Guide to the Ruth Esdras Holden photographs
1957-1958?
Collection number: HMC-1505.
Creator: Holden, Ruth Esdras.
Title: Ruth Esdras Holden photographs.
Dates: 1955-1959?
Volume of collection: 0.01 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Photographs of a teacher who visited Alaska in the late 1950s.
Biographical note:
Reverend Ruth E. Holden was born in Waukesha, Wisconsin in 1905. She taught Kindergarten for 26 years and during vacations traveled extensively and photographed her travels, including a trip to Alaska in the late 1950s. She used her slide collection to illustrate lectures for her Unity Church congregations in the Midwest in California. She died in California in 1999. (Biographical detail provided by Cindy Byrne).
Collection description:
The collection consists of 21 color slides, most of which appear to have been taken in the Anchorage vicinity. The images include views of Cook Inlet, Anchorage buildings, Fourth Avenue, and flower gardens. The dates on the collection are based on an image within that appears to show the Inlet View Elementary School nearing completion of construction.
Arrangement: The slides are in slide number order.
Digitized copies: The slides in the collection have been digitized for access. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Copyright to the images is held by the Archives.
Preferred citation: Ruth Esdras Holden photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The collection was given to the Archives in 2025 by Cindy Byrne, Ruth Holden’s niece.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2025.
Container list:
| Item | Description |
| 1 | Man picking dahlias in a garden |
| 2 | Man picking flowers in a garden |
| 3-4 | Garden flowers (blurry) |
| 5-6 | Front view of house with trellis over sidewalk |
| 7 | Black bird in cage (blurry, possibly a myna?) |
| 8 | View of garden plot on side of house |
| 9 | Garden greenhouse |
| 10 | Fourth Avenue, Anchorage. Signs include the Smart Shop and banners across the street include Anchorage Fur Rendezvous and Anchorage All-America City |
| 11 | Two men standing by a truck on Fourth Avenue. The 4th Avenue Theatre is on the left in the distance. The banner across the street reads Anchorage All-America City. The truck is painted with Alert Vending on the door |
| 12 | Pedestrians on Fourth Avenue. Stores visible include Shimek’s TV, Alaska Treasure Shop, Florsheim Shoes, Anchorage Hardware, the D&D Bar |
| 13 | A view of Cook Inlet overlooking the Alaska Railroad tracks and the mud flats |
| 14 | A view of Cook Inlet and the Port of Anchorage from the south. Alaska Railroad tracks are in the foreground |
| 15 | A house and garden |
| 16 | An unidentified street in Anchorage. Possibly the Inlet View building in the distance |
| 17 | Providence Hospital in Anchorage at 9th Avenue and L Street |
| 18 | Inlet View Elementary School possibly under construction (circa 1957) |
| 19-20 | House and garden |
| 21 | Garden |