Alexander Stevenson

Alexander Stevenson, best known as the “Administrator of the Arctic”, began his career as a Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) clerk in 1935, working in various locations in the eastern Arctic. In 1940, he joined the RCAF and served overseas. As a member of an Allied Wellington Bomber crew, Stevenson was shot down over Germany, where he spent the remainder of the war in prisoner of war camps.

Upon returning to Canada, Stevenson worked for a year in the Winnipeg office of the HBC. In 1946, he joined the Department of Mines and Resources as Assistant to the Superintendent of the Eastern Arctic. He sailed that year as part of the Eastern Arctic Patrol on the R.M.S. Nascopie. Stevenson’s knowledge of Inuktitut – the language of the Inuit – was invaluable, especially during x-ray clinics held on board the ship.

Upon becoming Administrator of the Arctic in 1960, Stevenson became involved in a variety of activities including fur promotion, DEW-Line coordination, wildlife preservation, salvage archaeology, geographic place names and aboriginal land claims. In addition, he set up the Northwest Territories Historical Advisory Board, which is the committee responsible for the eventual creation of the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, located in Yellowknife.

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Click for a brief (3:06) clip of an interview with Alexander Stevenson originally featured on the CBC Northern Service radio program "The Days Before Yesterday". Les McLaughlin produced. Shelagh Rogers hosted.
Stevenson intro:
Quicktime
Windows Media

Listen to the entire interview (14:14), in which Stevenson begins by describing his journey north aboard the Hudson's Bay Company ship Nascopie from Montreal in July, 1935. What follows are his stories of fur trading and travel in the Arctic.
Stevenson complete:
Quicktime
Windows Media