Guide to the Eklutna Industrial School photograph album
circa 1924-1930
Collection number: HMC-1470.
Creator: Unknown.
Title: Eklutna Industrial School photograph album.
Dates: circa 1924-1930.
Volume of collection: 0.02 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are entirely in English.
Collection summary: Photograph album depicting students, buildings, and activities at a vocational boarding school for Alaska Native students.
Organizational history:
In 1924, the Department of the Interior established a home for Alaska Native children whose parents had died during the 1918 influenza epidemic. It was later converted to Eklutna Industrial School, a boarding school that provided vocational training to Native high school students. In 1930, the school’s enrollment reached 110 students, and it was the largest of Alaska’s three vocational schools. At some point prior to 1940 the name of the school was changed to Eklutna Vocational School. Between 1940 and 1943, the school was led by principal Joseph O. Chandler, who lived on the school’s campus with his wife, Edna, and their three children. By the early 1940s, the dormitories, which had been built using materials salvaged from Army buildings at the Chickaloon coal mines, were severely deteriorated, and funding was requested to replace them. However, the outbreak of World War II prevented the funds from being appropriated. During a site visit to Alaska, the Appropriations Committee of the seventy-ninth Congress found the condition of the dormitories to be so poor that they ordered the school to be closed immediately. In 1945, the students were transferred to temporary Army Barracks in Seward, and then to Mt. Edgecumbe in Sitka, in 1947.
Collection description:
This collection contains a photograph album of black-and-white as well as colorized images documenting life at the Eklutna Industrial School. It depicts school buildings including a hospital and gymnasium, the railroad next to the school, tuberculosis patients, and students at the school. Activities include an excursion to Eklutna Lake, a Christmas play, constructing a shop building, turnip and potato farming, and various chores. There are also photographs of Eklutna Lake and a panorama of the school property.
Names of people in the album captions are: Louie, Sava, Duffy, Barney, Dick, Margie, Robert, Alberta, Bob Buffy, and “Sunshine” Susie.
Some photographs are missing from above their captions in the album.
Arrangement: This collection is in the original order in which it arrived at the Archives.
Digitized copies: This collection has been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives does not hold copyright to this collection. If you believe you are the copyright holder to this collection, please contact the Archives.
Preferred citation: Eklutna Industrial School photograph album, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Works used in preparation of inventory:
Interior Department Appropriations for 1951, Hearings Before 81-2. United States: n.p., 1930. pg. 1247.
Related materials:
The Archives holds the Eklutna Vocational School photograph album (HMC-1385-AHS), which contains photographs of the school’s construction and the period between 1940 and 1943.
The Archives also holds the Ella Bamford photograph album (HMC-1402), which contains photographs of the school’s students, buildings, and activities from a period between 1926 and 1932.
For other collections related to education in Alaska, see our Education topic guide.
Acquisition note: Richard Mathiau gifted this collection to the Archives in 2024. Prior to the donor acquiring this collection, it was purchased in a box in a lot auction at an unknown date.
Processing information: This collection was described by Becky Butler Gallegos in 2024.