46

Lillian Johnson.

Diary of the evacuation from Kodiak, Alaska in the wake of Pearl Harbor.

Kodiak, AK, 15 to 26 December 1941
[15] manuscript diary pages, on 8 loose sheets, 5¼ x 4 inches; horizontal fold, a couple of short separations and minor wear.

This diary was written by Lillian Estelle Kirkeberg Johnson (1888-1970), born in North Dakota and residing in the island community of Kodiak off the southern Alaska coast, home of a United States naval base. In the wake of Pearl Harbor, the Daily Alaska Empire noted on 13 December that the Kodiak Naval Base was on blackout, and that "plans have been made for the evacuation of women and children."

Her diary begins on 15 December: "Evacuation notices were given us today." The next day, she laments: "My misfortune to be assigned to the Lakima. Had hoped to sail on the G, because everyone I know is on that boat. Imagine how I felt when I was assigned to steerage--10 of us in one tiny room, damp and cold, but I guess we are not choosers in an emergency. Very fortunate in having congenial room-mates. If there was a bunch of hard-boiled crabbing women my misery would be complete." The ship departed on the 18th: "Heart-breaking good-bye. I have shed so many tears that I feel empty inside." 

The ship steamed across the Gulf of Alaska, with "nearly everyone aboard seasick." Johnson found one advantage to steerage: "Dread another night in the 'hole,' altho we do have one break: we have lights all night, and the others are entirely blacked out." On Christmas Eve: "It means so little to hear 'peace on Earth, good will to man' in a world that is war-mad. . . . Big Christmas party for the kiddies downstairs tonight. 47 children, 6 tiny babies, 71 women." 

The ship passed through the Wrangell Narrows, stopped briefly in Ketchikan for an immigration check, and was in Queen Charlotte Sound off British Columbia when the diary ends, presumably bound for Seattle. 

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