A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece

by Hannah Breece, Jane Jacobs (Editor)

When Hannah Breece came to Alaska in 1904, it was a remote lawless wilderness of prospectors, murderous bootleggers, tribal chiefs, and Russian priests.  She spent fourteen years educating Athabascans, Aleuts, Inuits, and Russians with the stubborn generosity of a born teacher and the clarity of an original and independent mind.  Jane Jacobs, Hannah's great-niece, here offers an historical context to Breece's remarkable eyewitness account, filling in the narrative gaps, but always allowing the original words to ring clearly.  It is more than an adventure   it is a powerful work of women's history that provides important--and, at times, unsettling--insights into the unexamined assumptions and attitudes that governed white settler's behavior toward native communities at the turn of the century.  

"An unforgettable...story of a remarkable woman who lived a heroic life."-- The New York Times

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Memoir, Biography, Adventure, Biography Memoir, American History

302 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jessaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

1909.I love reading books about Alaska, but I would never wanna live there unless it was just long enough to see the northern lights and short enough that I did not see a bear. This book sounded interesting, but it took me a while to realize that These were the government schools were they taught the native people English as well as tried to Civilized them, Meaning, make them into good little Americans.

Hanna The teacher who came to Alaska, seemed to really like the native people. I thought she was gutsy to travel there alone, and more gutsy to stay when she got up in the morning and her cabin was -45°And then she almost drowned twice and next both of her FEET

Turned black. Then 1 year there was what she called a FAMINE. For who? I do not know, but the native people were starving so she had 1 meal a day for the children and the adults. My mind ran like this. The fur traders killed all of the Animals, if not most. And the Indians did not make much by working at the factories. They had even sold their rifles for food. Need I say more?

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

A colleague suggested I might like this one to read after my recent, and first-time, trip to Alaska. And, though ordinarily I wouldn't have selected this genre, I was game to try it. This is a memoir of a fiesty woman's adventures as a government teacher in Alaska at the beginning of the last century. Interesting in form because it's not written contemporaneous with the experiences, but developed years afterwards in its crude form and reworked/restructured/edited by a relative at an even later time. There were times in reading it that I just had to cringe and grit my teeth: there's a patronizing, colonialist undertone that just is unacceptable to a modern liberal mind, all that burden of the white man (or in this case, woman) come to save the native from his or her own backwardness, etc. But, that's the time and Hanna's philosophy, methods, etc. are more seemingly benign than that of certain officials in charge of education at the time. If you can get beyond the "white superiority over native complex" you can see underneath a genuine love for people, their potential, and their surroundings. A first-hand, although somewhat repressed, look at the response to indigenous peoples and cultures in Alaska at the beginning of the 20th century. And, a statement of the determination and achievement of a remarkable American woman at the beginning of the 20th century.

[Joan Colby · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinatingly detailed account of Breece’s experience as a teacher in Alaska from 1904 to 1917. She was 45 with over 20 years experience as a teacher, some of it at Indian reservations, when she embarked on her Alaskan duties. Breece cheerfully endured many hardships and she details her lifestyle and that of the Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos. While she harbored the common opinions of her time about the role of the white man in “civilizing” the less fortunate races, her attitude toward the natives is always respectful and often admiring. This memoir was unpublished in her lifetime, as her niece Jane Jacobs who worked on it with her, had misgivings about her aunt’s ‘imperialist” beliefs. Jacobs later explains that she came to see Breece’s attitudes as a product of her generation, and she resolved not to make changes in the manuscript. However, Jacobs appends a lengthy explanation of matters that Breece either glossed over or didn’t treat in her memoir, such as her struggles with the Dept. of Interior bureaucracy and her fight against the whiskey sellers who sought to profit by plying the natives with liquor (which Breece calls “the curse of the North”.) I found the appendix to really be unnecessary—the interest is in Breece’s lively and colorful depiction of the villages in which she taught and the often perilous overland and sea journeys that she undertook.

[Helene · Rating 4 out of 5]

After making the mistake of NOT taking a book with me on my flight to Alaska, I was determined to have one for the trip back. I started reading another Alaskan memoir from the bookshelves at a B&B, but the bookstore did not have that memoir so I opted for this one. It ended up being a pretty fun read and a good way to learn more about Alaska. I was ready for a new, light genre and this fit the bill.

Hannah Breece was an experienced schoolteacher who felt called to go to the native peoples of Alaska. The preface by her great-niece, Jane Jacobs, gives a lot of insight into what the average person thought about the Alaskan people. Most people knew very little and what was written often was often very biased. And some things that Hannah believed would be considered very politically incorrect today, but in many cases she was ahead of her contemporaries.

