We have been keeping busy so far this Summer in the Archives. Here’s a brief list of what’s new:

 Collections now available (the link directs to the collection guide):

Charles Cassata photographs: Charles Cassata was a former Alaska resident. The photograph collections includes images of Hope, Seward, Valdez, Wasilla, and Anchorage, all dating from 1956-1966. These will soon be available on Alaska’s Digital Archives, so please look for them if you’re interested. (This collection was given to the Alaska Historical Society–we’re their archives.)

Susan Winton photographs: Susan Winton is a professional photographer who lived in Alaska from 1978-2014. Her photographs are primarily of various animals and scenic views, as well as the Iditarod and Fur Rondy. We hope to get some of these digitized soon, so be on the lookout.

Esther Wunnicke papers: This collection was donated to the Archives by Jane Angvik on behalf of the Wunnicke family. Mrs. Wunnicke was heavily involved in Alaska Native land rights, women’s rights, and Alaska oil and gas development and policies. In 1982, she was appointed the Commissioner of the Department of Natural Resources by Governor Sheffield, which earned her the name “Land Lady of Alaska.” The collection includes her speeches and subject files, the majority of which relate to Alaska Native land rights, women’s rights, and Alaska’s natural resources.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wilda G. Hudson papers: This collection was also donated to the Archives by Jane Angvik, but on behalf of the Hudson family. Wilda Hudson was heavily involved in Anchorage civic activities. She was a member of the League of Women voters, served on the Anchorage City Council, was the assistant executive director, and later director of the Alaska Public Office Commission, and she worked to pass the unification of Anchorage and to create the Municipality of Anchorage. She was also the director of Cultural and Recreation Services under Mayor George Sullivan. The collection contains records of the organizations in which Hudson was involved.

Barnett and Stevens family papers: Harriett Barnett worked as a missionary in Unalaska, Alaska under the Women’s Home Missionary Society of the Methodist Church in 1901, working at the Jesse Lee Home. She continued her missionary work in Nome, moving there in 1911, but moved back to Unalaska in 1914. The collection contains Barnett’s diary, correspondence to and from her sister, Georgia Stevens, and Albert Newhall (the superintendent of the Jesse Lee Home from 1902-1923), as well as photographs. (Another Alaska Historical Society collection).

University Area Community Council records: This collection is on deposit with us here at the Archives. This collection consists primarily of records related to building, developments and other projects in the University area under review by the organization. It also includes some meeting minutes and resolutions.

William and Emma Vogelin scrapbooks: William and Emma Vogelin traveled across North Dakota, Montana, and through Canada to drive the ALCAN Highway in the summer of 1955. The collection contains three scrapbooks, which include photographs, correspondence, and Emma Vogelin’s handwritten account of the trip. (Another Alaska Historical Society collection).

Don Grybeck slides: Mr. Grybeck was a geologist with the USGS and the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and was appointed the Chief of the Branch of Alaskan Geology in 1984. He was heavily involved in representing Alaska minerals interests during the ANILCA debate. The collection includes slides taken by Grybeck while working for UAF and USGA. The slides cover geological fieldwork in Alaska, prospectors, mining equipment, towns, and rock formations. Nearly 15,000 slides!

New to Alaska’s Digital Archives:

Whiteout Cabin journal from the Mountaineering Club of Alaska papers: This is a journal from the former Whiteout Glacier Cabin (now named Hans’s Hut) located on part of the Eklutna Traverse. Mountaineers who stayed at the cabin would often sign their names and write stories in the journal.

Richard Tighe Harris family papers: Selected images and letters have been digitized and placed online. Many of the digitized items are letters between Richard Harris and his children when they were students in Oregon.

Emard Cannery Employee photograph album: Selected images from this collection have been digitized and placed online. Photographs include Emard Cannery employees, interior and exterior views of the cannery, and Downtown Anchorage.

New subject guides to collections:

Foreign language collections

Mapping and surveying collections

Other updates:

Update on Walter J. Hickel papers: The first three series, roughly 130 cubic feet, of the Walter J. Hickel papers has been described and updated online by Jay Sylvestre, our Hickel Archivist.

The new Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops have recently opened in Anchorage. Both stores ordered photographs from the Archives to put on their walls, so if you’re there, please look for them.

Among our several researchers this summer, we have had Ph.D. candidates working on their dissertations, doing research in Public Health and tourism in Alaska.

The staff of the Archives recently hosted workshops for the Society of American Archivists Digital Archives Specialist certificate. Attendees included archivists, curators, and records managers from Kodiak, Fairbanks, Wasilla, Unalaska, Juneau, and Kotzebue. Other attendees came from Washington, Wyoming, Kentucky, and Oregon.

Arlene and Veronica recently worked at Identity Inc.’s PrideFest. We had a great time talking to attendees and doing some community outreach.

Archives has also joined the twitterverse! Please follow us!