A 1944 contest asked the question: ‘What’s wrong with Anchorage?’ This was the winning response.

Part of a continuing weekly series on local history by local historian David Reamer. Have a question about Anchorage history or an idea for a future article? Go to the form at the bottom of this story.

In March 1944, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce sponsored an essay contest: “What’s Wrong With Anchorage?” The winning submission, with its litany of detailed complaints, is best used now as a window onto Anchorage as it was 76 years ago. But the contest, submission and its complaints also illustrate the relative nature of all such critiques.

Anchorage in 1944 was growing quickly, but it wasn’t near its peak expansion yet. Said peak of Anchorage’s 1940s boom would come a few years later, after the lifting of wartime restrictions and public opening of the Alaska Canada (Alcan) Highway. Still, the area population had more than tripled since the 1939 census, and the residents of what had been a relatively minor railroad hub were enduring some civic growing pains.

First announced on March 23, 1944, the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce sought letter-length critiques of the city. The author of the winning entry would receive a $50 war bond.

Commerce chambers are typically civic and economic boosters. So, the obvious question is why the Anchorage Chamber would sponsor such a negative contest. The Anchorage Daily Times claimed the chamber had “laid itself open” for a deluge of complaints, from petty to pettier. The chamber itself viewed the contest as an opportunity to “reveal many possibilities for action by the chamber during the next 12 months.” The only rule was for constructive gripes. “Each answer should contain not only ‘grumbles’ but pertinent suggestions for correcting the particular complaint,” said a chamber member to the Times.

Thirty-two entries were submitted. Coincidentally, the chamber meeting that decided the essay contest winner also chose a promotional city slogan. They selected “Crossroads of the World.” With the opening of the International Airport a few years later, the slogan was amended to “Air Crossroads of the World,” which remains in use to this day.

On June 5, the Anchorage Chamber announced the winner: Louise Birkeland, Birkie to her friends. She and her husband moved to Anchorage in 1941, and she lived here until she died in 1982. At the award ceremony, Birkeland declared, “I had no intention of being critical when I wrote it.” She continued more convincingly, “I love Alaska and I love Anchorage. I just want to see Anchorage grow and develop into a better community so that I can have a better home.”

Birkeland’s submission, which was longer and more detailed than all other entries, grouped the itemized complaints into four sections. The first section, “Streets,” noted the lack of adequate road grading, draining, snow removal, lighting, paving and signage. Anchorage streets, especially the farther one went from the downtown center, were typically dark, potholed and strewn with debris. And by inadequate snow removal, she meant that the city typically did not clear roads of snow, or sidewalks at all. Trash on the roads revealed by the spring melt stayed there.

Many streets lacked signs and repeated names. For example, the system of naming north-south streets after letters initially repeated to the east. Thus, there was a West C Street and an East C Street in close proximity. Past East G Street, roads were alternately labeled as streets and places. There was East G Place, East H Street, East H Place, and so forth. For those following along, there was a West G Street, East G Street (Gambell Street today), and an East G Place (Hyder Street) all near one another. Even longtime residents were frequently confused over where exactly they were and where they needed to be.

Perhaps as a result of Birkeland’s shaming, East C through East G Streets were renamed in the familiar alphabetical pattern in 1945. The streets farther east, East G Place through East L Street (Orca Street) were renamed in 1954. Due to often lazy planning, there were many other, more complex named street names repeated throughout the city area until largely remedied in the early 1960s. In 1960, you could stand at the corner of Glenn and Glenn. That year, there were also multiple roads named Alder, Laurence, Maple, Illiamna, Darby and Northwood. There was also a Susitna Street, Susitna Boulevard and Susitna View Parkway.

[Histories of Anchorage: Why isn’t there a J Street? And answers to other reader questions]

The second section of the submission, “Recreational Facilities,” noted Anchorage’s lack of a proper library and community centers. In 1944, a single room in City Hall housed the few books available for borrowing. It was barely a library. The city’s first standalone library, the original Loussac Library downtown, did not open until 1955. There was no public recreation center or convention center in 1944, nor would there be ones for decades. The Egan Center, built on the location of the original Loussac, opened in 1984.

The third section, “Transportation Problems,” noted the long lines for taxis and buses. Birkeland suggested the opening of something like a transit center near the western end of downtown. While she lived to see the creation of the People Mover system, she would have likely been shocked with the ease of ordering a car pickup today.

The fourth and last section of Birkeland’s submission, “Lack of Civic Pride,” noted the relatively unchecked spread of gambling and prostitution, among other concerns. By the 1940s, the city had a long history of ignoring or even subsidizing area red-light districts. City officials were prone to the occasional fit of morality, which resulted in the periodic though temporary loss of adult services as their providers relocated.

[Histories of Anchorage: How South Addition became Anchorage’s first red-light district]

Anchorage’s official acceptance of vice, whether begrudging or winking, continued for decades past this contest. In the late 1970s pipeline construction heyday, massage parlors and escort services openly advertised their illicit wares on signs. The phonebook listed their less-than-subtle names, establishments like the Foxy Lady, Sensuous Lady and Touch N Glow. In the 1977-1978 phonebook, there was also the suspicious sounding Bill’s Massage for Ladies. That official acceptance eroded in the 1980s, producing the far less XXX landscape of Anchorage today.

History can be alarming or calming depending on the approach and material. While history makes no promises, it does continually demonstrate the potential for directed, positive change.

Key sources:

Birkeland, Louise. “Transportation Depot, Better grading, Drainage System and Library Given as Among Needs.” Anchorage Daily Times, June 14, 1944, 3.

“City Street Renaming, Address Change Program at Mid-Point.” Anchorage Times, August 22, 1963, 5.

“Fairview Street Changes Endorsed.” Anchorage Daily Times, October 6, 1954, 5.

Greater Anchorage Yellow Pages, 1977-1978.

“Louise Birkeland Obituary.” Anchorage Times, May 17, 1982, B2.

“Mrs. Birkland [sic] Wins $50 Bond for the Best Answer to ‘What’s Wrong With Anchorage?’” Anchorage Daily Times, June 5, 1944, 1.

“Platinum to be Subject of Talk.” Anchorage Daily Times, June 3, 1944, 1.

“Resolution.” Anchorage Daily Times, September 10, 1945, 7.

“Travel Control Now ‘Painless.’” Anchorage Daily Times, May 29, 1944, 1.