Christine and Dennis McClure, Author at

Christine and Dennis McClure

Independent Historian

A family connection led Christine and Dennis McClure to the Alaska Highway in 2013, but traveling the famous road raised issues more important than family. The racism that distorted the experience of thousands of young, black American soldiers infuriated them.

Back home they created two websites, one designed to locate Alcan veterans or their families, the other a blog to regularly share individual stories. They spent four years exhaustively researching the black experience on the Highway and writing a book, We Fought the Road, to present it to the world.

Back in Alaska in 2017 they discovered the even more infuriating experience of yet another segregated regiment, the 97th Engineers who worked in Alaska. After another four years of exhaustive research their second book, A Different Race, was just released by Little Lands End Publishing LLP.

The 93rd Engineer Regiment (1941-1945)

With a small cadre of white officers and Black NCOs, the segregated 93rd Engineer Battalion (600 men) was activated on February 10, 1941 and quartered in an undesirable mud-filled rear corner of Camp Livingston, Louisiana. Most of the enlisted men were from Mississippi and Louisiana. … Read MoreThe 93rd Engineer Regiment (1941-1945)

Injustice in Alaska Territory: The World War II Court-martial of Ten Black Soldiers Who Helped Build the ALCAN Highway

In their latest book on the Black soldiers who helped build the Alcan Highway during World War II, authors Christine and Dennis McClure encountered a story of injustice in the frigid north. See a description of their new book, A Different Race, to get a … Read MoreInjustice in Alaska Territory: The World War II Court-martial of Ten Black Soldiers Who Helped Build the ALCAN Highway

Buffalo Soldiers in Skagway, Alaska (1899-1902)

In May of 1899 the United States Army sent Buffalo Soldiers, the black soldiers of Company L of the 24th Infantry, to Dyea, Alaska Territory. The Klondike Gold Rush had brought hordes of gold rushers up the Lynn Canal to the tiny ports at Dyea … Read MoreBuffalo Soldiers in Skagway, Alaska (1899-1902)

The Construction of the Alaska Highway, 1942: The Role of Race in the Far North

In the following article independent historians Christine and Dennis McClure describe the role race played in the construction of the Alaska-Canada (ALCAN) Highway during World War II. The highway, constructed in eight months, stretched 1,600 miles from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska. … Read MoreThe Construction of the Alaska Highway, 1942: The Role of Race in the Far North