Guide to the Sparrevohn Air Force Station videos
circa 1953-1954
Collection number: HMC-1493.
Creator: Unknown.
Title: Sparrevohn Air Force Station videos.
Dates: circa 1953-1954.
Volume of collection: 1.15 GB.
Language of materials: This collection is entirely in English.
Collection summary: Videos of soldiers living and working at Sparrevohn Air Force Station as it was under construction.
Biographical note:
Sparrevohn Air Force Base was built about 350 miles southwest of Fairbanks between 1953 and 1955. It was a radar station intended to detect Soviet military action in Alaska skies. Sparrevohn was a code name initially. The Air Force air-dropped construction materials from aircraft, and the station was built entirely by military personnel.
Harless Oglesby was stationed at Sparrevohn from 1953 to 1954 and likely created these videos.
Collection description:
This collection contains two silent, color videos digitized from film depicting the construction of Sparrevohn Air Force Station, circa 1953-1954. They depict soldiers working on construction, clearing land, and recreating; planes and helicopters taking off and landing; military vehicles driving down dirt roads; the air strip; and the camps soldiers lived in during construction.
Arrangement: This collection is in the order in which the files were transferred to the Archives.
Digital materials: The digital contents of this collection are not available online. Access may only be provided on-site in the Archives research room. For more information about potential distance access to digital records, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: The Archives does not hold copyright to this collection.
Preferred citation: Sparrevohn Air Force Station videos, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Works used in preparation of inventory:
“U.S. Builds Secret Radar Base in Northern Alaska.” St. Petersburg Times. October 13, 1952, 27.
“Alaska Radar Warning Base Quickly Built in Bitter Cold.” Spokane Daily Chronicle. October 13, 1952, 2.
Related materials: For more Cold War-related materials, see the Archives’ “Cold War Era Collections” topic guide.
Acquisition note: This collection was gifted to the Archives by Harless Oglesby’s sister-in-law Janet Wade in 2024.
Processing information: This collection was described by Becky Butler Gallegos in 2025.
Location of originals: The donor retains the original films.