Guide to the Henry S. Kaiser Jr. papers
1913-1994
Collection number: HMC-1148.
Creator: Kaiser, Henry S., Jr.
Title: Henry S. Kaiser Jr. papers.
Dates: 1913-1994.
Volume of collection: 1.0 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Mainly photographs taken by an Alaska resident.
Biographical note:
Henry Kaiser was born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1932. Born with a heart defect, he contracted tuberculosis in his late teens and spent three years in the Seward Sanatorium, from 1950 to 1953. After his discharge from the sanitorium in 1953, he spent a semester at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, and then hitchhiked to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota where he underwent surgery that corrected his heart defect. He graduated from the University of Alaska in 1960 with a degree in education, and later worked as an educator and for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Kaiser also taught elementary school in Nenana and Ft. Richardson, and was an avid photographer. He died in Anchorage in 2011.
Collection description:
The collection consists of photographs taken by Mr. Kaiser. The subjects of the photographs include people and buildings at the Seward Sanatorium, Fur Rendezvous, fishing, Kaiser’s family, Charles Burnell statue unveiling, an Alaska Airlines celebration in Anchorage, Russian Orthodox churches, Alaska Native artifacts, buildings and construction in Anchorage, Shageluk cemetery, schools, Golden Days celebration and parade, AFN (Alaska Federation of Natives) 1968, a Pioneers of Alaska event, Reverend Andrew Eordogh, AVEC (Alaska Village Electric Cooperative) training, Native Cultural Exhibit building, Alaskan politicians, Alaskan plants, and a Fourth of July parade. Places the photographs were taken include Nenana, Fairbanks Shishmaref, Beaver, Noorvik, Emmonak, Fort Yukon, Chena Hot Springs, Sitka, Nunapitchuk, Louden, Anchorage, as well as Rochester, Minnesota and Washington D.C. The collection also includes a short memoir written by Mr. Kaiser about his health struggles, an article about the 1925 Serum Run, a letter regarding Bob Bartlett’s Congressional Record mailing list, and articles some of his photographs were published in.
Arrangement: The materials have been retained in the order in which they were given to the Archives.
Digitized copies: Select images in the collection have been digitized and added to Alaska’s Digital Archives.
Access restrictions: Nitrate photographic negatives were removed from this collection for preservation purposes. Please ask Archives and Special Collections for further information.
Rights note: Archives holds copyright to materials in the collection created by Henry S. Kaiser, Jr. The collection contains materials not created by Kaiser which may be subject to copyright restrictions.
Preferred citation: Henry S. Kaiser Jr. papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Publications were removed from the collection and some added to Consortium Library’s Rare Books. Please ask an archivist for further information.
Acquisition note: The collection was given to the Archives by Esther Kaiser, Henry’s wife, in 2013. Additions were made to the collection in 2016, 2017, and 2022 by Kaiser’s son, Eric.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2013. Additional material was added to the collection and described by Veronica Denison in 2017. In 2022, the additional material was incorporated into the collection and a folder list created by Shu Mayer.
Container list:
| Box/
Folder |
Description | Date |
| 1/1-3 | Seward Sanatorium slides | 1952-1953 |
| 1/4 | Seward Sanatorium slides and prints | 1950-1951 |
| 1/5 | “I Hitchhiked to Heart Surgery” article by Henry Kaiser Jr. | undated |
| 1/6 | Party, Alaska Railroad pass color negatives | undated |
| 1/7 | Alaska Native art, three people outside house color negatives | undated |
| 1/8 | Class, paintings, children on frozen lake/pond black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/9 | University of Alaska grade cards and black and white negatives with envelope from the University of Alaska Geophysical Institute postmarked August 4, 1960 | undated, 1960 August |
| 1/10 | Boats black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/11 | “Don’s & Mary’s wedding” black and white negatives | 1958 January 24 |
| 1/12 | Ernest Gruening w/group of people; Elizabeth Peratrovich photographic prints | undated |
| 1/13 | “Bunnell Statue Shots” negatives, contact sheet, and slides of Dr. Bunnell at University of Alaska in Fairbanks | 1987 |
