Artist: Annie Bartholomew
Hometown: Juneau, Alaska
Song: “All for the Klondike’s Gold”
Album: Sisters of White Chapel
Release Date: June 16, 2023
Label: Muskeg Collective
In Their Words: “Sisters of White Chapel is a historic songwriting project inspired by narratives of women who came north during the Klondike Gold Rush to my home state of Alaska and the Yukon Territory in the 1890s. For the past several years, I’ve been researching the lives of Victorian sex workers and women involved in the entertainment industry in these boomtowns, pairing their stories with string band traditions in search of the emotional truth and legacy of this history that persists today.
“The lyrics to ‘All for the Klondike’s Gold’ were adapted from a 1900 miner’s poem published in Dawson City’s Daily Klondike Nugget which describes three women left behind in the Northland after the deaths of their male companions. These were common tragedies in the backcountry and left women with few choices, forcing some to turn to sex work as a means of survival.” — Annie Bartholomew, Alaskan songwriter
Photo Credit: Julie Shelton
