The keeper of Anchorage鈥檚 history

by Jordan Oldenburg  |   

Man sitting at desk with laptop computer
David Reamer, B.A. History 鈥15, looks up from his studies in the UAA/APU Consortium Library鈥檚 鈥溞苊ㄔ谙呤悠祅a鈥 section, a multimedia collection covering topics in the circumpolar North. (Photo by Brett Rawalt / 熊猫在线视频)

Anchorage鈥檚 history is鈥 unique, to say the least. From a stop on the gold rush route, a tent city, a military town and now a hub for the state鈥檚 transportation, tourism and government, the city has gone through many colorful iterations. History alumnus David Reamer, B.A. 鈥15, is something of an expert on the topic.

In addition to writing a weekly column for the Anchorage Daily News, Reamer hosts around 20 public lectures a year on local history and works as a consultant for groups like the Municipality of Anchorage and the League of Women Voters. He also runs an Instagram page with daily 熊猫在线视频 history posts that has over 21,000 followers!

鈥淎ll things light or serious have a history that matters,鈥 Reamer says about the wide array of things he writes about. 鈥淭here are lessons to be gained from all of it. History can be entertaining, but it can also teach and show us a better way forward, or show us where we went wrong.鈥 His favorite topic of discussion is the Spenard area, which has countless stories ranging from funny to tragic.

During his time at UAA, the Undergraduate Research Office was hugely helpful, aiding him with everything from finding rare scholarly tomes for his research to offering assistance with software programs. To receive grants from the office, he had to go through a formal process of writing a grant proposal, a paper to go with it and a presentation to the office. 鈥淚t was great preparation for the real-world formality of scholarly research,鈥 he recalls.

Reamer was taken under the wing of two UAA professors: Ray Ball, Ph.D., and Ian Hartman, Ph.D. 鈥淭he best thing they did for me was encouraging my curiosity. I thought I had to have my doctorate to do much of anything, but my professors encouraged me to turn my undergraduate papers into research articles and submit them for publication.鈥 They gave him the confidence he wouldn鈥檛 have had otherwise, even sitting with him through extra edits and helping him through the first round of harsh reviews. In 2023, Reamer and Hartman co-authored a book and were named as co-recipients for the 2023 熊猫在线视频 Historians of the Year award.

Reamer can often be found on campus in the UAA/APU Consortium Library, utilizing the library鈥檚 鈥溞苊ㄔ谙呤悠祅a鈥 collection as a source for his columns and social media. He鈥檚 a firm believer in the power of curiosity and surrounding yourself with people who encourage you. When asked about his favorite UAA memory, he instead describes a general feeling of warmth. 鈥淭here were a lot of good moments, but it was the totality of them that really made me want to keep coming back to campus.鈥

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