Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, or Sitka Camp No. 1, is significant for being the original chapter of the
Alaska Native Brotherhood
The Alaska Native Brotherhood (ANB) and its counterpart, the Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), are two nonprofit organizations founded to address racism against Alaska Native peoples in Alaska. ANB was formed in 1912 and ANS founded three years lat ...
, an Alaska-wide Native organization. It is located on the waterfront in
Sitka, Alaska
Sitka (; ) is a municipal home rule, unified Consolidated city-county, city-borough in the southeast portion of the U.S. state of Alaska. It was under Russian America, Russian rule from 1799 to 1867. The city is situated on the west side of Ba ...
, on Katlian Street.
[
The two-story building, built in 1914, is of wood-frame construction, and is about wide and long. Most of its length extends out over water, supported on pilings. The roof is trimmed at front and back by plain ]bargeboard
A bargeboard or rake fascia is a board fastened to each projecting gable of a roof to give it strength and protection, and to conceal the otherwise exposed end grain of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof. The word ''bargeboard'' is pr ...
with seven unadorned corbel
In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal keyed into and projecting from a wall to carry a wikt:superincumbent, bearing weight, a type of bracket (architecture), bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in t ...
-like supports in the form of triangular struts. Architectural evidence suggests that the building has been altered and enlarged; adding the front quarter of the building and raising the roof to a full two stories probably occurred sometime after its original construction.[
The interior of the building is mainly taken up by a large two-story auditorium, with the stage at the rear (over the water). A narrow gallery, accessed by stairs within the auditorium space, wraps around its rear and side walls. The front of the building has a lobby area on the first floor, and office space for the Brotherhood on the second floor.][
The Alaska Native Brotherhood was founded in Sitka by Tlingit natives in 1912 as a vehicle to fight discrimination against them in restaurants and movie theaters. The organization, which now has a much broader membership across Alaska's many native groups, has been successful in bringing about significant changes for its members, including securing United States citizenship for Alaska natives and passage of the Alaska Historic Preservation Act.][
The hall was added to the ]National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...
in 1972[ and ] and was declared a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...
in 1987.
See also
*List of National Historic Landmarks in Alaska
The National Historic Landmarks in Alaska represent History of Alaska, Alaska's history from its Russian Alaska, Russian heritage to its statehood. There are 50 National Historic Landmarks (NHLs) in the state. The United States National Historic L ...
*
References
External links
Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, Sitka
at Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service.
{{National Register of Historic Places
Buildings and structures completed in 1914
Buildings and structures in Sitka, Alaska
Clubhouses on the National Register of Historic Places in Alaska
National Historic Landmarks in Alaska
Native American history of Alaska
1914 establishments in Alaska
Buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in Sitka, Alaska