RUTH E. MOULTON

• Neighborhood Advocate
• Anchorage's Town Park
• Teacher
Inducted: 2013
Deceased: 2006
RUTH E. MOULTON
Ruth Moulton was a community activist, educator, outdoors woman – and the person considered most responsible for the establishment of Anchorage’s Town Square Park. Moulton grew up in the small town of Standish, Maine. When she made Alaska her home in l960, she brought with her the town-meeting philosophy engrained in her New England upbringing. Getting the Town Square Park established on a city block in the heart of downtown Anchorage engaged Ruth off and on for nearly 25 years filled with initiatives, petitions, legal battles and personal perseverance. While many Alaskans were involved in the Town Square project over the years, it was Ruth Moulton who is credited with spearheading the battles to achieve success.
A 2006 Anchorage Assembly resolution honoring Moulton’s accomplishment reads in part: “Ruth left her mark on everything she was determined to accomplish with her vocal and steady civic presence, an unwavering, principled community activist who worked twenty-five years through elections and lawsuits to help bring the Town Square project to fruition.”
A founding member of Friends of Neighborhoods, Moulton was a champion of community councils and was significantly involved in the Fairview and South Addition community councils for two decades. Up to the time of her death, she fought for the survival of Fairview as a safe neighborhood.
A 2007 resolution of the Anchorage Public Facilities Advisory Commission reads in part: “ªall of Anchorage has benefited from Ruth Moulton’s tireless advocacy for parks, trails, gardens, and her Fairview neighborhood”. The resolution refers to Moulton as the “linchpin” in the creation of Town Square Park, and concludes – “the Park has become the symbolic heart of the city of Anchorage.”
After her death, the Anchorage Assembly, 16 community councils and numerous individuals petitioned for Moulton’s achievements to be publicly recognized. The Ruth Moulton Plaza in Town Square Park was dedicated in 2010.
View Extended Bio