Oral histories from early community health aide program in Alaska
March 19, 2021
Stories from Alaska's early community health aides, physicians and medical trainers
can be heard on the Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox website. The oral history interviews were conducted by Karen Brewster in 2005 and 2006 as
part of the oral history program at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library.Brewster interviewed some of the early community health aides, physicians and medical trainers around Alaska and put the interviews and related historic photographs and film online as the "Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox."
The interviews include discussions about the development and administration of the community health aide program, challenges of providing health care in one's home community with little to no training or pay, and personal experiences with treating patients, delivering babies, or responding to accidents or critical cases.
Most of the early health aides were Alaska Native women, with many of their children following in their footsteps to become healthcare professionals, including Carolyn Craig, current director of the Community Health Aide Program.
“My mother and mother-in-law were interviewed — Ella Craig, MSW, and Rose Winkelman, CHP," Craig said of the oral histories. "They are both deceased now but loved listening to their stories with the grandkids. They lived wonderful and productive lives right to the last. Mom was 98 and Rose 92."
The release of the modernized collection of community health aide oral histories — many of them shared by women — coincides with Women’s History Month. The Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox offers a history of the program through personal stories that may inspire young people to pursue health care careers and create a deeper appreciation for the service health aides provide.
For more information, email Karen Brewster at karen.brewster@alaska.edu.
