Jean Huddleston

Jean Huddleston was interviewed by David Krupa on July 27, 1993 at her apartment in Copper Center, Alaska. Jean had spent a long day working as a volunteer at the George Ashby Memorial Museum, named in honor of her late father. Jean's interest in local history has led her children to jokingly refer to her as a "living fossil."  Despite being exhausted, Jean carried on her roadhouse family's sense of decorum by preparing a dinner "just in case" anyone dropped by. As taping began, the delicious aroma of broiling turkey filled the room. In this interview, Jean talks about her life as a child at the Copper Center Roadhouse. She gives colorful accounts of some of the many characters who frequented the roadhouse in earlier days. Interestingly, she says that the roadhouse's role as grocery store and restaurant were more important than lodging guests. She discusses the unending work and occasional pleasures associated with the operation of the roadhouse, and chuckles over her first frightful experience with the meat slicer. From Jean's recollections, we get a sense of the closeness and interdependence of people living in the Copper River Valley during the middle part of this century.