The Friends of the Jesse Lee Home

welcome to the
Jesse Lee Home

The Friends of the Jesse Lee Home is a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the Jesse Lee Home.

We invite you to explore the Home's history, read about Benny Benson, see what the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home is doing, or find out how you can help save this historic treasure of our state.

The next regular meeting of the Friends of the Jesse Lee Home will be:

Thursday, August 28
1:30 p.m.
CIRI Board room
5th floor

Sixteen boys sitting on the front steps of the Jesse Lee Home's Jewel Guard Hall in Seward, Alaska, ca. 1946-1955. Photo courtesy of the Seward Community Library Association.

The Jesse Lee Home was a boarding school that housed many children who were orphaned by the epidemics that swept across much of rural Alaska in the early 20th century.

The Jesse Lee Home was originally located in Unalaska, Alaska, but was moved in 1925 to Seward, Alaska, where it currently resides.

The Home closed after it was damaged by the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. The Friends of the Jesse Lee Home is trying to save the Home before its condition deteriorates to the point where it cannot be renovated.