Guide to the Henry Gilbertson papers
1960-1975
Collection number: HMC-0115.
Creator: Gilbertson, Henry.
Title: Henry Gilbertson papers.
Dates: 1960-1975.
Volume of collection: 2.8 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Papers of an administrator of rural schools in Alaska.
Biographical note:
Henry Gilbertson was born in Sisseton, South Dakota, in 1909. He received his M.A. degree from Montana State University and served for four years in the U.S. Navy during World War II. During the 23 years he lived in Alaska, he worked with the state-operated schools. He was Director of Education for the North Star Borough in Fairbanks, Superintendent of Schools in Wasilla, and a member of the Central Alaska Teachers’ Association. He held a life certificate as a school administrator from the State of Alaska. In 1963, he received a Fulbright Scholarship to study comparative education in Britain and Norway. Henry Gilbertson retired in 1975 and died three years later (January 1978).
Collection description:
This collection consists primarily of materials related to Mr. Gilbertson’s career as a school administrator in rural Alaska. It primarily consists of correspondence, school administrative records, and photographs.
Arrangement: The collection is divided into three series:
Series 1: Personal and professional papers; 1955-1978
Series 2: Alaska Department of Education State Operated Schools administrative files; 1960-1975
Series 3: Audiovisual materials; 1963-1974
Digitized copies: Select images have been digitized and are available on Alaska’s Digital Archives. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Use restrictions: Elements of this collection may contain personally identifiable information. Researchers using the collection may not disseminate this information in any use of the materials.
Rights note: Copyright to materials in the collection created by Mr. Gilbertson is held by Archives and Special Collections.
Preferred citation: Henry Gilbertson papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Published materials were removed from the collection and placed in Rare Books, Ephemera collections, and library collections.
Acquisition note: The collection was given to the Archives by Ann Gilbertson, Henry Gilbertson’s wife, in 1982 and 1987.
Processing information: This collection was arranged and described by Carolyn Bowers in 1985. The guide to the collection was updated to current standard by Arlene Schmuland in 2016. At that time published materials were removed from the collection and the collection was rehoused into new boxes. Slides, which had been rearranged into an artificial order, were placed back into roughly chronological order based on the most likely original order.
Container list:
Series 1: Personal and professional papers; 1955-1978. 0.1 cubic feet.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | Equipment purchase documents, real estate and retirement correspondence, thank you plaque | 1965-1968 |
| 1/2 | Correspondence concerning Henry Gilbertson’s career with the Alaska school system including application for a teaching position in Alaska, and documents regarding advancement through various teaching and administrative levels. | 1956-1975 |
| 1/3 | Fulbright scholarship records, including correspondence, schedules and notes. | 1963 |
Series 2: Alaska Department of Education State Operated Schools administrative files; 1960-1975. 2.1 cubic feet.
