Arctic Brotherhood Hall
Arctic Brotherhood Hall
Arctic Brotherhood Hall
Cultural History
Cultural History
Besides hosting the meetings of the fraternal organizations that occupied it, the building featured a stage where plays and entertainment by Arctic Brotherhood Dramatic Club were performed [1]. Also events were staged here by Yukon Masonic Lodge #79 [2]. The Hall hosted galas by such groups as the Loyal Order of the Moose c. 1900 [3] and shows of various kinds of events such as flower exhibits [4] The building was also sometimes referred to as the Arctic Brotherhood Opera House [5].
In 1901 Dawson newspapers refer to the building as in operation. It was constructed as the "Fraternity Temple," and was completed as early as 1898. This building was used as the Arctic Brotherhood Hall (Camp No. 4) until sometime between 1925 and 1929 when it was taken over by the Fraternal Order of Eagles. Substantial additions were made to the building in 1910 when the building was expanded onto the newly acquired adjacent corner lot.
Personal Recollection - John Gould - The Arctic Brotherhood who built this building never changed the requirement to become a member - as a result the organization died with the members. The Firth boys in Whitehorse, their grandfather, Tom A Firth, were members. The Fraternal Order of Eagles moved into this building circa 1929. Once the Eagles closed down the building, it became the community hall. Charles Burkhard was responsible for saving it. The man who owned it in the 1930s was going to move it to Mayo. Burkhard took up a collection to save the building. In 1967 Canada's centennial money was acquired from the Federal Government and it was upgraded. The wood heaters were removed, a good sewer and water hook up was put in and a kitchen was added, it then became the Centennial Hall. About 1973 it became Diamond Tooth Gertie's Gambling Hall, Canada's first legal gambling hall.
Additional Information Regarding the Arctic Brotherhood:
The Arctic Brotherhood was formed in 1899 by 11 stampeders in Skagway. The original organization’s aim was to provide mutual assistance to its members as they made their way to the Klondike. Apparently the lower levels of the organization wore a necklace of beer caps while the upper rungs had one of wine corks. There words were, “no boundary line here.” The organization spread quickly and soon many “camps” (as they called their branches) had sprung up across the north, including Dawson. As the organization matured there was a move away from mutual assistance to charity and other “good works”. The organization also became more elitest.
Membership in the Arctic Brotherhood was limited to white males over the age of 18 living in Alaska, Yukon, NWT or British Columbia north of the 54th parallel. Three US Presidents were named honorary members (Warren Harding, and Theodore Roosevelt, William McKinley) as was King Edward VII of the United Kingdom. Many Arctic Brotherhood members were asserted to be active in the Order of the Midnight Sun which was a society secretly dedicated to the annexation of the Yukon into Alaska. The organization declined with the end of the Gold Rush but managed to continue until its disbanding in 1924.
The Brotherhood’s deepest impact was perhaps in Skagway where Camp No.1 still stands covered by its distinctive driftwood façade. AB Mountain, a popular hike between Skagway and Dyea, is named for the Arctic Brotherhood [6].
Citations:
1 Dawson City Museum Files, Ed and Star Jones Klondike collection, Photograph 1998.22.707
2 DCM, Frederick Nelson Atwood fonds, Invitation 2015.3.53
3 DCM Files, the May Roberts Co., Frederick Nelson Atwood fonds, poster 2015.3.27
4 DCM, Morte H. Craig fonds, Photograph 1993.5.9
5 DCM, Frederick Nelson Atwood fonds, Program 2015.3.35
6 Stubbs, Derek. ArcticBrotherhood.org, (originally published in The Square), 2010.
