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In 1988, the Alaska State Legislature established February 16 as “Elizabeth Peratrovich Day” in order to honor “her courageous unceasing efforts to eliminate discrimination and bring about equal rights in Alaska.”
Elizabeth Jean Peratrovich was of Tlingit descent, and was an important civil rights activist who worked tirelessly on behalf of equality for Alaska Natives. In the 1940’s, she was credited with advocacy that gained the passage of the territory’s Anti-Discrimination Act of 1945, the first anti-discrimination law in the United States.
Elizabeth Peratrovich was born on July 4, 1911 in Petersburg, Alaska and was a member of the Lukaax.adi clan, in the Raven moiety of the Tlingit nation. She grew up in Petersburg and Ketchikan and attended Sheldon Jackson College in Sitka, and the Western College of Education in Bellingham, Washington.
Elizabeth was married to Roy Peratrovich. They had three children, daughter Loretta, and sons Roy Jr. and Frank.
The Elizabeth Peratrovich Award was among several she received. This particular award was in her honor by the Alaska Native Sisterhood. In 1992, Gallery B of the Alaska House of Representatives chamber in the Alaska State Capitol was renamed in her honor. A documentary about Peratrovich’s groundbreaking civil rights advocacy premiered on October 22, 2009 at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention in Anchorage. A park named for Elizabeth and Roy Peratrovich is located in downtown Anchorage.
Please join us in celebrating Elizabeth Peratrovich Day on February 16th.
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