Guide to the Wesley Housman photographs
1937-1945
Collection number: HMC-0533.
Creator: Housman, Wesley.
Title: Wesley Housman photographs.
Dates: 1937-1945.
Volume of collection: 0.2 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Personal photograph albums of soldier who served on Adak Island during World War II.
Biographical note:
Wesley Housman, from Oakland, California, served in the U.S. Army on Adak Island in the Aleutians during World War II. Before the war, he was active in the Boy Scouts, attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. Housman appears to have been a member of a radio company at Adak Army Airfield, probably with the 11th Army Air Force, which was headquartered there until 1944. Wesley Housman had returned to California by June of 1945.
Collection description:
The collection consists of Wesley Housman’s personal photograph albums relating to his activities before and during World War II. The collection consists of four dismantled photograph albums containing black and white prints (603 total images). The first album includes images of the Housman family, a Boy Scout Jamboree, an airport and control tower, and camping trips (undated, 1937; 62 prints: 60-35mm contact prints, 2 standard size). Subjects of the second album include: family and friends; hiking, packing, camping, fishing, and sight-seeing in Yosemite National Park, California; and a downhill skiing trip (circa late 1930s to early 1940s; 403 prints: 129-standard sizes, 274-35mm contact prints). The third album concerns Wesley Housman’s service at Adak Army Airfield, including images of: his unit’s soldiers (most identified by name or nickname), buildings, offices, day room, and barracks; base buildings and terrain; the Willi-waw Ski-Lodge; and a few Alaska tourist views (circa 1942-1944; 83 prints). The fourth album contains photographs of the Housman family and their friends, including a trip to Anchor Bay, California in June 1945. (undated, 1945; 55 prints).
Arrangement: Albums are arranged in chronological order. Photographs within each album are arranged by size.
Alternative formats: The collection includes xerographic copies of the photo albums to indicate the original order of the photographs. In addition, there are 9 black and white 4 x 5 copy negatives made from selected prints in the collection.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives and Special Collections does not own copyright to the collection.
Preferred citation: Wesley Housman photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The collection was purchased by the Archives on eBay in 2001.
Processing information: The original photograph albums were dismantled, the photographs rearranged, and the collection described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2001. The guide to the collection was converted to current standard by Gwen Sieja in 2015.