Alaska State Museum, Juneau

With the limited time we have in museums, I try to pick out a few interesting facts at each.  Here are my highlights from this visit:

• I saw a Prisoner of War tag on display and on the back it reads (in German, Italian and Japanese) "...each prisoner of war will be tagged (loop cord around neck) . Prisoners of war will be warned not to mutilate, destroy or lose their tags.  NO TAG- NO FOOD.  On the front you were to list the date of capture, place and unit making the capture.
• Governor John G. Brady was a neglected street urchin (according to the display!) in New York, was adopted and introduced to books and discipline.  He graduated Yale, attended Union Theological Seminary and started a Presbyterian mission for Native boys in Sitka.  As a former educator, Brady felt the establishment of educational institutions in Alaska was vital to provide intellectual stimulation for residents and help attract developers.  Brady is a big reason why education is accessible in Alaska.
• In the mouths of bowhead, humpback and other baleen whales, baleen plates filter plankton and small fish from seawater for the whales to eat.  Northern Eskimos, the "Inupiat" cut the baleen into strips and wove it into fishnets and lines.  They also shaped small dishes and drinking cups from this flexible material.  I thought the baskets (very expensive in museum shops) were made from grass until I read this!
• The samovar was a welcome reminder of home to those stationed at frontier outposts of Russian America.  Burning charcoal placed inside, heated water for the beverage of choice,which was traditionally tea.
• On March 30, 1867, Russia sold Alaska for $7,200,000.00 to the United States. It was previously referred to as Russian America.  The United States didn't pay up until almost a year later due to staunch opposition and preoccupation of the House of Representatives with impeachment proceedings against President Andrew Johnson.
• The actual receipt of purchase is on display in the museum.  During the Clinton administration there was a challenge to the purchase launched by Russia, and they had to locate the receipt in the archives!
• In 1927, 13 year old Benny Benson was awarded 1st Place for his design of a territorial flag for Alaska.  The American Legion sponsored the contest for Alaska school children. Benny was the son of a Swedish fisherman and an Aleut-Russian mother.