She braved a lot of dangerous circumstances and terrain without any of the gear that we have today. And she had an amazing sense of calling, propriety and compassion that kept her going despite many discouraging situations.

What I found most interesting was reading Hannah's account and all her positive and courteous commentary. I was totally surprised by the actual accounts and background given by Jane Jacobs. It seems that for political reasons and for politeness sake, Hannah painted a far more rosy picture than what was true. In one way, it did take me back to a time when people were less likely to air all their dirty laundry...pre-Judge Judy era. The other side of the coin was very eye opening and leads me to read other accounts from this time with a little less gullibility.

[Mary-claire Meehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I thought it was a fascinating story and a particularly honest one. Hannah Breece, the woman whose story this is, is such a complicated individual, both a product and anomaly of her time. She is capable, brilliant, confident, superior, capital-P Patriotic, prejudiced and devoted to the interests and betterment of native Alaskans. It would have been easy to gloss over or omit the portions of her story that highlight the antiquated and ugly views she held of race, but that would have not been true to her story or her time. It instead exists intermingled with this woman who, at a time when most women were expected to marry, have children and spend their lives as homemakers, is setting broken bones in the Yukon and teaching everything from reading and math to hygiene and sewing. And in some of the harshest, most remote environments in America. What an amazing woman and what a fascinating snapshot of early Alaska. I definitely recommend this book.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The idea of a middle aged woman in the early 1900's going to Alaska to teach is very intriguing, which is why I bought this book. The hardship that she had to endure is amazing even if she had been younger and raised in that area. (She was raised in Southeastern Pennsylvania) The teaching conditions were awful and she had the typical one room school house ages and ability levels to deal with and few teaching tools. She did an amazing job teaching and helping them and their families. She was a teacher and a missionary all round into one woman.
Reading the foreword and the epilogue of this book was a must, which I found interesting. These gave you the background on her and the times that she was teaching in which in Alaska.
I recommend this book to any teacher, you will appreciate you job.

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone should be so lucky as to have a friend who owns a bookshop. I wander in now and then and as soon as she sees me she gets this little twinkle in her eye and darts behind the counter. When she emerges it is to plop a stack of books onto the counter that she knows will please me. I tell you, no one knows me like that woman. This book, A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The story of Hannah Breece was one such book. It is an autobiography but then is followed by a lengthy commentary by her great great or something niece who did some fact checking and archive sleuthing. The result of this combination is a great success. I have always been delighted to read about these intrepid women who wander the globe doing such well, manly, things. This educated, intelligent woman had herself some adventures up in frozen Alaska and all the while was educating and uplifting those in her charge. She was slightly fiesty but quite devoted to helping the humanity she encountered up there. She LIKED the people, she was awesome. If you like biographies of women doing courageous things, especially in extraordianry circumstances, you'll like this books. There are so many great photographs too. I do like those old photographs.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't the greatest BOOK in the world to read, but I loved the STORY of this adventurous woman that heads to Alaska in 1904 to teach children in extremely remote villages. She had some incredible experiences. I liked hearing about the people in the various places she taught--so many hardy people living in the middle of nowhere in the midst of such hardships. I admire them. There were also quite a few "characters" in those remote places.

The book is her memoir and is edited by her great-niece who clearly admired her aunt. The editor has a lot of lengthy end notes and other commentary at the end that put much of Hannah's story in historical and other perspective, but I found it hard to read back and forth. I think it would have been better if the editor could have found a way to meld the two together so you could read them contemporaneously. Anyway, I think I secretly crave an adventure like Hannah's. What a woman! :)

[Linnae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Hannah, a single middle-aged teacher who decided to answer the government's call for teachers in remote Alaskan villages. She was not only to teach English and other academic subjects, she was supposed to teach homemaking skills and hygiene. Her adventures, taken from journals and re-told by her granddaughter.

Having grown up in Alaska, I was highly interested in this biography when I happened upon it at my local library. It didn't disappoint. Hannah sounds like a gem of a person--kind-hearted and practical, yet formidable in her own way when she felt it was warranted. I even learned some things about my home state that apparently didn't sink in during those Alaskan history classes.

It may drag a bit at times for those less interested in Alaskan history, but the stories from Hannah's life will draw you right back in.

[Esther Mack]

This is difficult to rate. Why? Because there’s a lot of ways in which one could interpret this book. I chugged through the first half FAST when I bought this book in Juneau, Alaska this summer. But once I got past that stage, I realized this was becoming more and more historical dense. I don’t think I’m the fastest reader ever, but I do think I’m semi-well read, and there were A-LOT of words I did not know in this book (and not just because of native terminology/Russian). Which is great because I love learning! But also hard because there was a certain cerebral level to the text where I had to put on my academic brain. I leave this unrated because I truly think I would change my answer a little every day. But, I would highly recommend if you’re into history and pioneering women in education.

[Charlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this account of a pioneer teacher in the Alaskan territory. As a teacher, I felt rather wimpy about the things I complain about after reading of her many obstacles. You really have to read this book in "chunks" to get the whole story - Hannah's personal memoir, her great niece's interpreting the attitudes of the times, and the historical background notes. I found myself returning to different sections to get a complete understanding. Hannah was an amazing woman of faith who cared deeply about the native peoples, the Russians, and her fellow pioneers. She also struggled with the educational beaurocracy even back then! Having bought the book while vacationing in Alaska, it really helped me see some of this history of the area I was visiting.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this true life story of a middle aged teacher's adventures educating children in the wilds of Alaska in the early 1900's. Fascinating account of how the government assigned her to her positions and the support they provided. (I would not have expected our government back then to really care much for educating the citizens of such a primitive land. ) I wish I'd read this before I traveled to Alaska. It would have increased my appreciation of the towns we visited.

[Sherri · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a great find. Memoir of Hannah Breece who was a school teacher at the turn of the century when Alaska was a territory. Keeping in mind that she was already middle-aged when she set out on this adventure, the terrain and extreme temperatures, language barriers, this is an adventure read in itself.

[Erin Bottger (Bouma) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannah Breece, an adventurous 45-year-old spinster and dedicated schoolteacher, feels called to teach native children (Eskimo, Aleut, Indian) in Territorial Alaska. After years of teaching and a 2-year stint on a stateside Indian Reservation she lands an assignment with the Department of the Interior and boards a steamer north from Seattle. She spends the next 14 years (1904-1917) in several Alaskan locations with several schools.

This was during a period when the Russian influence was still quite strong in Alaska and there was a "polyglot population" of mixed educated and illiterate, native and white, frontier folk and colorful characters. It was also a society of "genuine chilvalry" of respect and protection that Hannah could depend on as she traveled around by dogsled, riverboats and foot trails in all weathers.

She saw her mission as bringing "the benefits of civilization" to the less fortunate and help them overcome "ignorance, poverty, disease and superstition." With a Christian perspective, she embraced her eager pupils (and their families) and admired the inventiveness of their culture to devise transport, shelter, tools and clothing out of simple raw materials.

Her first years she was stationed in a semi-settled area where the Aleutian chain connects to the mainland. It was probably a good place to familiarize herself as there was already an established school there serving an Aleut village and a Russian one. Friends in Seattle sent clothing donations for the native children and they were bathed (in the banya) and taught basic hygiene, allowing for a new level of coexistence. Then Hannah turned her attention to upgrading the building and educational materials. She also began feeding the hungry Aleut pupils which allowed them to learn twice as fast.

"Even when children learn eagerly, it is hard for them to unlearn things that have been ground in since infancy. I prided myself that they had learned the government of the United States was their government, and that it was headed by the president, who was elected by the people. we voted in school from time to time about what should be done, so they had the concept of voting.

"One day, wording my query a little differently from the form I had previously used, I asked, "Who says which manshall be president of the united states?" With one accord they chorused, "The Czar!"

I personally found the descripions of the Russian impact and surviving customs in Alaska interesting as I, myself, taught English for 23 years in Moscow. I could also relate to being a "foreigner" in the midst of a different culture and loving my students (and their families) with all my heart.

But Hannah's real heart was to go inland and serve villages which had no schools. It took several years for her to get the chance and she battled with the Dept. of the Interior Bureau of Education and various negative forces who resisted giving her a freer hand to accomplish what she could. Much of this is related by her great niece, Jane Jacobs, who published the memoir after Hannah's death. Jane herself wrestled with letting Hannah tell her own story unedited, because it seemed to her, a century later, that her aunt was less than enlightened on multiculturalism.

Everywhere she went, Hannah came across permanent American residents of all sorts. On one visit to Kodiak she writes: "I received a warm welcome at the wharf from friends I had never met but who knew of me. In Alaska everyone was your friend and interested in you, and I was interested in everyone. Among people who were away from much of civilization, and perhaps isolated for periods of the year, stronger friendships could form in a month that would develop in years where there was much that was distracting and artificial."