| 1/14 | Fishing color negatives | undated |
| 1/15 | Party color negatives | undated |
| 1/16 | Classroom and school black and white negatives | circa 1968 |
| 1/17 | “Eric & Franklin Senior Huslia”: Photographs of engine room AVEC | 1969 December |
| 1/18 | Catholic School; Soldier; Pioneers; Nenana black and white negatives and prints | undated |
| 1/19 | “Ft. Yukon, River Boats” color prints | circa 1963 |
| 1/20 | “Fred Mueller Jake”: Nenana Public School, Students, Yutana river boat black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/21 | “St. Mary’s [women], Nunapitchuk” black and white negatives | 1969 August |
| 1/22 | Unidentified color negatives | undated |
| 1/23 | Fairbanks radio station, school, flood, Nenana buildings, depot, school. Nitrate negatives removed from folder. | undated |
| 1/24 | “St Mark’s Mission, moose calves & Tanana trawler” | 1959 May-June |
| 1/25 | Kaiser family – Eric color prints | circa 1980-1985 |
| 1/26 | Sitka Totem, Pioneer Home Button, Medals black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/27 | Potter Game Refuge Diomede bow drill slides | undated |
| 1/28 | Fur Rondy, Russian Orthodox churches; Seward Sanatorium; Kodiak; Nenana; Party; Native art slides | 1949-1985 |
| 1/29 | Joe Lamnoz slides | 1979 |
| 1/30 | From the Washington Monument slides | 1961 |
| 1/31 | Slides | 1970-1972 |
| 1/32 | Fishing slides | 1966 |
| 1/33 | Rochester M. slides | 1954 |
| 1/34 | “AK Airlines slides | 1984 |
| 1/35 | Nenana, Chena Hot Springs, Galena, Ft. Yukon, and other prints and negatives. Nitrate negatives have been removed from the folder. | 1949-1988 |
| 1/36 | “A.P. iNF R[illegible]” aerial photograph negatives of College, AK | 1957 |
| 1/37 | UAA Buttons Sitka, totems, Pioneer Home
University of Alaska Celebration slides |
circa 1958-1964, 1983-1988 |
| 1/38 | Nenana, Seward, St. Paul Island slides | 1953-1987 |
| 1/39 | Construction in Anchorage – A Street slides | undated |
| 1/40 | Buildings in Anchorage slides | 1985 |
| 1/41 | Shageluk: cemetery negatives | undated |
| 1/42 | Portraits of woman negatives | undated |
| 1/43 | Commercial and original prints: group at Alaska Native Medical center, Bob Bartlett and Ada Stuart, Sophie Cleveland | undated |
| 1/44 | Unidentified photographic prints | 1923-1986 |
| 1/45 | Shishmaref Stan Patty black and white negatives | 1969 October |
| 1/46 | “AVEC P.H. Grayling Fred Howard” black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/47 | Fishing slides | 1987 |
| 1/48 | ARR #1 Church Mormon slides | undated |
| 1/49 | ACVB [Visit Anchorage] slides | 1969-1985 |
| 1/50 | Photographic prints and negative: Seward, Bethel Airstrip, MV Tanana, 1968 AFN Conference, subsistence protest in downtown Anchorage | undated, 1952-1999 |
| 1/51 | [Sylvester] Ayek masks slides | 1985 |
| 1/52 | Golden Days Museum, Capt. Cook slides | undated |
| 1/53 | Nunapitchuk black and white negatives | 1969-1970 |
| 1/54 | Black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/55 | Boats, Beaver, AK negatives | undated |
| 1/56 | “Air Shots Becker Hook Lawlor” negatives | 1958 October 10 |
| 1/57 | “Aireal [sic] shots of Nenana Trip via Hook Airways” negatives | 1958 September 3 |
| 1/58 | Jimmie Rivers Reed prints and photocopy of 1945 Marine Corps honorable discharge documents | undated |
| 1/59 | 50th Grand Pioneers of Alaska | 1966 |
| 1/60 | Edmund Ford, Beaver negatives. Nitrate negatives removed from folder. | undated |
| 1/61 | Black and white negatives and prints: fishing, Russian Mission cemetery | undated |
| 1/62 | Boats; Nenana & fishwheels | undated, 1958 |
| 1/63 | Black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/64 | Color negatives: boat and monument | undated |
| 1/65 | “Golden Days Parade Fbks” black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/66 | Rev. Andrew N. Eordogh, S.J. black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/67 | Black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/68 | “Bob Allen’s Crumbgrinders” (children) black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/69 | “Brook’s Hoax Henry S. Kaiser Chitina, Alaska” negatives | 1956-1957 |
| 1/70 | “ENN Kids” negatives | undated |
| 1/71 | “Coghills ENN” negatives | undated |
| 1/72 | “AVEC Training” negatives and voting information sheet | 1966, 1969 |
| 1/73 | “Edmund Lord. Ft. Yukon” negatives | undated |
| 1/74 | “AVEC Board Meeting” negatives | 1969 October 3 |
| 1/75 | “More[?] Geo Cleveland Shungnak” negatives | 1970 January |
