Jewatha Brice

Jewatha Brice. African American Women of Fairbanks. , Miss Jewatha Brice arrived in Fairbanks with her mother, Mary Brice, before 1910. At that time, they represented two of the ten total women living in Fairbanks who were of African-American descent., Jewatha, who was 15 years old in 1910, attended the Fairbanks School and worked on the school's newspaper the "Ursa Major." She also worked part time for Dr. Mahlon Hall at his medical office. Her mother, Mary was a hairdresser. Jewatha rode with her schoolmates in the July 4, 1910 parade. She also participated in a picnic excursion aboard the steamer Tana that was sponsored by the Pioneers of Alaska in July 1912. In January of 1913, Jewatha was one of eight African-American Women who gathered at the house of Mrs. Bertha Mann here in Fairbanks, to celebrate the 1862 signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. At that celebration, they performed a reading of the proclamation, sang songs, and gave a couple of heartfelt speeches of what life was like for African-Americans at that time., Story provided by the Fairbanks Igloos of the Pioneers of Alaska..