Along with such pleasures were plenty of dangers. One in partucular she relates:
"In mid-April summer trails were not yet passable, so my trip to the head of the bay was by a different route than I had previously traveled... Normally, we would have set off by dogsled but on account of the strange weather the trail was too soft. So the trip was to be a six-mile walk, starting at two in the morning. I was not looking forward to that slog through the slush, but it turned out to be an unexpected joy. (She met a fellow Pennsylvanian with mutual friends back home during breakfast).

"On this winter trail there were three dangerous stretches. The first was a three-hundred-foot ascent, which was called a precipice, although I would call it an extremely steep mountain ledge. A heavy rope had been fastened from top to bottom for travelers to cling to. However, the rope was buried many feet under the snow because the trails were so poor there had been little travel. So the rope was useless to us. Owing to the cold winds in the canyon, the snow was topped by a hard crust and the ledge looked like a wall of marble. When I realized I must climb it I wondered how in the world I could; and after getting to the top I wondered how I did."

Fortunately, her guide held her hand all the way while he chiseled out steps for her to ascend until they reached the top, exhausted. Then he told her to stay put while he retraced his steps down to join the men with dogs and baggage below. It took another two hours for them to work their way up a more gradual trail.

Meanwhile, Hannah "experienced some states of mind hard to describe. Of course, first there was the view: one mountain peak beyond another, some jagged and sharp, others rounded and dome-like. A sky of gray, an earth of marble. Such a space demonstrates the utter smallness of one human being. It is one thing to say this, but to actually feel it is devastating. A desolating loneliness filled my soul. This was followed by fear. I wondered if wolves would appear. With an effort I shook that off and with all my will I determined to enjoy this splendor on the top of the earth so that the wait would become a memory of wonder and pleasure instead of a lonely horror to disturb my dreams."

Ahead of her on the trail still lay a dangerous two-mile stretch of a gorge-like pass threatened with avalances. As the party traversed it, no one spoke a word. The last danger was another two-mile stretch, this time on the river where the ice was broken in many places and nowhere was completely safe so they had to feel their way across. The cabin destination at the head of the bay looked like a mansion to Hannah, and they ate their first meal of the day, before the guides had to turn around and return to their village before nightfall.

This tells you something more about the courage and faith of this middle-aged woman who gave up comfort and security to serve others. A forward-thinking woman of her times, she can't be faulted for writing: "I have always been careful when working among inferior races to convey to them that I have their interests at heart and love and respect them as people, but that I do not come among them to sink to their level but to uplift them. If that standard cannot be adhered to, little can be done to improve their lives... I want them to realize I have faith that the ability is within them to improve themselves and their lives and their children's lives."

Indeed, Hannah fought the alcoholism rampant among native populations and went to court to testify against whites exploiting them. Jane Jacobs uncovered these details that Hannah left out. "Hannah put her memoir together from letters to family and friends. Perhaps she had not wanted to alarm or distress her correspondents-- just as she omitted all references to her fears, approaching dispair, in her second winter at Iliamna. But I suspect that her main reason was that she could hardly describe these events without reference to the demoralized and pitiable condition, at the time, of so much of the native population in Ft. Yukon, and she was determined that she, for one, was not going to provide handles that would be easily seized by the very kinds of racists and bigots she was now engaged in battling."

The book is filled with interesting details, history, humor and social and personal challenges. It contains two fine maps of locations visited and many photos which bring the story to life. It's a book I will not soon forget, nor the intrepid character and life of Hannah Breece.

[Anna K Baskaran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun to read a book about a teacher who spent time on islands I know and love 100 years ago!

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a schoolteacher (with some wonderful teaching ideas) in Alaska in the past century. Many reminders of the gorgeous scenery in Alaska, also tales of the hardships of that land and especially that time. Many wonderful laughing moments, a few tears, and lots of lovely characters.

[Katie Mathews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really interesting book but written in a somewhat un-engaging manner.

[Jill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since I'm currently fascinated with both Alaska and urban-planning activist/star Jane Jacobs, this was pretty much the perfect read for me. Jane Jacobs (who wrote poetry as a girl!) edited this autobiographical account of her great-aunt Hannah Breece's years teaching in Alaska in the early 20th century. Breece worked as a government teacher in various settlements/villages across Alaska, mostly around and just north of the Kodiak archipelago, but also in Fort Yukon further north and, towards the end of her account, in the lower part of Alaska, which she touches on only briefly. Jacobs wrote the foreword, her own account of Breece, and an epilogue detailing Jacobs' travels to more current-day Alaska to see the communities/places where Breece worked.