Includes correspondence, administrative records regarding budgets, teacher appointments, correspondence, school-specific files and reports, and maintenance matters. Elements of this series may contain personally identifiable information. Researchers using the collection may not disseminate this information in any use of the materials.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/4 | Correspondence from various teachers concerning school maintenance, personal concerns, and thank you letters to for visits he made to schools. | 1960-1968 |
| 1/5 | Correspondence and memos concerning various administrative matters such as custodial staffing for schools and teachers’ pay. Also material on a new teacher orientation workshop | 1964-1968 |
| 1/6-7 | Correspondence concerning personnel matters, teachers’ school maintenance concerns, teacher reports, and school calendars. | 1960-1962 |
| 1/8 | Correspondence and memos concerning general administration of rural schools; lists of state operated schools; teacher appointments to rural schools; list of radio call signals for rural schools. | 1962-1965 |
| 1/9 | Material on teacher report schedules, teachers’ pay scales and certification requirements; report by the Commissioner of Education; information for prospective Alaskan teachers; correspondence on the 1964-1965 school budget; information on teachers’ contracts; and teacher assignment requests. | 1963-1966 |
| 1/10 | Correspondence and memos to supervisors concerning job classifications and amendments to personnel rules. | 1963-1967 |
| 1/11 | Memos concerning school administration; employee information manual; material concerning employee certification; lists of state operated schools advisory board members and material on election procedures for advisory boards; a school construction advisory report; and a list of teachers’ salaries for the Southeastern Senate District. | 1963-1970 |
| 1/12 | Alaska Department of Education annual report | 1965 |
| 1/13 | Administrative correspondence from William Zahradnicek as Commissioner of Education for Alaska | 1963-1966 |
| 1/14 | Administrative correspondence from Jeff Jeffers, Secondary Guidance Supervisor under William Zahradnicek | 1964 |
| 1/15 | Correspondence and newspaper clippings related to the proposed closure of the Alaska Department of Education’s Anchorage field office | 1964 |
| 1/16 | Administrative correspondence from Cliff Hartman as Alaska Commissioner of Education for Alaska | 1967-1968 |
| 1/17 | Administrative correspondence and memos to and from Merle Armstrong as Director of State Operated Schools for Alaska | 1968 |
| 1/18 | Administrative correspondence and memos to and from G. Lee Hayes as Assistant Director of State Operated Schools under Merle Armstrong | 1967-1968 |
| 1/19 | Material on the 1967 Administrators Conference for Alaska Supervisors and Administrators | 1967 |
| 1/20 | Board of Directors, State Operated Schools; adopted and unadopted minutes of board meetings | 1973-1975 |
| 1/21 | Board of Directors, State Operated Schools; materials concerning a special board session | 1975 |
| 1/22 | Memos concerning supplies for various rural schools, and a supplementary supply order for Chignik | 1965-1967 |
| 1/23 | Invoices and memos concerning surplus school property | 1967 |
| 1/24 | Correspondence and community development surveys concerning descriptions of various communities that have a state operated school | 1963-1967 |
| 1/25 | Rural school narrative reports giving a complete description of each rural community which has a state operated school, giving a summary of the location, climate, transportation, communication and economy of the community, and a summary of the school and facilities | 1965 |
| 1/26 | Reports by Henry Gilbertson and other supervisors of the Alaska Department of Education concerning necessary capital improvements for rural schools, school facilities and organization. Also school visitation reports by Henry Gilbertson concerning schools under his supervision | 1964-1972 |
| 1/27 | School inspection reports for Mentasta Lake, Glenallen, and Copper Center state operated schools, done by the Division of Public Health | 1974 |
| 1/28 | Rough draft of school accreditation standard for state schools | 1975 |
| 1/29 | Correspondence from the Cold Bay advisory school board concerning the extension of the school program at Cold Bay to include a 9th grade class; a school inspection report for Cold Bay; and an incomplete series of the Cold Bay Honker, a newsletter that was published at the elementary school at Cold Bay | 1966-1968 |
| 1/30 | Correspondence to and from various teachers and administrators on Saint Paul and Saint George Islands concerning administrative business for St. Paul Schools | 1965-1967 |
| 1/31 | Correspondence between teachers at Circle and various school supervisors concerning various custodial and administrative matters at Circle School | 1963-1968 |
| 1/32 | Population census of Alaska by election district; United States Indian population and land census for the entire United States; native population estimates by village for the Alaska school System; and estimated pupil enrollment and school expenses for district and rural schools | 1960-1967 |