| 1/76 | “Noorvik & Kiana Stan Patty” negatives | 1969 October |
| 1/77 | Unidentified black and white negatives | undated |
| 1/78 | “AVEC Training Sept Oct ’69 1 week” | 1969 October |
| 1/79 | Unidentified negatives, mostly of a small child | undated |
| 1/80 | “St. Mary’s & Emmonak, AK, BIA School” negatives | 1969 |
| 1/81 | “Lunch at Noorvik Oct ‘69” negatives | 1969 October |
| 1/82 | “Emmonak, AK negatives” | 1969 December |
| 1/83 | “Catholic Church @ Holy [Cross]” negatives | 1969 |
| 1/84 | “Anchorage Community College, AVEC Trainees” | 1969 December |
| 1/85 | “Para Club Air Shots, 2 mile Gravel Pit, Fbks, Alaska” negatives | 1958 September 23 |
| 1/86 | “Madg and Babe’s Wedding” negatives | 1958 July 1 |
| 1/87 | “Mrs. Geo. Cleveland, Shungnak” negatives | 1970 January |
| 1/88 | “Norm Yeager Mekoryuk, Dunk & Wanda” negatives | undated |
| 1/89 | “Radio and Drama” negatives | undated |
| 1/90 | “C140 B.J. IA Fbks” negatives | 1958 November |
| 1/91 | “4th July, Nenana, ‘58” negatives | 1958 July 4 |
| 1/92 | “Bob Allen & June & kids” negatives | 1958 December 20 |
| 1/93 | “Anna May Grenac” negatives | 1958 July 15 |
| 1/94 | “Ricky Nishino, EAFB Alaska” negatives | 1959 September 3 |
| 1/95 | “Mozert and Fred Day, Wedding” negatives | 1958 May |
| 1/96 | “St. Mary’s” negatives | 1969 December |
| 1/97 | Fishing, Palmer Fair slides | 1965-1966 |
| 1/98 | Chitina, State Fair, people color transparencies | undated |
| 1/99 | “Perryville, Sandpoint” negatives | undated |
| 1/100 | Norbert Skinner 1962 campaign, Tlingit dancers, Taku Chief with oil barges, church interiors, Nulato prints and slides | undated, 1913-1972 |
| 1/101 | Nenana, fair, Chilkat Dancers, Walter Hickel, beauty contest negatives | undated |
| 1/102 | Alaska Natives, Nome, fishing, fish drying, and parade | 1966-1988 |
| 1/103 | Parade in Central Alaska slides | 1987 |
| 1/104 | Anchorage, fishing, St. Mary’s, People Kodiak, Sitka slides | 1949-1984 |
| 1/105 | Fishing, people, parades, Anchorage, Nenana | 1949-1985 |
| 1/106 | Unidentified Alaska Native village(s) slides | 1969, 1973 |
| 1/107 | Ferns, devils club & artifacts slides | 1985 |
| 1/108 | Westchester Lagoon, whale statue, statue of man, fishing, artifacts, Seward Sanitorium, dentistry slides | 1969-1989 |
| 1/109 | “Pioneer Picnic & Tony Gulerte 80 BD” negatives and contact sheet | undated |
| 1/110 | “Fort Yukon Church” prints and negatives | 1963 |
| 1/111 | “Im [intramural?] Football, Poly Candy [political candidate?] – Fall ’57 UAF” negatives | 1957 October |
| 1/112 | “Catholics Sis Cecelia”: negatives of people building a structure | undated |
| 1/113 | “Nenana.” Nitrate negatives removed from folder | undated |
| 1/114 | “Alaska’s Great Race of 1925” by Henry S. Kaiser. Jr. | undated |
| 1/115 | Publications and articles | 1967-1989 |
| 1/116 | Letter regarding Bob Bartlett’s congressional record | 1961 |
| 1/117 | Article about the Nenana Ice Classic and “Breakup” story by Kirk Medak (description provided by donor) with slide of Ice Classic tripod | undated, 1949 |
| 1/118 | Photos of Leo Kriska “Dog Musher” Fairbanks Open North America sled dog race 1957 and Gareth Wright 1958 negative (description provided by donor) | 1957, 1958 |
| 1/119 | Dr. Bunnell Founder/School Dean Engineering and Mines, University of Alaska (Fairbanks) photo and journalist stories (description provided by donor) | 1988, 1990 |
| 1/120 | Pioneers of Alaska story (description provided by donor) | undated |
| 1/121 | Photo of RAA planes Aircraft (description provided by donor) | undated |
| 1/122 | “Alaska’s Great Race of 1925” (description provided by donor) | undated |
| 1/123 | “Buttoning Up for Rondy” Alaska Magazine story | 1984 February |
| 1/124 | Postcard: “Fairbanks Ice Carnival 1936, Becker Photo”. J. Allen 1st prize dog team Becker Photo. Reverse: “Allen’s team came in first.” | 1936 |
| 1/125 | “ANCSA crusader: Mr. Wright goes to Washington” Anchorage Daily News story | 1994 August 7 |
| 1/126 | “Nenana’s Nenana” story. 3 nitrate negatives are available in digital form only. | undated |
| 1/127 | “Diary of Henry S. Kaiser” Division of Aeronautics, Territory of Alaska work journal. | 1956 |
| 1/128 | “Mister ANB–Roy Peratrovich” story by Henry S. Kaiser Jr. | undated |
| 1/129 | Elizabeth Peratrovich photo, Elizabeth Peratrovich day bill (description provided by donor) | 1988 |
| 1/130 | “Alaska’s Battle with Tuberculosis” story by Henry S. Kaiser and photographs | undated, 1951-1953 |
| 1/131 | University of Alaska Century Club award | 1975 |