Guide to the Howard and Mabel Jonish papers
1910-1989
Collection number: HMC-0428.
Creators:
Jonish, Howard.
Jonish, Mabel.
Title: Howard and Mabel Jonish papers.
Dates: 1910-1989.
Volume of collection: 1.20 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Materials in this collection are in English.
Collection summary: Papers, photographs, and writings of an Alaskan couple.
Biographical note:
Howard and Mabel Jonish first came to Alaska in the early 1940s. Howard Jonish was a construction engineer with the U.S. Army Engineer District, Alaska, from 1944 to 1965. He was project engineer at Nome (1944-1950), Cape Lisburne (1951-1953), Sparrevohn Air Force Base (1957-1958), and Driftwood Bay DEW Line Extension (1958-1959). He was also resident engineer at Ladd-Eielson Air Force Base (1953-1957), Clear BMEWS (1959), Fort Greely (1960, 1962), and Fort Wainright (1963-1965). Howard and Mabel Jonish made several trips on the Alaska Highway, as well as the Richardson, Steese, and other highways in Alaska. Howard and Mabel left Alaska upon Howard’s retirement in 1965 and moved to Washington. Howard Jonish died in 1983 and Mabel Jonish died in 1993.
Collection description:
The collection contains the papers, photographs, post cards, and color slides of Howard and Mabel Jonish relating to their life in Alaska as well as the various construction projects on which Howard Jonish worked. The papers consist of their personal papers, Howard’s employment records as well as awards and certificates. The photographs and color slides relate to various construction projects at Cape Lisburne, Eielson, Sparrevohn, Driftwood Bay, Clear, Northway, and Fort Wainwright; life in and around Nome, Kotzebue, Valdez, and Fairbanks; gold mining in the Kougarok River drainage; trips in Alaska and on the ALCAN and Alaska highways; and the construction of the Alaska Highway. The post cards include several by Winter and Pond, scenes of the construction of the Alaska Highway, and views of the damage from a storm in Nome in 1946.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1. Personal papers; 1950-1971
Series 2. Howard Jonish employment records; 1953-1966
Series 3. Photographs; 1910-1981
Alternative formats: Xerographic copies of the original photograph albums have been made, indicating the original order of the photographs. Copy negatives were made of selected photographs in the collection.
Digitized copies: Selected images have been digitized and are available on Alaska’s Digital Archives. For information about obtaining copies please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives holds copyright to materials created by Howard and Mabel Jonish.
Preferred citation: Howard and Mabel Jonish papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Some published material has been separated from the collection and added to the Consortium Library’s Rare Books collection. Please ask an archivist for further information.
Acquisition note: The collection was donated to the Archives and a deed of gift signed by Arley D. Jonish in 1995.
Processing information: The photographs were removed from the albums and rearranged by size, and the collection described by Dennis Walle in 1995. The collection was converted to current standard by Veronica Denison in 2015.
Container list:
Series 1. Personal papers; 1950-1971. 0.20 cubic feet.
This series contains Mabel Jonish’s remembrances of life in Nome, Department of Taxation records of the Jonish’s while in Nome, news clippings, and papers relating to the Jonish’s involvement in the Mystic Shrine and Order of the Eastern Star.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | “Mabel’s Story”: Mabel Jonish’s remembrances of life in Nome, Alaska | undated |
| 1/2 | Department of Taxation, Territory of Alaska, School Tax receipts, for Howard and Mabel Jonish | 1952, 1965 |
| 1/3 | News clippings: Hometown Reporter “Jonishes leaving Alaska after 24 years”; Mr. and Mrs. Howard F. Jonish’s 40th wedding anniversary in Spokane; Home Sweet Home—winter view of station | undated, 1965 1966 |
| Box 2 | Howard Jonish admission as a Noble of the Mystic Shrine in the Nile Temple of Seattle; Official Receipt of Dues for Mabel Jonish, Order of Eastern Star, Alaska Chapter No. 1 | 1950, 1971 |
| Box 2 | Wein Alaska Airlines certificate, crossing of the Arctic Circle landing at Kotzebue | 1952 September 29 |
Series 2. Howard Jonish employment records; 1953-1966. 0.20 cubic feet.
