Humanities in the Harbor: Contested Boundaries

The two-centuries-old conflict between people and governments struggling for control over Pacific Northwest land and resources, including lumber-rich areas like Gig Harbor, is the subject of the presentation. Gig Harbor resident David Jepsen, who teaches Pacific Northwest and U.S. history at Tacoma Community College, will discuss his new book Contested Boundaries: a New Pacific Northwest History.

Contested Boundaries is a collection of stories about people contesting the political, economic, and social barriers that blocked their path to equality over the last two centuries. The narrative traces the experiences of Native Peoples, African Americans, Asians, and other immigrants across the centuries as they struggled to hurdle one boundary after another during settlement, industrialization, economic calamity, world war and globalization.