New book on Elizabeth Peratrovich

February 13, 2019

University Relations

The University of Alaska Press has released "Fighter in Velvet Gloves: Alaska Civil Rights Hero Elizabeth Peratrovich," by Annie Boochever with Roy Peratrovich, Jr.

As a young Tlingit girl from southeast Alaska, the stinging racism of the "No Natives Allowed!" signs made Elizabeth Peratrovich determined to work for change.

In 1945, when she was 34 years old, Pertrovich gave a powerful speech before a packed session of the Alaska Territorial Legislature. Her testimony about the evils of racism crowned years of work by Alaska Native peoples and their allies, and led to passage of Alaska's landmark Anti-Discrimination Act, nearly two decades before President Lyndon Johnson signed the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Today, Alaskans honor Elizabeth Peratrovich every year on Feb. 16. Annie Boochever worked with Elizabeth Peratrovich’s eldest son, Roy Peratrovich Jr., to bring her story to life in the first book written for young teens on this remarkable Alaska Native woman.

For more information about this title and many more please visit www.uapress.alaska.edu or call 800-621-2736.