History
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Known as the "Fighter in Velvet Gloves" for her powerful but graceful and dignified speaking skills, Elizabeth Peratrovich worked persistently to eliminate discrimination in Alaska. Her efforts culminated in powerful testimony before the 1945 Alaska Territorial Legislature about rampant racism in Alaska. That speech crowned years of work by her and other Alaska Native leaders and their allies, resulting in passage of America’s first comprehensive civil rights legislation since the Civil War. Governor Ernest Gruening signed the Anti-Discrimination Act into law on February 16, 1945, nearly 20 years before President Lyndon Johnson signed the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964.
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Juneau, Alaska · United States
