KENAI — Organizers on the Kenai Peninsula are putting together a conference marking the 150th anniversary of America’s purchase of Alaska from Russia.
With just over four months until the event, lead organizer Shana Loshbaugh said they are still gathering presenters and planning activities, the Peninsula Clarion reported.
“It’s progressing,” she said. “Right now we have more things going on on the central peninsula, and we also have things rolling now in Homer. We have a lot of irons in the fire and things aren’t not really nailed down yet.”
The conference celebrating the 1867 purchase of Alaska will feature presentations that focus on Alaska Native history, Russian culture and U.S. presence in Alaska. It could also include documentary screenings and boat tours, Loshbaugh said.
Organizers have issued a call for submissions for anyone who wants to give a presentation at the event. Loshbaugh said organizers have been in contact with potential presenters, including a Russian language researcher who is studying the Ninilchik dialect. Historian Andrei Znamenski of the University of Memphis will deliver the keynote speech. Znamenski translated the journals of Kenai-area missionaries who worked among the Dena’ina people of Southcentral Alaska in a 2003 book.
The conference scheduled for April 21 and 22 at Kenai Peninsula College in Soldotna will be one of several events celebrating the 150th anniversary next year, including concerts in Anchorage, an art walk in Sitka and a statue dedication in Juneau.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources’ Office of History and Archaeology is providing grants to organizations celebrating the historic purchase. The conference organizers are also relying on volunteers and financial support from other sources.
“We have a whole lot of promising leads that we are following at this time, and we have more and more people that are contacting us with ideas and also offering to help us,” Loshbaugh said.
