At first glance, February does not appear as busy as January, but all three of us are currently in the middle of various projects, and both Gwen and Veronica have been busy writing grants. We also interviewed and hired two new student workers: Bri and Conner. They will be doing various projects for us, including helping us on a rare books exhibit, enclosing and scanning photographs and slides, and creating indexes for some collections. We are thankful for their help. Now on to what was new for February.
Collections described:
Carl D. Burns photograph album; undated, 1946. HMC-1277. Carl D. Burns was born in Hickory, North Carolina in 1928 and enlisted in the Army in 1946. The collection consists of a photograph album containing photographs taken by Burns when he was stationed on Adak as part of Task Force Williwaw.
Group of soldiers in Adak.
155-mm Howitzer M1 in Adak.
McGlashan and Monsen family photographs; circa 1880-1974. HMC-1278. The collection contains photographs taken or collected by Martha McGlashan Monsen. Subjects of photographs include Naknek, Akutan, St. Paul, St. George, Unalaska, Red Salmon Cannery, Graveyard Cannery, Naknek Packing, Pacific American Fisheries, Nakeen Cannery, the Monsen and McGlashan families, reindeer herding, fishing, hunting, caches, camps, and sailboats on the Naknek River.
Martha McGlashan Monsen and her husband Martin Monsen in Naknek, circa 1912
New addition to Alaska’s Digital Archives:
64 photographs from the Robert H. Thompson family papers taken when he worked at Kennecott Mines and on the Richardson Highway, 1927-1932, have been added to the Digital Archives. You can find the photographs on Alaska’s Digital Archives by searching “Robert H. Thompson”.
Robert Thompson age 26 near Bonanza Mine Kennecott Alaska.
A panorama of Anchorage, circa 1950, was also scanned and added to the Digital Archives, which can be accessed on the following link: http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/singleitem/collection/cdmg13/id/19467
Additions to collections:
We received an addition of signs and posters carried by people during the Anchorage Women’s March, which have been added to our Women’s March documents collection.
The Women’s March signs the day they arrived.
We also added three new Ephemera Collections: Standing Against Racism Protest signs, Anchorage Fourth of July Protest signs, and Anchorage Political Activism signs.
Tours and Events:
Arlene gave two tours to the Guidance 150 class, where she talked about the Archives and gave them a tour of the vault. We also participated in the first ever Anchorage LAM resources fair! The fair was open to researchers, students, and community members, and had representatives from the many libraries, archives, and museums in Anchorage. Arlene gave a presentation on Alaska’s Digital Archives, while Gwen hosted the table on behalf of Alaska’s Digital Archives, and Veronica represented the UAA/APU Archives and Special Collections. (The two photographs below were taken by Christie Ericson.)
Gwen at the table for Alaska’s Digital Archives.
Erik Carlson, the Consortium Library’s Metadata Librarian told attendees about the Institutional Repository, while Veronica represented Archives and Special Collections.
Coming soon:
We have some exciting news: we will be starting a podcast called Archiving AK! It will feature Arlene, Gwen, and Veronica in various episodes where we will interview colleagues, researchers, each other, and talk about our collections. We plan to start recording episodes in March, and hope to have the first episode air in April. We have also started planning our next Eating from the Archives event. Stay tuned to the blog, and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for further information on both.
We also received a deed of gift for the Cheryl Curtis and Morgan Grey papers. Curtis and Grey were longtime companions involved in women’s issues in Alaska. We hope to describe and make this collection available in the next couple of months.
We are also currently describing the Ruth Hart papers. Hart’s papers include scrapbooks and costume renderings she created for various plays in Anchorage.
Fabric sample and drawing of Mrs. Fezziwig’s outfit by Ruth Hart for A Christmas Carol, 1985.
Currently, we are also working on scanning and providing metadata for various collections to make available on Alaska’s Digital Archives. These collections include:
Carl D. Burns photograph album; undated, 1946. HMC-1277. Subjects of the photographs include transport vehicles, tanks, construction equipment, soldiers in cold weather gear, military buildings, artillery, and ships.
Dorothy and Grenold Collins papers; undated, 1907-2002. HMC-0422. The photographs in this collection primarily depict fishing and hunting trips, portraits of the Collins’, the Collins’ family and friends, airplanes, the Kvichak Club (which was owned by Dorothy and Grenold), and Alaska scenery.
Henry S. Kaiser Jr. papers; circa 1919-1994. HMC-1148. Subjects of the photographs in this collection are primarily people and events in Nenana and Anchorage, as well as patients of the Seward Sanatorium. The photographs of the Seward Sanatorium have already been scanned and made available on Alaska’s Digital Archives.
Harold Stuart Smith papers; 1940-1966. HMC-1243. Scrapbooks and memorabilia of a man who was stationed at Fort Richardson during WWII. Subjects of the photographs include buildings, activities, and people on Fort Richardson; Girdwood; Whittier; swimming and activities on Green Lake and Lake Spenard; and buildings in Anchorage.
That’s all for this month!