-Shyler Umphenour, KUAC
Today's Alaska Black History highlights the contributions of an influential Black couple in Interior Alaska, Pete and Velma Aiken.
Pete Aiken, born in South Carolina, came of age in sunny California. Serving in the U.S. Army during World War II, his service in the pacific theater briefly took him to Alaska!
Following the war, Pete worked as a freelance journalist for up and coming Black magazines including Jet and Ebony.
A few years later, Pete and his new wife, Velma, moved north, resettling in America's soon-to-be 49th state Alaska!
The couple homestead here in Fairbanks, out on Chena Hot Springs road.
The Aikens were prominent Black community leaders, joining founding members of Fairbanks branch of the National Advancement of Colored People, commonly known as the NAACP, where Pete served as publicity chair, vice president, and president.
In later years, Pete Aiken was elected to serve on the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly, becoming the first black holding public office in Alaska.
Velma was a black leader in her own right, supporting her community with a twist. Using new technology, supporting local girl scouts and others, with a NAACP segment that aired on KTVF weekly, where Velma's community coverage aired from 1956 to 1960.
She and Pete raised their three children here. Devoting their lives to black advancement until Pete's death in 1988.