File:Native American young men boxing- Nenana, Alaska (2987119492).jpg

Title: [Native American young men boxing: Nenana, Alaska]
Date: Between 1916 and 1933.
Physical descrip: 1 photograph : b&w ; 5 x 7 in.
Series Title: (Bedell Collection.)
General Note: In 1916 an Episcopal bishop requested that Bedell consider an assignment in a remote area of Alaska and she accepted a new assignment in Stevens Village, Alaska. While there, in 1922 she was finally made a deaconess in the church, instilling in her a new and profound dedication to her vocation. The mission at Stevens Village was moved to Tanana so that a boarding school funded by church members' contributions could be established for the children who could not travel in the bad winter weather. However, by 1931, funds were so scarce that Deaconess Bedell traveled to New York to plea for more contributions. Because of the Great Depression, there was little available money, and although the church paid off the school's existing debt, there was little reason for Bedell to return to Alaska.
Through speaking engagements following her service in Alaska, Bedell was invited to visit a Seminole Indian reservation in southern Florida. Appalled by their living conditions, she began her campaign to improve the quality of life among the Mikasuki-Seminole Indians by living and working with them.