It was on July 9, 1927, almost a hundred years ago, that Benny Benson ran the very first Alaska flag up a flagpole. He was the 14-year-old Alaska Native student, who won a statewide contest for the flag’s iconic design –- eight stars of gold on a field of blue.
The Qawalangin Tribe of Unalaska has passed a resolution to address the racial discrimination Benson experienced as a child growing up in an orphanage in Unalaska, and later at the Jesse Lee Home in Seward.
“I do think it's real important that the story gets out. We've only got about two years before the 100-Year Anniversary,” said Dr. Michael Livingston, a historian and member of the tribe. Livingston drafted the resolution.
“We've forgotten some of the terrible things that happened almost 100 years ago. I think people need to know that part of the story, if for no other reason, to respect how brave and strong Benny was,” Livingston said.
When Benny Benson entered the contest, he was in the seventh grade and lived at the Jesse Lee Home in Seward. Although he came in third place in the local competition, his design was included with those that were sent to Juneau for the statewide contest.
Livingston says the Seward organizers did not want an Alaska Native to win and pressured him to drop out. But out of 142 student entries submitted in the state contest, Benson’s design rose to the top. The seven judges neither knew the names of the students, nor where they lived, but their decision to award Benson first place was unanimous. He received a gold watch and $1,000 for his prize.
Livingston says Benson was half-white and Unangax̂ (Aleut), denigrated in news stories for his dark skin. A 1927 New York Times article described the flag contest winner as a half-caste boy, small in stature, swarthy, who spoke in “clipped” English and knew more about hunting and fishing than anything else.
Livingston said after the Alaska Territorial Legislature approved money for Benson to travel to Washington D.C. to present the new flag to President Calvin Coolidge, a Seward newspaper wrote that Benson, who “carried the blood of aboriginal ancestry from the most primitive," would stand among the great.
The tribal resolution cites numerous instances of discrimination against Benson and other Native school children of the day. Livingston hopes it will serve as an important history lesson for Alaskans and a point of pride.
“There are 50 states in the United States, and out of those 50 state flags, there's only one designed by a Native American, and that's Alaska's flag designed by Benny Benson,” Livingston said.
Benson died of a heart attack in Kodiak in 1972.
As part of an ongoing campaign to recognize his contributions, Benson’s grandson accepted an honorary doctorate on his behalf from Alaska Pacific University in April.
