The territory paid tribute to the “First Lady of the Yukon” last week, unveiling a bust of Martha Louise Black, the late businesswoman and one-time MP.

It will sit at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Main Street.

Sculpted by Whitehorse artist Harreson Tanner, the bust honours Black for her many contributions to the territory.

“There are many Yukoners who deserve to be honoured,” businessman Rolf Hougen said last Thursday afternoon.

“I try to concentrate generally on persons who are known nationally or internationally.”

Black certainly qualified for that category.

From 1935 to 1940, she served as an MP after her second husband, George, had held the position before her and fallen ill. That made Martha just the second woman to be elected to Parliament, after Agnes McPhail.

Before that, George had served as commissioner of the Yukon, but had resigned in 1916 to join the war, enlisting more than 200 men for the Yukon Infantry Company.

Eventually, Martha was able to travel to Europe on the ship, making her the only woman to do so at the time.

In 1940, her husband recovered and held the seat until 1949, after which he returned to Dawson City to practise law.

Born in Chicago, Martha followed the Gold Rush in 1898 while in her early 20s with her brother (also named George). She eventually staked gold mining claims, opened a sawmill and married her second husband.

Her interest in artistic botany allowed her work to be showcased by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It went on to be featured in postcards, eventually earning her a fellow with the Royal Geographical Society.

After serving in Parliament beginning at age 69, she received the Order of the British Empire before dying in 1957 at the age of 91. Hougen had attended her 90th birthday party.

On hand for last Thursday’s unveiling was Ione Christensen, a former Yukon commissioner and senator, whose grandmother interacted with Black as they both drew.

“I knew her mostly when I was really quite young,” Christensen explained, during the 1930s “when she was getting into politics and coming through campaigning.”

Reflecting that her mother met her as well, Christensen added that Black’s can-do attitude inspired a generation of women.

“She was just as good a hunter of ducks as she was a drawer of wildflowers.”

Black also inspired Jeanie Dendys, the territory’s current minister responsible for the Women’s Directorate.

“For me, it’s phenomenal to see a tribute made to such a trailblazer for all of us as women in leadership,” Dendys said, noting that Black was an entrepreneur, botanist, respected politician and devoted mother of three.

Larry Bagnell, the Yukon’s lone MP, added that he admired Black for her motivation and dedication to her work while eventually finding her way back to the Yukon after a couple of years.

“She came here for opportunity but fell in love with the people, the landscape and the soul of the territory,” Bagnell said, noting that her story resonated with many others filtering through the Yukon today.

Smiling, Hougen added: “Martha had such a magnificent face at age 90, I sort of thought we should reproduce” her at that time, before adding that they settled to model the bust of her during the 1930s.

The bust is the second tribute to the businesswoman – Black Street honours the couple’s contributions, and in 1997, a postal stamp was issued with Martha’s image.

Hougen also announced that the late Edith Josie, a long-time Star contributor from Old Crow, will be the next woman to be honoured with a bust.

It will stand on another corner of Fourth and Main in a year’s time.