Jacobs also includes a final chapter called "Puzzles, Tangles, and Clarifications," where she describes research she did to flesh out some interesting gaps in Breece's story -- just why were there reindeer stations and what was the deal with the obnoxious reindeer superintendent? who was the mysterious monk "Gregory" a native referred to? -- and some real bureaucratic difficulties that Breece glossed over in the interest of propriety. Jacobs does a good job of contextualizing Breece's narrative, particularly the racist underpinnings of the educational system Breece was part of. Jacobs' writing, of course, sparkles, and the balance between Breece's storytelling and Jacobs' commentary is a pleasure to read.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great combination of first hand story and historical context for schoolteacher's Hannah Breece's years in Alaska teaching in small Native American/mixed villages 1904 - 1917. As Hannah's great-niece author Jane Jacobs identifies in the prologue and post-story "Puzzles, Tangles and Clarifications," Hannah was a product of both her cultural and political/government times, and it's interesting to view her memoir in that context of the norms she aligned with, and those that she admirably pushed back on. An excellent entry into how white settlers have treated Native Americans in both personal relations and public policy through the lens of a single, extraordinary woman and the backdrop of nature's magnificence and peril in Alaska.

When there is a memoir with prologue and post-script, I tend to skip those and just read the memoir because the former tend to be dull. In this case, it's the combination of the two that make the book particularly thought-provoking, and I recommend reading it all.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ultimate Reading Challenge 2016. A book whose protagonist has the same occupation as you.

Hannah Breece was a schoolteacher in Alaska from 1904 to 1918. I was particularly interested in this book because my Great Grandfather's sister, Emily B. Park, a schoolteacher, was according to family legend one of the first schoolteachers in Alaska. I have discovered that she went to Alaska in 1898 and is listed in the 1900 census as a cook living with two men who were miners in Rampart, Alaska. At that time there was a gold rush in that part of Alaska. Many years later Emily's nephew, Bill Park, was a schoolteacher in Alaska and sent home wonderful letters and postcards to the children in the family about his adventures.

IF you read this book, you need to remember the time in which Hannah lived and the prevalent attitudes of HER time not yours. This book does not meet the political correctness of today.

[Mark Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book for the right reader. Set in the period of 1900 to World War I, the book traces a teachers efforts to civilize northern Alaska villages. It actually deals little with actual children or classroom settings and much more with her efforts to work with village adults. This book would be great for people interested in Alaskan history or even better, those interested in surviving in the Alaska wilderness. This teacher who lived to be 81 was certainly amazing in her bravery to tackle the Alaskan wilderness.

[Patricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of friends, most of whom are readers, took a tour of Alaska in August of 2012. At the many gift shops we walked through most of us purchased at least one book. We are now sharing the stories. This one was purchased by very special friend who is a home economics teacher. I could see many comnalities between my friend and Hannah Breese, the teacher whose memoirs have been edited by her niece Jane Jacobs. Hannah was a very brave woman. she was 45 in 1904 when she took the challenge to teach in the remote regions of Alaska. She was paid to teach children, but in fact she taught whole families.

I want to read more about this remarkable woman and I have placed a visit the remote islands in the Kodiak region on my bucket list.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

a Memoir by Hanna Breece, edited by Jane Jacobs, published 1995. Hanna Breece was asked by the US Government to go to Alaska to teach school in small villages beginning in 1904. This book is her reflections as edited by her great Niece, Jane Jacobs. Breece taught Aleuts, Eskimos, Russians who were still remaining from when Alaska belonged to Russia, and the assortment of other nationalities who ended up in Alaska after the initial gold rush. I enjoyed reading this book about Alaska 100 years ago and the challenges that Breece had to face to teach. Bears, Blizzards, lack of food, barely adequate supplies, and minimal school rooms. Checked out of the Provo Library.

[Laurie Kutil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the challenges of educating children at the turn of the 20th Century. It's especially difficult in Alaska, which still mainly consisted of small, isolated settlements that were hard to get to under the best of circumstances. Hannah made a difference in Alaska, and I was glad her story made it to book form.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such an unexpected book from a great writer and thinker and a true insight into how 'ordinary' lives are filled with mystery and magic. A bequest leads one of the great urban thinkers to one of the great wildernesses to understand how people choose to live.

[Julie Lizcano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannah Breece came to Alaska in 1904. she spent 14 years in a remote region of Alaska teaching Aluets,Kenais, and Athabaskans. She survived and succeeded in a primitive, harsh land without electricity or other modern conveniences.

[Summer · Rating 3 out of 5]

In 1904 Hannah moved to Alaska to become the school teacher. She was a 45 year old single woman. I love stories about strong, independent women.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed all the history and information from firsthand perspective.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting stories and fascinating information about her work in Alaska! Although I started to lose interest towards the end.

[Chloe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good early history of Alaska - makes me want to go there someday.