This series contains personnel and employment records of Howard Jonish, as well certificates Jonish was given for completing training courses and receiving commendations.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/4 | Notifications of personnel action, letters of commendation, job descriptions, letters of appreciation, travel orders, an employee performance appraisal, and retirement records for the U.S. Civil Service Commission including a list of duty stations. | 1953-1966 |
| 1/5 | Department of Army certificates of trainings; Department of Army certificate of service; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers certificate of service | 1953-1964 |
| Box 2 | Department of Army certificate of achievement; Department of Army commendation certificate | 1964-1965 |
Series 3. Photographs; 1910-1981. 0.80 cubic feet.
This series contains photographs from two albums, both labeled “Alaska Album,” as well as slides, family photographs which were not in the albums, and post cards. The photographs from the albums were removed and rearranged by size. The family photographs which were not in albums were arranged by topic. Where possible, photograph and post card subjects and captions were kept and added to the description in this guide.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/6 | “Alaska Album” photocopy of album | 1943-1981 |
| 1/7 | Alaska Album: Nome, winter, Blanket Toss; midnight on the Mackenzie; midnight sun at Kotzebue; King Island; Salcha River; pond at Eielson Air Force Base; Worthington Glacier; Valdez Glacier Trail sign; Mabel and Howard Jonish at Worthington Glacier; Horsetail Falls in Keystone Canyon; waterfalls in Keystone Canyon; Worthington Glacier; a street in Valdez; black bear cub on a chain; #1 and #2 chefs—Howard and Mabel Jonish; man and woman washing dishes; Fairbanks—Bill Secor at Eielson Air Force Base, Mabel Jonish and Bill Secor, Mabel and Howard Jonish, front yard of house at 1212 Denali, Mabel Jonish with Fords and Fleigers, Mabel Jonish in interior of house at 1212 Denali, the Jollens dressed up, friends Lloyd and Doris with Mabel Jonish, tomato plants and cucumbers in greenhouse, and Howard Jonish and unidentified man at construction site; Howard Jonish in front of Gold Rush Saloon in Fairbanks, and in front of “Welcome to Alaska” sign | 1943-1981 |
| Box 2 | “Alaska Album” remnants of original album | undated |
| 1/8 | Alaska Highway road construction: black bears, trucks and heavy equipment, boat plane, small tug, and sled-dog teams and their drivers | 1944 |
| 1/9 | Nome and the Seward Peninsula: Johnny Campbell’s plane crash wreckage on Anvil Mountain; Pilgrim River scenery and fishing; ordinance shop, Marks Field; Lincoln Hotel wreckage after storm; man with salmon, trout, and Dolly Varden; Jonish house in Nome; sled-dog team and driver; narrow gauge railroad and trains in Nome; Ptarmigan hunting parties and camp; military plane; Howard Jonish and other men next to snowed-in buildings; Nome River Basin from airplane; Howard Jonish on street, and the Jonish house in Nome; Polar Cub Restaurant, Nome; Reindeer flown in for fair; Howard and Mabel Jonish at their 25th wedding anniversary dinner, Bering Sea Club, Nome | 1946-1981 |
| 1/10 | Second “Alaska Album” photocopy | 1950-1951 |
| 1/11 | Second “Alaska Album” remnants of original album | undated |
| 1/12 | “Second “Alaska Album”: Mabel and Howard Jonish with gold nugget in pan, Jenk’s mine, Our ‘Nugget’, Kougarok; Godsbe’s car, stuck at Dexter; sunset; ice, Nome River, Dexter; Jonish house, Easter Sunday; Ruth Gumbinski, Dexter; Howard at Dexter; trip to council; spring at Cape Nome; crossing the Ferry at Safety Lagoon; A.R.C. camp, Fish River; lunch on the Fox River; Fish River looking East; Ninilchik River, Council, Alaska; construction photographs; Cape Lisburne construction, shoreline, and rock formations | 1950-1951 |
