, Stikine Middle and Wrangell High School about Peratrovich, who was born in Petersburg in 1911, and lived part of her life in Angoon.
“Alaska Native children were not able to attend school and eat in the same restaurant (as whites),” Oliver said last Thursday. “They are able to do it now because Elizabeth Peratrovich fought for their rights. (Feb. 16) is also the anniversary of the signing of the anti-discrimination act.”
Oliver said after Peratrovich married Roy Peratrovich in 1933, “they moved to Juneau and they wanted to rent a home there, and they were told they were not allowed to live or rent in a non-Native district. She said ‘WHAT!?’ So she joined the Alaska Native Sisterhood, he joined the Native Brotherhood so they could have a playing field to fight for our rights. They were paying school taxes, but the children weren't allowed to go to school.”
Oliver organized a contest with high school and middle school students to make a poster about the activist. The contest runs to Feb. 25. Oliver said the Wrangell Cooperative Association donated money for a first prize of $75, second prize of $50, and a third prize of $25.
On the intercom during announcements at school each day, a student has been sharing a different fact about Peratrovich, who is considered the face of civil rights in Alaska. In 2020, the U.S. Mint issued five million $1 coins honoring the activist.
The Alaska Legislature in 1988 designated Feb. 16 of each year to honor Peratrovich, who died in 1958.
“Elizabeth Wanamaker Peratrovich left behind a strong and inspiring legacy, and will forever be a woman of distinction, exceptional courage, and a beacon of hope to many,” Gov. Mike Dunleavy wrote in a proclamation. “Each year on February 16, we honor and celebrate her life and her contributions to freedom and equality. This is a day for all people to reaffirm belief in the principles of social equality and respect for all.”
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