Hannah Breece (1859–1940)

This book has been languishing on my shelf for over fifteen years now. I think I started reading it a couple times but never finished it. It's an easy book to put down and not pick back up again, because it's rather dry, unlike other books of this sort. I'm thinking of CHRISTY, MRS MIKE, or TISHA - all wonderful books about teachers in remote or primitive regions. Hannah Breece's A SCHOOLTEACHER IN OLD ALASKA, maybe because she was much older - in her 40s and 50s - is much dryer, lacking the show more charm of those books about very young, inexperienced women. But it was interesting to read about the natives, villages and fish camps of Kodiak Island, Iliamna and Fort Yukon of more than a hundred years ago. Breece's great-niece, Jane Jacobs, did a marvelous job of editing and organizing the original manuscript, and added close to a hundred pages of notes and a fascinating epilogue about those same villages and areas as they are today. An enjoyable, mildly interesting record of frontier Alaska.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER show less

Entertaining book from the journals of a schoolteacher in remote parts of Alaska. She was incredibly intrepid about traveling great distances, and worked hard to educate not just children but their parents about cleanliness, health, and “civilization”. It’s clear she has a low opinion of their values and standards of living, but she also seems to have affectionate relationships with many people. Her niece, Jane Jacobs of city planning fame, organized her writings and explained the show more background of many of the events and characters who appear. show less

I don't think I would have liked Hannah Breece--but she typifies the do-gooder zeal of her time. She doesn't really write too much about her interactions in the classroom, which is a pity since I was hoping for another [[Sylvia Ashton Warner]]-style book. She says she was well loved by her villagers, but she really had a low opinion of them. I don't think I would have finished this without the lengthy Forward written by her niece, Jane Jacobs, who readied the manuscript for publication. show more Jacobs did an excellent job of preparing the reader to look past the prejudices and consider what a challenge this woman undertook. Jacobs then provides an excellent Epilogue which explains some of the historic events and personages mentioned or alluded to. show less

I've started this book a couple of times, put it down, and come back to it. I can't seem to get into it even though the first chapter, which I've managed to finish each time I've picked it up, is quite interesting. It may be that the book just doesn't suit my mood every time I've picked it up.