We’re proud to have a duo of historians discuss the flu pandemic of 1919.  Tim Troll will first share a brief film, Bristol Bay Remembers:  The Great Flu of 1919, and photographs from the U.S. Revenue Cutter Unalga that responded first in Unalaska and later in Bristol Bay.  From there, Katie Ringsmuth will discuss how Bristol Bay was the last manifestation of the Spanish influenza outbreak in Alaska.  Her presentation will share the story of how salmon canneries on the Naknek River responded to the pandemic while local communities, hit hard by the disease, survived to give birth to Bristol Bay’s future generations.  She will also share a sneak peek of the Mug Up exhibition, slated to open at the Alaska State Museum in 2002.  This is the first talk in the Cook Inlet Historical Society’s 2020-2021 Speaker Series, “Disasters.”  All presentations will be free and open to the public; advance registration is required to receive the link via Zoom.

In addition to teaching US and Alaska History at the University of Alaska Anchorage, Dr. Katie Ringsmuth is the founder of Tundra Vision and the director of the NN Cannery History Project, which, in collaboration with the Alaska State Museum, is developing the exhibition Mug Up:  The Language of Work, the first museum exhibition to tell the story of Alaska’s salmon canneries through the perspective of the diverse cannery community.

Tim Troll came to Alaska as a VISTA volunteer lawyer in 1978.  He is currently executive director of the Bristol Bay Heritage Land Trust, an organization he helped found in 2000.  The Trust has conserved 36,000 acres of salmon habitat in Bristol Bay.  The Trust is also a sponsor of the NN Cannery History Project.

Cook Inlet Historical Society - The 1919 Spanish Flu In Southwest Alaska: Bristol Bay And Unalaska