About The Alaska sourdough. [volume] (Douglas, Alaska) 1911-1911
Douglas, Alaska (1911-1911)

The Alaska Sourdough

The Alaska Sourdough was a weekly paper first published on September 1, 1911 by Arthur B. Callaham on Douglas Island, across the Gastineau Channel from the state capital, Juneau. Callaham had previously worked on several different papers in the area, including the Juneau Daily Alaska Dispatch and the Juneau Alaska Daily Record. He had also been an editor with the Alaska Capital. In the first issue of his new paper, Callaham wrote that its purpose was not to "mould [sic] public opinion, but furnish the news in its particular field." Callaham touted the paper's local roots and transparency, continuing that "its capital is small but there is no mystery about it."

The Sourdough reported on the news around Douglas and Juneau, as well as more broadly covering southeast Alaska. The paper discussed past events, like the 1886 expulsion of Chinese people from Juneau, and featured writing on the casualty rates among lower-class and immigrant labor. Callaham also argued for the value of manual training in Douglas schools and extolled its importance, saying in the October 3, 1911 issue that "an hour of manual training is worth a month of Latin."

Callaham suspended publication several months later for want of support. Other contemporary newspapers said that the competition was too much for Callaham. He reappeared as an editor in Juneau's Alaska Sunday Post, a socialist publication, around 1912, and the Daily Alaska Dispatch in 1913.

Provided by: Alaska State Library Historical Collections