Celebrate the Centennial of the Alaska Railroad with an evening of instrumental music, songs, and stories.

When President Warren G. Harding traveled to Alaska to ceremoniously open the Alaska Railroad in July, 1923, he was showered with gifts of music, poetry, and art. Although Harding admitted initial skepticism of the railroad project, he expressed only praise and wonder for its engineering, the Alaskan scenery, and Alaskan people. Alas, the same singers and instrumentalists who joyously greeted Harding were soon performing memorials for the dead president. For the next hundred years, music has continued to reflect turbulent and more promising times for Alaska and the Alaska Railroad.

"The Alaska Railroad in Song and Story” draws inspiration from this year’s Official Alaska Railroad Print: Art Chase’s Alaska Railroad:100 Years Strong. The program will integrate stories of the nine evolving railroad engines with live music performance, archival recordings, and projected images. Enjoy a host of Alaska’s finest musicians performing a mix of popular, folk, and classical genres. Performers include Kate Egan, Christabel Sosa, Benjamin Wrede, Janet Carr-Campbell, Dawn Lindsay, and Linda Ottum.

This is the sixth talk in the Cook Inlet Historical Society’s 2022-2023 Speaker Series. These presentations are virtual, free, and open to the public via Crowdcast; the same link can be used to review the recorded event after the program conclusion. Those attending in person should use the 7th avenue entrance to access the auditorium.

This performance is designed to complement the Anchorage Museum exhibition, ALL ABOARD: THE ALASKA RAILROAD CENTENNIAL

Image credit: Art Chase, Alaska Railroad: 100 Years Strong, Alaska Railroad 2023 Official Print. Courtesy of Art Chase and the Alaska Railroad.

Cook Inlet Historical Society Presents: The Alaska Railroad in Song and Story