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Forest Service to dedicate Southeast Alaska Discovery Center Theater, unveil permanent exhibit in honor of Elizabeth Peratrovich KETCHIKAN, Alaska, Feb 9, 2017 – The U.S. Forest Service will dedicate the 210-seat theater within the Southeast Alaska Discovery
Center in honor of civil rights pioneer Elizabeth Peratrovich during a joint ceremony with the Alaska
Native Brotherhood (ANB) and Alaska Native Sisterhood (ANS), on Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017. The dedication is the result of more than a decade of collaboration between the Forest Service and the ANB and ANS, Camps 14 and 15, to help the communities of Ketchikan and Saxman come together
and celebrate Elizabeth Peratrovich Day. In addition to renaming the theater, a permanent exhibit will be unveiled which details the history of Elizabeth Peratrovich, and her work with the ANB and ANS to gain civil rights for all in Alaska.
Tongass National Forest Deputy Forest Supervisor Jason Anderson will be joined by ANB Grand Camp President Sasha Soboleff, ANS Grand Camp President Cecelia Tavoliero, Ketchikan Gateway Borough Mayor David Landis, and betsy Peratrovich,
granddaughter of Elizabeth Peratrovich, to speak during the ceremony. Actress Diane Benson,
For the Rights of All: Ending Jim Crow in Alaska, will also perform Ms. Peratrovich’s famous speech to the territorial Senate in 1945.
The dedication ceremony will be followed by an Elizabeth Peratrovich Day celebration, led by ANB and ANS, Camps 14 and 15.
Elizabeth Peratrovich was a prominent Alaska Native leader and civil rights activist who worked to gain equality for Alaska Natives in the early 1940’s and is credited with the passage of the Alaska Territory’s Anti-Discrimination
Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States.
Doors open and refreshments will be available at 5:30 pm. The ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. The Southeast Alaska Discovery Center is located at 50 Main Street in Ketchikan. The unveiling of the exhibit, performance by Diane Benson,
and Native dances performed during the celebration will be live cast via Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/TongassNF and Twitter at
https://twitter.com/tongassnf.
For more information contact the Southeast Alaska Discovery Center Assistant Director Travis Mason-Bushman at 907-228-6246 or email
travisamasonbushman@xxxxxxxxx. MEDIA
can RSVP for the event at 907-228-6201 or by email to paulrobbins@xxxxxxxxx. Space is limited.
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