Robert Neil DeArmond (September 29, 1911 – November 26, 2010) was an American

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

who specialized in the

history of Alaska The history of Alaska dates back to the Upper Paleolithic period (around 14,000 Anno Domini, BC), when Hunter-gatherer, foraging groups crossed the Beringia, Bering land bridge into what is now western Alaska. At the time of European contact by ...

, especially the

Alaska Panhandle Southeast Alaska, often abbreviated to southeast or southeastern, and sometimes called the Alaska(n) panhandle, is the southeastern portion of the U.S. state of Alaska, bordered to the east and north by the northern half of the Canadian provi ...

. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, DeArmond wrote several historical columns for southeast Alaska publications; these included ''Days of Yore'', ''Gastineau Bygones'', and ''News of the Gold Camp''. He lived 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 ...

, and continued to write until his death.

Early life and education

DeArmond was born in

, and raised there and in

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, Washington, Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia ...

. He graduated from

Stadium High School Stadium High School is a public high school located in the Stadium District near downtown Tacoma, Washington. A historic landmark, the original building opened as a school in 1906 after conversion of an uncompleted railway hotel project. The ...

in 1930. He worked in a

salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...

cannery Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container ( jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although unde ...

in the summer of 1930, and later received a reporting job for the ''Stroller's Weekly'' in

Juneau Juneau ( ; ), officially the City and Borough of Juneau, is the capital of the U.S. state of Alaska, located along the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle. Juneau was named the capital of Alaska in 1906, when the government of wha ...

. In 1931, he traveled by rowboat from Sitka to Tacoma;DeArmond, R. N
Bob DeArmond Biography
Alaska State Library Historical Collections, February 2003 DeArmond wrote a book about his travel, ''A Voyage in a Dory'', in 1999. He spent a year at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...

. At age 15, he contributed a design for the

flag of Alaska The flag of the U.S. state of Alaska displays eight gold stars, forming the Big Dipper and Polaris, on a dark blue field. The Big Dipper is an asterism in the constellation Ursa Major, which symbolizes a bear, indigenous to Alaska. As depicte ...

contest in 1927; it is housed in the

Alaska State Museum The Alaska State Museum is a museum in Juneau, Alaska, United States. The museum's collections include cultural materials from the people of the Northwest Coast ( Tlingit, Haida and Tsimshian), the Athabascan cultures of Interior Alaska, the In ...

Career

DeArmond returned to Sitka after college. There, he worked in the fishing industry for 12 years. In 1938 he helped found the city of

Pelican, Alaska Pelican () is a small town in the northwestern part of Chichagof Island in Hoonah-Angoon Census Area in the U.S. state of Alaska. Pelican was founded in 1938 by fish buyer Charlie Raatikainen who established the town as a business venture to s ...

, where he served as a storekeeper and the

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

. The DeArmond family moved to

Ketchikan, Alaska Ketchikan ( ; ) is a city in and the borough seat of the Ketchikan Gateway Borough on Revillagigedo Island of Alaska. It is the state's southeasternmost major settlement. Downtown Ketchikan is a National Historic Landmark District. With a p ...

, in 1944, and Robert returned to journalism. He worked for the '' Ketchikan Daily News'', the ''

Juneau Empire The ''Juneau Empire'' is a newspaper in Juneau, Alaska, United States. It publishes Wednesdays and Saturdays. History The newspaper was founded on November 2, 1912, as the ''Alaska Daily Empire''. It was founded by John Franklin Alexander ...

'' and other publications in covering the Alaska Territorial Legislature. DeArmond was a prolific history writer for regional publications. Over 700 of his columns were put in the online Digital Bob project, sponsored by the Juneau-Douglas City Museum, beginning in 2004. DeArmond worked for territorial governor

B. Frank Heintzleman Benjamin Franklin Heintzleman (December 3, 1888 – June 24, 1965) was an American forester who spent much of his career supporting the development of Alaska Territory. Following a career with the United States Forest Service he was appointed Go ...

in the 1950s and lived in

during this time.

Family

He was married to artist

Dale DeArmond Dale Burlison DeArmond (July 2, 1914 – November 21, 2006) was an American printmaker and book illustrator. Life Dale F. Burlison was born in Bismarck, North Dakota, and met Robert Neil DeArmond, a native of Sitka, Alaska, while they were c ...

née Burlison, who died on November 21, 2006. They married in 1935 and had two children, William and Jane. DeArmond died on November 26, 2010, in

Bibliography

*''The Founding of Juneau'' (1967) *(with Evangeline Atwood) ''Who's Who in Alaskan Politics'' (1977)

References

External links

The Bob DeArmond Alaska History Project
* {{DEFAULTSORT:DeArmond, Robert Neil 1911 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American historians American reporters and correspondents Editors of Alaska newspapers Historians of Alaska People from Juneau, Alaska People from Ketchikan, Alaska People from Sitka, Alaska Writers from Alaska Stadium High School alumni