A Schoolteacher in Old Alaska: The Story of Hannah Breece

I just finished this book, edited by Jane Jacobs. Hannah Breece taught in remote villages in the early 1900s in Alaska (okay, all of AK was remote then, and most of it still is now). She compiled her memoir from letters she wrote, so she left out a lot of details that would have been fascinating in a book but would have worried her family and friends at the time.



As a memoir, it's not very well put together, lacking a strong narrative flow, but the tidbits of information she shares are really interesting. She is quite determined to civilize the natives and keep alcohol out of Alaska, and some of her 'proper' ideas on things make for amusing reading when considered 100 years after the fact.



It's a good read with an enlightening look at early Alaska, and Breece's editor, her great-niece, did a great job of filling in as many blanks as she could.