author
William B. Stephenson
1880–1955
A former United States commissioner in Alaska, he wrote with the energy of someone who had lived the frontier rather than merely imagined it. His best-known work opens a vivid window onto early 20th-century Alaska and the opportunities he believed it held.
1 Audiobook
The Land of Tomorrow
by William B. Stephenson
About the author
William B. Stephenson Jr. was an American writer born in 1880, best known for The Land of Tomorrow, published in 1919. The book draws on his years in Alaska and presents the territory through firsthand observation, mixing travel writing, local history, and an enthusiastic picture of its future.
Library and book records describe him as having spent about five years at St. Michael, Alaska, first as manager of the Pacific Cold Storage Plant and later as a United States commissioner. That background gives his writing a practical, lived-in feel: he was interested not only in Alaska's landscape, but also in its industries, transportation, settlement, and everyday life.
Reliable sources located here confirm the outline of his career and his connection to Alaska, but they do not provide much more about his personal life. No suitable verified portrait image was found during this search, so none is included.