| 1/13 | Hydraulic gold mining in Kougarok River drainage: Howard and Mabel Jonish, Jim Gilbert, Paul Ablawaluk, Herb and Alice Hudson, John Kakaruk, Ruth Kakaruk, Stella Kakaruk, Joe Mickel, Mr. Waldhelm, and Jim Dexter; Atlas Creek; Checker Creek; Coffee Creek; Kougarok River Ferry; landing strip, two airplanes, and go-devil sled | circa 1950 |
| 1/14 | Scottish Rite reunion, Nome, Alaska | 1950 May |
| 1/15 | Kotzebue: Rotman Stores, Midnight Sun Theater, and Ferguson Stores; Alaskan wolf; Arctic Alaska Adventures Club building; Kotzebue Grille restaurant; Eckhardt’s Novelties cabin | circa 1945 |
| 1/16 | Valdez and along the Richardson Highway: looking up Main Street, Valdez; Valdez from the dock; Bridal Veil Falls, Horsetail Falls, and railroad tunnel in Keystone Canyon; Worthington Glacier; looking toward mountains Drum, Wrangell, and Sanford from Pippin Lake; Grizzly Gift Shop cabin; Columbia Glacier; Valdez cemetery signs | 1940-1965 |
| 1/17 | Eielson Air Force Base building construction | 1954 |
| Box 2 | Cape Lisburne, Alaska (Corps of Engineers artist’s rendering of site) | 1953 |
| 1/18 | Sparrevohn Air Force Base, construction: Communication System, Alaska District, Corps of Engineers: concrete footings for Tower #2; Tower #5 in background; installing sheeting on Tower #3; POL tank; access road to site north end of Equipment Building; #6 antenna over Equipment Building; #1 and #5; elevation, camp site and landing strip in center of picture; AC&W site taken from white access road; runway and camp; switchback road; switchback road to radar site; blasting road to radar site; road construction; road construction to radar site; sewage disposal at radar site; placing footing forms for radar tower; hauling radar material | 1957 |
| 1/19 | Driftwood Bay Dew Line Extension construction, Unalaska Island: conditions after spring snow storm; crane unloading; material from cargo ship at shoreline; construction camp site and dining hall; road construction; construction of buildings and tanks; Bill Barker, General Superintendent; Howard F. Jonish, Project Engineer; James McNamara, Resident Engineer | 1958 |
| 1/20 | Northway, Alaska Pipeline Project construction: picnic at Northway Lodge; powerhouse building; Keith Bounder and Howard Jonish, Project Engineer; storm | 1962 |
| 1/21 | Fort Wainwright: sidewalk and street project; breaking ground for new officers club; Howard and Mabel Jonish inside frame of new officers club; exterior of new officers club; Horseshoe Bar in new officers club | 1963-1965 |
| 1/22 | Howard F. Jonish—Corps of Engineers awards and commendations, courses attended: Major Esser presenting Certificate of Achievement to Howard Jonish; Major Esser presenting Department of the Army Commendation to Howard Jonish; participants at Fort Wainwright award ceremony | 1964-1965 |
| 1/23 | Mr. and Mrs. Bernier and Mabel and Howard Jonish; Jonishes’ 25th wedding anniversary dinner, Bering Sea Club; Tommy and Howard(grandchildren); river cabin on Salcha River, Mabel and daughter Leone; Mabel at door of travel trailer at Cathedral Bluffs; Blue Angels pilots and planes; Columbia Glacier; dog races, Fairbanks; North American Championship Sled Dog Races; Old Jack Wade Dredge; bridge on Salcha River 15 miles south of Eielson; Howard Jonish in tunnel at Fox, Alaska; railroad engine at Fort Steele, B.C.; overlooking south end of Lake Okanagan, B.C.; model paddleboat steamer in stream near Revelstroke, B.C.; Alcan Highway; boat trip, Lund, B.C., Malaspina Strait, and Windy Bay in Phillips Arm Inlet; road construction camp and area cleared of trees | 1948-1970 |
