black history month

mississippi1
Profiles

Mississippi Solo: Eddy Harris

In 1988, Eddy Harris published his first book, Mississippi Solo, an account of his canoe trip down the entire length of the river. Thirty years later Harris canoed the Mississippi for a second time, to see what changes had come to the river that “symbolizes who we are as a nation and as a people.”

“When people learn that I’ve canoed the length of the Mississippi River twice, they immediately want to know why,” Harris writes. “Why would I want to canoe the river in the first place? And then, why in the world would I do it again?”

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5 Min
group of men working on clearing a path with a bulldozer in a pine forest
Profiles

Black Regiments of the Alcan Highway

Seventy-eight years ago, the Army Corps of Engineers completed one of its most ambitious assignments of World War II—the Alaska-Canadian (Alcan) Highway. After the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Alcan Highway became a high priority. Eight engineer regiments were assigned: 18th, 35th, 340th, and 341st, and Black 93rd, 95th, 97th, and 388th reluctantly added. Race relations in American were very different in 1942, which was still in the era of Jim Crow and a segregated Army. Opportunities for Blacks were rare, and expectations low. They were unwanted for duty in the front lines and often treated with condescension or contempt by their White leaders and other White soldiers.

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5 Min
red ford bronco driving through deep water on a road spraying water out impressively on either side
Profiles

The Jackie Robinson of Car Design: McKinley Thompson Jr.

McKinley Thompson Jr., a Ford designer who helped pen the first-generation Bronco, was the first African American designer hired at Ford Motor Company after graduating from ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California with a degree in transportation design in 1956. “McKinley was a man who followed his dreams and wound up making history. He not only broke through the color barrier in the world of automotive design, but he helped create some of the most iconic consumer products ever…designs that are not only timeless but have been studied by generations of designers.”

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5 Min
silhouetted man paddling a canoe in a river
Profiles

Why We Must: On Diversity in the Outdoors by Eddy Harris

“It’s easy to imagine that Black Americans don’t ski, don’t fly-fish for trout, don’t camp out, don’t kayak or surf, and don’t appreciate nature – don’t do a lot of things. Somewhere along the way, the Black experience, at least in the eyes of so many people – Blacks included – became an urban phenomenon, as if living in cities precludes the desire and possibility of re-creating in the great outdoors and appreciating the natural environment.

I have done all of those activities, and then some. I fish, I camp, I hike in the woods, I hike in the mountains. I even like opera. I have canoed the length of the Mississippi River twice. If there is a reason we don’t see Blacks taking part in a lot of those activities, perhaps it has more to do with economics and exposure and less to do with the activities themselves.” – An excerpt from Why We Must, by author and storyteller Eddy L. Harris.

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5 Min
man holding oars while standing in boat
Profiles

Lael Johnson – Olympic Peninsula Fly Guide

Lael Johnson is a fly fisherman and guide on the Olympic Peninsula. His passion for the anadromous fish of Washington’s coastal rivers is contagious. He loves these fish, these rivers, and the people he is lucky enough to experience them with. Filson Contributor Ben Matthews spent a few days on the river with Lael to ask a few questions about guiding, steelhead, and life in general. If you’re interested in heading out on the river with Lael yourself, check out his website and book a trip. You won’t regret it.

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5 Min