Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall
Encyclopedia
Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, or Sitka Camp No. 1, is significant for being the original chapter of the Alaska Native Brotherhood, an Alaska-wide native organization. It is located on the waterfront in Sitka, Alaska, in an area occupied by Tlingits since about 20 years "after being defeated by the Russians at the 1804 battle of Indian River."
According to the National Park Service:
The two story building is of wood frame construction approximately 40 x 60 feet, and most of its length extends out over water, supported on pilings. On the inside is an auditorium open to two stories, and front offices area on the 2nd floor. It has a tin-covered roof overhanging all four sides of the building. The roof is trimmed at front and back by plain bargeboard
with "seven unadorned corbel
-like supports in the form of triangular struts." Parts of the building are not original.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
in 1987.
According to the National Park Service:
The Tlingits founded the Alaska Native Brotherhood/Sisterhood Society in Sitka in 1912 to fight discrimination against Alaska's natives and to obtain recognition of their rights and compensation for their lands. In 1914 the Society built this large frame building as a meeting hall and headquarters. It remains a symbol of the political power the group attained.
The two story building is of wood frame construction approximately 40 x 60 feet, and most of its length extends out over water, supported on pilings. On the inside is an auditorium open to two stories, and front offices area on the 2nd floor. It has a tin-covered roof overhanging all four sides of the building. The roof is trimmed at front and back by plain bargeboard
Bargeboard
Bargeboard is a board fastened to the projecting gables of a roof to give them strength and to mask, hide and protect the otherwise exposed end of the horizontal timbers or purlins of the roof to which they were attached...
with "seven unadorned corbel
Corbel
In architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
-like supports in the form of triangular struts." Parts of the building are not original.
It was declared a National Historic Landmark
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark is a building, site, structure, object, or district, that is officially recognized by the United States government for its historical significance...
in 1987.
External links
- Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall, Sitka at Alaska Regional Office, National Park Service.