| 1/24 | Alaska post cards, Winter & Pond, Juneau: Wreck of Str. “Mariechen”; position of wrecked “Princess Sophia” as seen from Vanderbilt Reef; last trace of “Princess Sophia” wreck; Catholic Church School, and Hospital; Alaska racing team; Native Alaskan [child in suspended cradle]; Native women Curio Sellers; Indian Village—Howkan; winter travel, Alaska [dog-sled team, cargo, and drivers at cabin]; “esquimo mother, Alaska”; midnight sun—Yukon River; “The Trail of ‘98”, Klondikers ascending Chilkoot Pass; The Totem Pole [poem]; King Salmon, Alaska [native man beside suspended fish];Why Big Game Hunters Like Alaska [combination print, hunter and grizzly]; breaking trail in Alaska [dog team, sled, and drivers in deep snow]; an old Sourdough gathering Ice-Worms; Mt. McKinley [from oil painting]; “Princess May” wrecked on Sentinel Island; trolling for King Salmon, Alaska; tourist steamer at Taku Glacier, Alaska; Alaska racing team; Alaska dog team; a$7,000 Pan of selected gold nuggets from Quartz Creek, Yukon Territory; “Northwestern” Juneau Jan. 22, 1916 [ice-covered ship at dock]; “Northwestern” Juneau Jan. 22, 1916 [ice on deck of ship]; “A1-K1” wrecked on Point Augusta, 11-1-17; S.S. Northwestern Juneau; Alaska grave totems; Alaska totems totem pole, Sitka; Chief Kad-a-shan’s totem, Wrangell; Kahlteen, Kad-a-shan, totems at Wrangell; Kahlteen’s totem, Wrangell, Alaska; A “Whale” of a Fish [whale floating bottom up]; King Is. dwellings, Bering Sea; community grindstone used by the Russian Colony in 1830; on the trail to a gold strike [man and two dogs pulling freight on a sled]; A Winter Trail [dog team, sled, and drivers descending slope]; “Alaska Prospectors” [two men with five dogs pulling loaded sled]; beachmining in Alaska; Northern Lights [from oil painting]; Alaska Blue Fox; Alaska 400 pound Halibut; wreck of Admiral Evans, Hawk Inlet, March 9th 1918; diver at work “Evans” wreck, Hawk Inlet, Alaska; “Evans” Wreck, Hawk Inlet; “Northwestern” stranded in Wrangell Narrows; S.S. Northwestern ashore at Eagle River, 7-25-33; “Northwestern” ashore at Eagle River, Alaska; “Princess Sophia” ten hours after striking Vanderbilt Reef, Oct. 24th 1918; Princess Sophia on Vanderbilt Reef; C.P.R. Co. “Princess Sophia”; Tlingit Basket Sellers, Alaska; pet bears; Tlingit Potlatch Dancers, Chilkat | undated, 1910, 1916-1935 |
| 1/25 | Alaska post cards, Sawyers: “Ma” Goodlatau of Chitina, Alaska, One of the few remaining full-blooded Copper River Indians; Wild Mountain Sheep | undated |
| 1/26 | Alaska post cards Purity Pharmacy: old Deserted Village, Kasaan, Alaska; La Conte Glacier, Alaska; portion of Juneau’s Halibut Fleet, Juneau Harbor | undated |
| 1/27 | Nome, Alaska; Northwest Magazine Distributors: The Nevada Grill building and snow drifts; storm damage, Wales, and Post-Rogers plane wreckage near Point Barrow; Storm damage in Nome, Lincoln Hotel, Northern Commercial Co. Bulkhead; storm damage in Nome; Wales, Alaska; Post-Rogers crack-up Near Point Barrow | 1935-1946 |
| 1/28 | The Alaska Highway; Provincial News Co. Ltd., Edmonton, Canada: a typical stretch of the Alaska Highway; convoy truck Hauling supplies to the head of construction on the Alaska Highway; Campman Bridge at Slims River, 1565 Miles from the beginning of the Alaska Highway; Official Canadian-American opening of the Alaska Highway; portable sawmill used by engineers on the Alaska Highway to make lumber for bridges and culverts; trail of ‘42 on the Alaska Highway through bushland and muskeg; American Corps of Engineers soldier employed on the Alaska Highway; truck rolling down towards Donjek River carrying supplies to the camps on the Alaska Highway; Old Indian Village, at Kluane Lake, somewhat augmented by U.S. Army tents, on the Alaska Highway; view of the Alaska Highway seen from the shoreline of a northern lake fringed with mighty peaks | circa 1941-1944 |
| 1/29 | Juneau and Skagway panoramas: Skagway and the Lynn Canal; Ketchikan and Tongass Narrows; Juneau and Gastineau Channel | undated |
| 1/30 | Alaska post cards, Cann Studio, Fairbanks: Mt. McKinley from Mt. Eielson, McKinley Park; trappers cabin; Federal Building, Fairbanks | undated |
| 1/31 | Alcan Highway scenes, F.B. Odenwald photos: ice floes on Peace River; Peace River Valley; Fort St. John, B.C.; Alcan Highway; Alcan Highway and Peace River Valley | undated |
