On Sept. 27, the Anchorage Daily News ran a column, written by local historian David Reamer, sharing the stories of the names behind many Anchorage schools. “Many Anchorage schools are named after people,” he wrote, “Here’s who those people were.” It’s a list made up primarily of men — early homesteaders, explorers, politicians, a small handful of educators, even a notorious bootlegger. Notably absent are women and people of color and Benny Benson, who designed our state flag, is the only indigenous person honored on this list of Anchorage school names.
On Sept. 28, the Anchorage Daily News ran an article on a current school naming effort: “Effort to rename Anchorage’s East High after Betty Davis complicated by pushback from some in the school community.” I hope that this “pushback” does not prevail. Honoring the late state senator and school board member, Bettye Davis, by adding her name to East High School is a great idea!
I graduated from East High in 1991, and I am glad to have attended a school whose student population expresses the great diversity of backgrounds in our community. This diversity is an often celebrated strength of Anchorage. Yet, when I look around our community I do not see this same diversity in our systems of power and representation. Bettye Davis was a rare exception — a Black woman serving as an elected leader. Honoring Bettye Davis through cobranding East is a long overdue acknowledgement of all Black, indigenous, people of color who have worked to make Anchorage a great community. It brings to foreground a story that has not been told often enough through place names in our town. The renaming of East to Bettye Davis East High School is a small step in the right direction. It’s a step that needs to happen and to keep happening.
Tanya Iden
Anchorage
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