In the second episode of Archiving AK, archivists Gwen and Veronica interview researcher Pierce Bateman. Pierce has been visiting the Archives as a researcher since 2015: first as an undergraduate student, and more recently as a graduate student writing his thesis. In the episode, they discuss Pierce’s background, current research topic, his general interests, and the various aspects of researching in archives from a researcher’s point of view.
Below, you can find explanations and further information regarding collections and people mentioned during the episode.
- At 1:38, Pierce mentions researching in the Independence Mine records. The collection he is referencing is the Alaska-Pacific Consolidated Mining Company records, housed here at Archives and Special Collections.
- Pierce mentions Ernest Gruening at 3:44. Gruening was the Governor of the Alaska Territory from 1939 until 1953, and a U.S. Senator from Alaska from 1959-1969. Gruening’s papers are held at the Alaska State Archives (RG101), as well as the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives (USUAF155).
- At 3:45, Bob Bartlett is mentioned. Bartlett was appointed as secretary of the Alaska Territory in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, served as a delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives for the Alaska Territory from 1945 to 1959, and also served as United States Senator from Alaska from 1959 to 1968. University of Alaska Fairbanks, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives holds the E.L. “Bob” Bartlett papers (Collection 53).
- At 3:46, James Wickersham is also mentioned by Pierce. Wickersham was appointed as district judge for Alaska by President William McKinley in 1900, until he resigned his post in 1908 and elected as Alaska’s delegate to Congress, serving until 1917, and then again from 1931 to 1933. The James Wickersham papers are available at the Alaska State Library Historical Collections (MS 107, Wickersham State Historic Site Collection).
- Bob Atwood is mentioned at 4:01. Atwood was editor and later publisher of the Anchorage Times from 1935-1989. The Atwood family papers are available at the UAA/APU Archives and Special Collections.
- Pierce mentions a topic guide created by the Archives at 7:10. The guide, which is titled Steamship related collections, includes collections that contain materials related to steamships and steamship companies.