| 1/32 | Post cards: Post-Rogers crack-up near Point Barrow; Post-Rogers Memorial, Point Barrow; Bruno of the Alcan Highway; Teller, Alaska; M.S. Jumper Hitch in ice pack, Nome; Alaska’s Flag [poem by Mary Drake]; Paxson Lodge serving “The Trail”; indian basket weaver of Southeastern Alaska; Midnight Sun on the Yukon River; Mile 642, Alaska Highway; Colman Ferry Dock, Seattle, Wash; leaving Fort Lewis, Washington by main gate; Blanchard Greenhouse, Skagway; Parker House Motel, Tok, Alaska; Dawson Creek, B.C. 1954; Minstrel Island, B.C. Canada [aerial]; Minstrel Island, B.C. Canada [aerial]; tourist boat on the Upper Peace River; The Homestead Motel, Grenfell, Saskatewan; Welcome to Whitehorse, Yukon [wooden sign]; bird’s-eye view of Fairbanks; Parker House Motel; The Alexander MacKenzie Inn: “Convention Centre of the Peace”, Fort St. John, B.C.; aerial view of Fort St. John, British Columbia; aerial view of Taylor, British Columbia; | undated, 1935-1954 |
| 1/33 | Nome and Dredge: Nome Hospital; gold dredge; hydraulic mining; King Island; Kotzebue; Native hunting and fishing, seal, walrus, beluga whales; Reindeer herd; Jonish house in Nome | circa 1948-1951 |
| 1/34 | Cape Lisburne: construction of station; two cargo ships at shoreline; small plane landing; rock formations and scenery; men unloading cargo plane; men eating in mess hall | circa 1951 |
| 1/35 | Trip with Leo and Frances to Valdez and Circle Hot Springs: Richardson Highway; Chatanika; Circle Hot Springs; hunting trip to Circle; Sourdough Lodge; Post’s Service; Trappers Den Road House | circa 1954 |
| 1/36 | Engineers picnic with Major Anderson; trip to Seward with the Lennons, Fairbanks to Seward; Seward; Portage Glacier; Clear, landing strip construction; McKinley Park Hotel; Richardson Highway; Contact Creek, British Columbia | circa 1955 |
| 1/37 | Parade in Fairbanks, rodeo | circa 1957 |
| 1/38 | Sparrevohn Air Force Base construction | 1957 |
| 1/39 | Driftwood Bay DEW Line Extension construction: Unalaska; Dutch Harbor; Cold Bay | circa 1958 |
| 1/40 | Anchorage Fur Rendezvous Parade, U.S. Army Engineer District, Alaska building | 1958 |
| 1/41 | Alaska trip: Seward to Pearl River; North Pole; Kluane Lake, Yukon Territory; Frazier River Canyon, British Columbia; Muncho Lake, British Columbia; Girdwood; Anchorage; McKinley Park Hotel; Shasta Dam, California; Nenana; Alaska Railroad; Watson Lake Hotel, Yukon Territory; Haines Junction | 1958 |
| 1/42 | Alaska slides: Cathedral Bluffs, travel trailer, black bears; dredge working on Chicken Creek; bridge over Forty Mile River; Old Jack Wade Creek dredge; Fairbanks; Shrine Circus; Blue Angels jet aircraft; Bison at Big Delta Bison Range | 1960 |
| 1/43 | Trip to Canada and back: Vancouver, British Columbia | 1961 |
| 1/44 | Trip to Dawson and construction at Northway | 1962 |
| 1/45 | Trip to Valdez with Marie and Martin: Thompson Pass; Bridal Veil Falls; Tiekel Road House; Worthington Glacier; Copper Center | 1963 |
| 1/46 | Fairbanks and other: flowerbeds; University of Alaska, flags; new officers club, Fort Wainwright; parade; dog-sled races; house and grounds; Valdez cemetery signs; tomato plants; saddle horse | 1965 |
| 1/47 | Commercial travel slides: Portage Glacier; double rainbow; Kenai Peninsula miner’s cabin; Second Avenue, Fairbanks; “Alice” last of the ‘98ers on the Yukon River; Mountain Goat; hunter with Polar Bear; racing dog team in Anchorage Alaska; Northward Buildings, Fairbanks at night; spawning Salmon; Fur Seal Cows and pups, Pribilof Islands; two Alaska Mountain Sheep, Rams; Russian Church, Kenai; Moose cow and two calves; Eskimo in Kayak; midnight sun; moose; Kenai Highway; Kenai Lake; Seattle Space Needle; Mt. McKinley National Park, Polychrome Pass; Kotzebue, Eskimo dancer and drummer; homes in Valdez the Switzerland of Alaska; Mt. McKinley National Park, midnight sun; Buffalo—Big Delta; totems; Caribou herd; bears in Kenai River; Mt. McKinley | undated, 1962 |
| 1/48 | Other slides: Fairbanks; Harding Lake | undated |