Serbs in Alaska
Members of the Serbian Society in Juneau in 1928
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|
| Regions with significant populations | |
|---|---|
| Juneau, Sitka, Fairbanks, Ketchikan | |
| Languages | |
| English, Serbian | |
| Religion | |
| Serbian Orthodox | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Serbian American, Montenegrin Americans, Serbian Canadians |
Alaskan Serbs are a subgroup of Serbian Americans who have settled in the state of Alaska.
Serbs (and Montenegrins) have lived in Alaska since the earliest days of American settlement in the 19th century. Many Serbs came in the Klondike Gold Rush in the late 1890s to seek fortune, just like they had done in the earlier California Gold Rush.
The primary areas of Serbian and Montenegrin settlement were Juneau, Fairbanks, and Sitka. Many Serbs settled in the Canadian Yukon during the gold rush as well, such as legendary prospector Black Mike Vojnić.
In 1893, Serbian miners in Alaska built the Orthodox Church in Juneau alongside the native Orthodox Tlingit people, who had been converted to Orthodoxy by the Russians decades before.. By World War I there were two Serbian societies established in Juneau for the preservation of Serbian customs and heritage in Alaska. In 1905 a newspaper called "The Serbian Montenegrin" was founded in Douglas.
Serbs also made up a large amount of the miners at the Treadwell gold mine until its collapse in 1917 and subsequent closure in 1922. In 1907, during the union conflicts involving the Western Federation of Miners, two Serb miners were killed in an underground shaft; one was a union member, one was not. The funeral procession for the nonunion man was accompanied by a march from the Serbian Slavonic Hall and they ran into the union group of Serbs. The union Serbs demanded the nonunion deceased not be buried in the same cemetery, and some two hundred Serbs of both sides filled the streets. The U.S. Marshal and neutral townsmen had to calm the group in order for the funeral procession to continue. In 1910, there was a massive explosion on the 1,100 foot level of the Mexican mine at Treadwell. 39 men were killed, 17 of whom were Serbian.
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Wikipedia