The keeper of Anchorage’s history

Anchorage's history is… 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's transportation, tourism and government, the city has gone through many colorful iterations. History alumnus David Reamer, B.A. '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 Alaska history posts that has over 21,000 followers!

"All things light or serious have a history that matters," Reamer says about the wide array of things he writes about. "There 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." 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. "It was great preparation for the real-world formality of scholarly research," he recalls.

Reamer was taken under the wing of two UAA professors: Ray Ball, Ph.D., and Ian Hartman, Ph.D. "The 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." They gave him the confidence he wouldn't 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 Alaska Historians of the Year award.

Reamer can often be found on campus in the UAA/APU Consortium Library, utilizing the library's "Alaskana" collection as a source for his columns and social media. He's 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. "There were a lot of good moments, but it was the totality of them that really made me want to keep coming back to campus."