Ketchikan, Alaska

School Desegregation and Civil Rights Stories:
Ketchikan, Alaska

Irene Jones was a young girl, born of mixed Alaska Native and white heritage. She lived in the City of Ketchikan, Alaska. In 1929 at the age of 12, she tried to attend her local public school. She had all of the qualifications of children who are entitled to admission and are admitted to the public school under Alaskan law. Irene was a very bright and engaging student. She started attending classes at the Ketchikan school on September 3, 1929, and was a delight to her new teacher. However, two days later she was sent home by the Superintendent on the grounds that she was of Indian descent and that she and "all of her kind should go to the Indian schoo.l" Her parents made numerous pleas to the Ketchikan School Board, but to no avail. On September 10, 1929 they filed a suit on Irene's behalf for her to be admitted to the local public school.

In 1905 Congress established a territorial school system in Alaska to provide education for "white children and children of mixed blood who lead a civilized life." Based on this law, the legislature of Alaska established a system of free schooling for children within its jurisdiction and did not make a distinction in regard to race or color. The 1905 congressional act also mandated that education of the Eskimos and Indians in Alaska remain under the direction and control of the U.S. government, Secretary of Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs. The City of Ketchikan established a school system where white and mixed blood students attended schools together. However on December 7, 1928, the Ketchikan School Board adopted a resolution that modified this system. This rule said that the Ketchikan School Board would accept only those students in its locality "who are not acceptable to the United States Bureau of Education." This meant that the School Board would no longer accept any child of Indian or Alaska Native descent, including those of mixed blood. Why did the School Board do this? Did the School Board have the legal right to do this?

Irene Jones' attorney sought answers to these questions. He argued that the School Board violated rights provided Irene under the 14th Amendment. He presented evidence which showed that Mr. A. E. Karnes, the Superintendent of Ketchikan School District, led the effort to pass the December 7, 1928, School Board resolution to prevent children of native descent from attending Ketchikan schools. Mr. Karnes was also reported to have said to Irene: "We will get rid of all the other Native children too." Irene's attorney also gave other examples which showed that a school district could not override the laws of a state legislature or Congress. As a result, federal district judge Justin W. Harding ruled that the Ketchikan School Board had discriminated against Irene Jones and that its December 7th resolution was not valid. In his final decision on November 29, 1929, Judge Harding ordered that Irene be admitted to the public school and that the School Board pay her attorney's fees.

Documents and Photographs

Ketchikan School Building, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Historical Album Bureau of Education, RG 75, National Archives Pacific Alaska Region. View larger image	Ketchikan Village, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Historical Album of Bureau of Education, RG 75, National Archives Pacific Alaska Region. View larger image
Petition to the Court, Irene Jones v. R. V. Ellis et al, U.S. District Court, RG 21, National Archives Pacific Alaska Region, page 1 View larger image	Petition to the Court, Irene Jones v. R. V. Ellis et al, page 2 View larger image

Other School Desegregation and Civil Rights Stories:

• Pulaski County, Virginia, 1947. An effort by the NAACP to achieve equal schools for African American.
• Claymont, Delaware. On site viewing of "A Separate Place", the story of the education of African Americans in Delaware following the Civil War and through Belton v. Gebhart.
• South Carolina (Briggs v. Elliott). Explore the case of the courageous Reverend J.A. Delaine and the NAACP's efforts to end segregation in South Carolina public schools.
• Girard College, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1965. A fourteen year struggle to end segregation is accomplished by William T. Coleman, a main architect of the legal strategy leading to the Brown v. Board decision.
• Chicago, Illinois. Student School Boycott, 1965
• Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library. Examine President Eisenhower's decisions on the Little Rock, Arkansas crisis.
• John F. Kennedy Presidential Library. Explore Civil Rights history during the Kennedy Administration.
• Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library. Explore Civil Rights at "LBJ for Kids".