| 1/33 | Correspondence and memos between school administrators concerning teacher filing of school calendars | 1963-1965 |
| 1/34 | Correspondence concerning the procedures for transferring Bureau of Indian Affairs schools in Alaska to Department of Education, city, or borough control | 1968-1971 |
| 1/35 | Correspondence concerning the effect of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act on federal funds for Alaskan schools | 1971 |
| 1/36 | Correspondence, memos, schedules, and receipts, concerning administrative trips taken by Henry Gilbertson and other Department of Education supervisors to various rural schools | 1962-1968 |
| 1/37 | Correspondence, maps, survey plats, legal records, and deeds concerning the request by the City of Sand Point for a road easement through Sand Point school land | 1974 |
| 1/38-39 | School facilities inventory: drawings of locations, sites, and floor plans of the state administered rural schools of Alaska | 1961 |
| 1/40-41 | School facilities inventory: inventory of the facilities of Fairbanks District rural schools, including aerial and ground photographs of buildings, building floor plans, and reports on school equipment and school conditions | 1963-1965 |
| 1/42 | School facilities inventory: manual for on site visitations of rural schools, giving complete information on the aircraft facilities at each location including runway conditions, fuel availability, and radio and beacon locations | 1967 |
| 1/43 | Correspondence and reports concerning the housing shortage of Kodiak Island, the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian Chain; report on Dutch Harbor housing; and material concerning a trip taken by a group of Alaskan officials to the Aleutians to study the housing problem there | 1966 |
| 2/1 | Correspondence, memos, and reports concerning the rental, construction, and conditions of school buildings at Chistochina School. Also correspondence concerning the leasing or purchase of land for the school | 1966-1972 |
| 2/2-3 | Correspondence between teachers and supervisors concerning teacher housing, rental rates, leases, and housing problems for state operated schools | 1974-1975 |
| 2/4 | Correspondence, memos, and reports concerning teacher housing rental adjustments, rental of privately owned facilities for housing, and current housing deductions for teachers at state operated schools | 1975 |
| 2/5 | Bound maintenance reports giving a summary and cost estimates of maintenance needs for individual state operated schools | 1970-1972 |
| 2/6 | Report on the locations of existing bush phones and radios and a suggested study for the placement of bush phones in state operated schools | 1971-1972 |
| 2/7 | Report on man hours of custodial staffing in rural schools | 1973 |
| 2/8-11 | Correspondence and memos between teachers and supervisors of state operated schools concerning teachers’ maintenance concerns and problems for their schools | 1973-1974 |
| 2/12-13 | Correspondence and memos between teachers and supervisors of state operated schools concerning teachers’ maintenance concerns and problems for their schools | 1974-1975 |
| 2/14 | List of bond projects for state operated schools by administrative region | 1974-1975 |
| 2/15 | Specifications for the electrical generating equipment of various state operated rural schools | 1966 |
| 2/16-17 | Correspondence and memos between teachers and supervisors concerning fuel oil storage and electrical supply and maintenance for state operated rural schools | 1972-1974 |
| 2/18 | Correspondence and memos between teachers and supervisors concerning electrical supply and maintenance for state operated rural schools. Also correspondence concerning the use of surplus school electricity by villages with state operated schools | 1973-1974 |
| 2/19 | Correspondence and memos between administrators and supervisors of the state operated school system and Circle Electric Company, concerning Circle Electric’s agreement to supply electrical power to the school at Circle. Also charts showing the types of electrical generators at each rural school | 1973-1974 |
| 2/20-3/1 | Correspondence and memos (first half of alphabetical file missing H-Z only) between teachers and supervisors concerning electrical maintenance and the supplying of surplus school electrical power to villages with state operated schools | 1974-1975 |
| 3/2 | List of the bulk fuel oil tanks and their capacity at each state operated school | 1966 |
| 3/3 | Reports from state operated rural schools on the bulk storage capacity for fuel oil at each school | 1971-1973 |
| 3/4 | Correspondence to Henry Gilbertson concerning the supplying of fuel oil to various villages | 1975 |
| 3/5 | Deed between the U.S. Government and the State of Alaska which gives the state surplus property and buildings in the village of Iguigig, includes maps of the property | 1961 |
| 3/6 | Correspondence to and from Henry Gilbertson concerning the renewal of the lease between the Department of State Operated Schools and Perry Green for office space for the central office of the Department of State Operated Schools in Anchorage. Also a copy of the lease agreement | 1975 |
Series 3: Audiovisual materials; 1963-1974. 0.6 cubic feet.
