Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne was the first woman to run for the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives in the

Alaska Territory The Territory of Alaska or Alaska Territory was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from August 24, 1912, until Alaska was granted statehood on January 3, 1959. The territory was previously Russian America, 1784–1867; th ...

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 ...

, ''

America by Heart ''America by Heart: Reflections on Family, Faith, and Flag'' is the second book by Sarah Palin. It was released on November 23, 2010, and has been described as containing selections from Palin's favorite speeches, sermons, and inspirational works, ...

'', New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2010, p.148

Biography

Crystal Brilliant Snow Jenne was born in

Sonora, California Sonora is the county seat of Tuolumne County, California. Founded during the California Gold Rush by Mexican miners from Sonora (after which the city is named), the city population was 5,226 during the 2020 Census, an increase of 221 from the ...

on May 30, 1884.Cherry Jones, ''More than Petticoats: Remarkable Alaska Women'', TwoDot, 2006, pp. 74-8

/ref> In 1887, she migrated to the

with her parents, who worked as a troupe of actors to entertain the miners. As her father joined the Klondike Gold Rush, they moved to Circle City where her father built an opera house. After he found gold, they moved to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

, but they lost their money and returned to Alaska. After graduating from the

University of California at Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant uni ...

where she majored in Music, she taught in

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles ( Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its h ...

. From 1907 to 1908, she taught in

Douglas, Alaska Douglas is a community on Douglas Island in southeastern Alaska, directly across the Gastineau Channel from downtown Juneau. History Douglas Island was originally a border of the Auke people’s and Taku people’s territory. It was not usually ...

. She spent the next summer singing for miners in

Skagway The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal wit ...

Haines Haines may refer to: *Haines (surname), ''includes partial list of people with the surname'' * Haines (character), a character in James Joyce's ''Ulysses'' Places Antarctica * Haines Glacier, Antarctica * Haines Mountains, mountain range in Anta ...

Dawson Dawson may refer to: People and fictional characters *Dawson (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Dawson (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places Antarctica ...

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the ...

, Nome, etc. She then attended the Spencerian Commercial School in Cleveland, Ohio to study Business. She then taught in Skagway,

Sitka russian: Ситка , native_name_lang = tli , settlement_type = Consolidated city-borough , image_skyline = File:Sitka 84 Elev 135.jpg , image_caption = Downtown Sitka in 1984 , image_size ...

, and the

Mendenhall Valley The Mendenhall Valley (historically Mendenhall, colloquially The Valley) is the drainage area of the Mendenhall River in the U.S. state of Alaska. The valley contains a series of neighborhoods, comprising the largest populated place within the ...

. She moved back to

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and t ...

in 1914. She was married in 1916 and had three children. Her husband died in 1938. The next year, she published a volume of historical poetry. Meanwhile, she worked in church choirs, taught, and ran a flower shop. In 1934, she ran as a Democrat for the Alaska Territorial House of Representatives. She lost four races, and was elected in 1940, and reelected in 1942. She was a member of the Alaska Federation of Women's Clubs, the

Democratic Women's Club Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: ** Democratic Party (United States) (D) ** Democra ...

, the Juneau Women's Club, and the

National Business and Professional Women's Club National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland ...

. She died at the Sitka Pioneer Home on June 5, 1968.

Bibliography

* ''The Ghost of Old Juneau'' (1939)

References

External links

Crystal Jenne
at ''100 Years of Alaska's Legislature''
Crystal Snow and Monte Snow in theatrical costume
from Alaska's Digital Archives – photo of Crystal Snow and brother Montgomery Adolph "Monte" Snow (1882–1957) as young children, dressed in theatrical garb and striking poses {{DEFAULTSORT:Jenne, Crystal Snow 1884 births 1968 deaths 20th-century American politicians 20th-century American women politicians Alaska Democrats Burials at Evergreen Cemetery (Juneau, Alaska) Schoolteachers from Alaska 20th-century American women educators Members of the Alaska Territorial Legislature Musicians from Alaska People from Sitka, Alaska People from Sonora, California People from the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska People of the Klondike Gold Rush University of California, Berkeley alumni Women territorial legislators in Alaska Writers from Alaska Writers from California 20th-century American educators