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July 14, 2020

Seward may raze site tied to 1st Alaska flag

  • The city could remove hazardous materials and demolish two buildings, then construct a memorial.
    • By MARK THIESSEN
    Associated Press

    ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The fate of one of Alaska’s most historic yet neglected structures was before city officials on Monday in Seward. The city was expected to weigh whether to demolish a former Methodist boarding school where the Alaska territorial flag was first flown almost a century ago and where its Alaska Native designer lived.

    Benny Benson was among the orphans and displaced children who lived at the Jesse Lee Home, many of whom were sent there after the Spanish flu devastated Alaska Native villages. Benson, a 13-year-old Aleut boy sent to the home after his mother died of the flu, won a territory-wide contest in 1927 to design the flag, which became the state flag after statehood was granted in 1959.


     
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