This series consists primarily of photographs color slides, with a few photographs and one audio recording. The majority of images are of schools and communities. Locations listed below and within the slides may not be accurate. Descriptions of locations below are in alphabetical order: locations may recur more than once within any folder. Dates in descriptions appear to have been transcribed from the processing date on the slide mount and may not reflect the date the image was captured. The materials are grouped by type: slides, photographs, audio reel. Within the slides, the images are primarily chronological by month, and by location within.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 3/7 | Slides: Pedro Bay, St. Paul Island, unlabeled | 1962-1964 |
| 3/8 | Slides: Aniak, Cold Bay, Cordova, Dillingham, Dutch Harbor, Egegik, Ekwok, Iliamna, Kenai, King Salmon, Kodiak, Kokhanok, Lake Clark Pass, Naknek, New Stuyahok, Newhalen, Nikolski, Nondalton, Old Harbor, Pedro Bay, Pilot Point, Portage Creek, Pribilofs, Rampart, St. George, St. Paul, Togiak, Unalaska, Yokohama, unlabeled | 1965 |
| 3/9 | Slides: Adak, Aniak, Bethel, Circle, Clarks Point, Cold Bay, Dutch Harbor, Egegik, Ekwok, Ellamar, glaciers, Matanuska, New Stuyahok, Newhalen, Pavlov, Pedro Bay, Port Heiden, Port Lyons, Portage, Portage Creek, Rampart, Sand Point, St. Paul, Togiak, Whittier, unlabeled | 1966 January-April |
| 3/10 | Slides: Aleutian chain, Cold Bay, Egegik, Ekwok, False Pass, glaciers, Ivanoff Bay, Kenai, King Cove, Lake Clark Pass, Mt. McKinley, Nelson Lagoon, Newhalen, Nikolai, Nikolski, Nondalton, Noorvik, Pilot Point, Platinum, Portage Creek, St. George, St. Paul, unlabeled | 1966 December-May |
| 4/1 | Slides: ANS hospital, Aleutian chain, Aniak, bears, Belkofski, Birch Creek, buffalo, Canyon Village, Circle, Chenega, dog team, glaciers, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Fortuna Ledge, Galena, Igiugig, Kaltag, Koliganek, Levelock, Manokotak, Minto, New Stuyahok, Newhalen, Nikolai, Nikolski, Northway, Nulato, Pitka’s Point, Russian Mission, Sagwon, St. Marys, schools, scenery, Stevens Village, Togiak, Twin Hills, Venetie, Wainwright, unlabeled | 1967-1968 |
| 4/2 | Slides: Barter Island, Beaver, Bethel, Chignik, Deering, Egegik, Goodnews Bay, Healy, Holy Cross, Kivalina, Koyuk, Minto, musk oxen, Nome, Nondalton, Northway, Point Barrow, Point Hope, Red Devil, Sagwon, Siberia, Sleetmute, Tanana, Togiak, Wales, White Mountain, unlabeled | 1969-1970 |
| 4/3 | Slides: Allakaket, Arctic Village, Bethel, Chalkyitsik, Elim, Ft. Yukon, Gakona, Golovin, Healy, Kennicott, Kivalina, McCarthy, McGrath, Mt. McKinley, Nikolai, Nome, Noorvik, Point Hope, Portage, Sand Point, Shaktoolik, Stevens Village, Takotna, Twin Hills, Unalaska, Venetie, White Mountain, Worthington Glacier, unlabeled | 1971-1974 |
| 4/4 | Slides: Egegik, KKennicott, Pilot Point, Pribilofs, Worthington Glacier, unlabeled | Undated |
| 4/5 | Slide identification sheets | Undated |
| 4/6 | Photographs: Nondalton, Pedro Bay, Portage Creek, unlabeled | Undated |
| 4/7 | Audiotape: 1/4 inch reel recording of seals | undated |