Guide to the Cornelia and Renier Kessels scrapbook
undated, 1937
An Alaska Historical Society collection
Collection number: HMC-1265-AHS.
Creator:
Kessels, Cornelia.
Kessels, Renier.
Title: Cornelia and Renier Kessels scrapbook.
Dates: undated, 1937.
Volume of collection: 0.2 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Materials in this collection are in English.
Collection summary: Travel scrapbook from a couple’s trip on the SS Prince Rupert to Alaska and Canada.
Biographical note:
Cornelia was born in California in 1905. Renier (Ray) Kessels was born in Belgium in 1894 and immigrated to Montana in 1912, where he and his family had a farm. Ray moved to Los Angeles and began working for a fire department, eventually becoming a captain and marrying Cornelia. The couple travelled to Alaska in 1937. Cornelia died in 1968 and Renier died in 1973.
Collection description:
The collection contains a scrapbook of the Kessels’ travels to Alaska aboard the SS Prince Rupert. The scrapbook includes menus, postcards and photographs, a map of Canada and Alaska, passenger lists, a room key, dining saloon tickets, various paper company labels and an Alaska Lager Beer label from the Pilsener Brewing Co. of Ketchikan, birthday cards, poems, and paper hats. The subjects of the photographs and postcards include the SS Prince Rupert; totem poles; Ketchikan, Juneau, and Wrangell, Alaska; Victoria, Ocean Falls, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia; Taku Glacier, people aboard the Prince Rupert; Martin Itjen; and the Kessels in places they visited. The poems include “Martin’s Glimpse of the Highlight” which is about Martin Itjen, “Tourist Twaddle” by Marie Drake, and “A Wiffle Bird” by an unknown author (possibly Cornelia Kessel).
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in original order.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: The Alaska Historical Society has copyright to materials created by Cornelia and Renier Kessels.
Preferred citation: Cornelia and Renier Kessels scrapbook, Alaska Historical Society collections, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Publications were removed from the collection and added to the Consortium Library’s Rare Books collection, or Archives and Special Collections ephemera collections. Please ask an archivist for further information.
Acquisition note: This collection was donated to the Alaska Historical Society in 2017 by Sandy Umlauf, the Kessels’ niece. The Historical Society retains ownership of the collection and placed it on deposit in Archives and Special Collections in 2017. Umlauf signed a deed of gift in 2017.
Processing information: This collection was described by Veronica Denison in 2017.