St. Philip’s Episcopal Church may be a small building, but it played a large role in Wrangell’s history. Founded in 1903, the unassuming structure tells the story of the Klondike gold rush and the fight for Alaska Native rights.
On June 29, historian and podcaster Ronan Rooney will share his research on this nationally recognized historic landmark with the Wrangell community. Though he will be speaking at the church, the talk won’t be a sermon — history buffs of all denominations or no denomination at all can enjoy the story of St. Philip’s founding and its role in Wrangell’s past.
Shortly before the Klondike gold rush, Wrangell —then known as Fort Wrangel —was a small settlement of a few white families next to a much larger Tlingit village, according to a 2021 episode of Rooney’s podcast. Many local Alaska Natives had been converted to Christianity by Philip Clah McKay, a Tsimshian missionary and minister. “The Presbyterian mission in Fort Wrangel was founded by, and made of, Alaska Natives,” Rooney wrote.
“The beginning of Christianity in Wrangell is Tlingit,” he added in an interview.
However, once the gold rush began around the turn of the century, white people began to flood the area, leading to tension between the Tlingit congregation, the growing white population and Presbyterian leaders.
Eventually, the congregation split along racial lines and the Tlingit community founded its own church — St. Philip’s.
Rooney sees the church as “a symbol of the power of the Tlingit community during drastically changing times,” he said. “The fact that they could stage this walkout and start a church of their own is powerful.”
“I think it’s an interesting moment in the formation of Alaska Native identity, power and politics,” he added. “It sort of foreshadows the really active political scene that happens in Wrangell.” Alaska Native activists like Tillie Paul Tamaree and her son William Paul, both from Wrangell, would go on to fight for voting rights and desegregation.
Rooney lives near Portland, but he grew up attending St. Philip’s. Before preparing his upcoming talk, he was familiar with the basic facts of the church’s history, but his research has helped him understand the context that led to the religious rift. “I was raised with generally knowing there was a walkout … but I didn’t really know the tensions that led up to it,” he recalled.
The church was not only a place of worship, but an important social hub for the community. One of Rooney’s favorite facts that he came across during his research was that a nearby gymnasium hosted some of the first basketball games in Southeast. Rooney likes to imagine “the idea of people playing basketball in a gym back in the 1910s and just what that must have meant for the community.”
Since Rooney hasn’t lived in Wrangell since graduating high school, he usually makes his work available to community members online at wrangellhistoryunlocked.com. But with the Fourth of July and his 20-year Wrangell High School reunion drawing him to town anyway, he decided to share his research on St. Philip’s in-person.
The free event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, 446 Church St., on June 29.
Reader Comments(0)