Millennials care about Alaska history, too

We were dismayed to hear that the Alaska Room at the Loussac Library was closing, as written about by Charles Wohlforth earlier this month. We were not at all surprised, however, to see that Mr. Wohlforth partially placed the blame on young people. It's just another catastrophe millennials and youths are responsible for (in addition to the demise of paper napkins and cable TV) — the shuttering of the Alaska Room at the Loussac Library and the loss of a dedicated librarian to help patrons discover the history of Alaska. How could that be? Because the youth are not interested, Mr. Wohlforth wrote, and "we're nearing the end of a generation that cared about history."

Never mind that between the mayor and the Assembly, who determine the library budget, only three individuals could possibly be considered millennials. Never mind that millennials and young people use libraries at higher rates than other generations. Never mind that upper-division history courses are so popular at UAA that getting in is a competitive sport.

Mr. Wohlforth wrote, "History and anthropology tell us who we are, where we came from, and why the world we live in is the way it is. But history is not essential to survive." The idea that history is not essential to survival comes from a place of privilege. Those who have been victimized by the tides of history would vehemently advocate its necessity. The loss of such an important keeper of Alaskan history puts the identity and future of the city and state at risk. If we do not preserve our history, we are doomed to repeat it.

[Steve Haycox: Nearly 50 years ago, prominent Alaskans planned the state's future. We should think that way again.]

No one knows that better than millennials and youth. We are more informed than ever and are able to access massive amounts of information more quickly than previous generations, including newly digitized historical archives. And although millennials are often accused of being concerned only with the here and now of being consumed by frivolous technologies and media, our obsession with social media is essentially an obsession with storytelling. Social media is a living history from the bottom up. Rather than waiting for the gatekeepers of history to write our stories for us, we are writing our own every day, leveraging those histories to stand up for the rights of marginalized populations.

We millennials are as devastated as the "the gray-haired scholars (who) mourned the loss of history on the fourth floor," and we find it unnerving that older generations have so little faith in those younger than them. History is a living, breathing entity, and to associate historical scholarship solely with gray-haired academics does the field a grave disservice. Alaska historian Katie Ringsmuth, far from gray-haired, founded Tundra Vision, a historical public consultancy organization, which aims to engage communities in history directly, and encourages them to participate in its making. Millennial professors at UAA have inspired countless students to pursue and develop their own interest in history.

The Alaska Room was an invaluable resource to those interested in Alaska history, and we hope that the records previously housed there will find a home that is accessible to all Alaskans and will be inclusive of diverse perspectives. Do not doubt that we care deeply about the history of our state and are committed to not only to preserving it but creating it.

Meneka and Nithya Thiru are lifelong Alaskans, library patrons and graduates of the University of Alaska Anchorage. Meneka is pursuing a Masters of Library and Information Sciences with an interest in incorporating diverse voices into library collections and historical archives, while Nithya is pursuing a Masters of Public Administration in Human Rights and Humanitarian Policy in order to fight for policy changes informed by history.

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