Guide to the Cecil and Lois Gowen photograph album
undated, 1932-1948
Collection number: HMC-0561.
Creator:
Gowen, Cecil.
Gowen, Lois.
Title: Cecil and Lois Gowen photograph album.
Dates: undated, 1932-1948.
Volume of collection: 0.2 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Alaska travel and family album of man whose mother was a Ketchikan area pioneer.
Biographical note:
Cecil Gowen and his wife, Lois, lived in Nampa, Idaho. Gowen owned the business, Cecil Gowen Welding & Blacksmithing, in Meridian, Idaho. His mother, Celia moved to Oregon and Washington with her husband, George W. Fairbanks, before settling in Ketchikan, Alaska. They owned and worked mining claims at Thorne Arm and Moth Bay on Revillagigo Island and operated the Alaska Oyster Company in Ketchikan. Cecil and Lois Gowen visited his mother and stepfather in the Ketchikan area in August 1947, arriving aboard the S.S. Alaska.
Collection description:
The collection consists of the contents of a family and travel photograph album belonging to Cecil and Lois Gowen. The collection contains the original 80 black and white photographic prints and one newspaper clipping from the album, and the original album cover and those pages which contain handwritten descriptions. Subjects of the photographs include: Lois and Cecil Gowen’s trip to Ketchikan in August 1947, including scenes of Ketchikan and Coon Cove, the boats the Ranzo and the Stormy Petrell, a deer hunting trip, friend Jud Conkle, and the deck of the S.S. Alaska; Cecil Gowen’s vacation to Fort Defiance Park, Long Beach, Mount Rainier, and Olympia, Washington in 1936; Cecil Gowen and a custom trailer he built at his welding shop in Meridian, Idaho; post card scenes of Seattle and Western Washington; and various Gowen family gatherings and portraits including Thanksgiving celebrations in Nampa, Idaho in 1936, and Ontario, Oregon in 1937.
Arrangement: The photographs from the album are arranged by size.
Alternative formats: A xerographic copy of the original album was made to indicate original order.
Digitized copies: Selected photographs from this collection have been digitized and can be found online at Alaska’s Digital Archives. For information about obtaining copies please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives and Special Collections does not own copyright to the collection.
Preferred citation: Cecil and Lois Gowen photograph album, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The collection was purchased by the Archives on eBay in 2002.
Processing information: The original photograph album was dismantled, photographs put into enclosures by size and the collection described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2002. The guide to the collection was converted to current standard by Gwen Higgins in 2015.
Item list:
| Folder | Page/Item | Description | Date |
| 1 | 1/1 | “Air View – Ketchikan, Alaska and Boat Parade”; Schallerer photo, No. S-439 | undated |
| 1 | 2/1 | “Mission St. from Steamers Bridge – Ketchikan, Alaska”; Schallerer photo, No. S-107 | undated |
| 1 | 3/1 | “Thomas Basin – Ketchikan, Alaska”; Schallerer photo; No. S-109 | undated |
| 1 | 4/1 | “Federal Bldg. – Ketchikan, Alaska”; Schallerer photo; No. S-220 | undated |
| 1 | 5/1 | “G.S.B. Ranzo” Boat near Ketchikan | 1944 June 30 |
| 1 | 6/1 | “Chief Johnson Totem – Ketchikan, Alaska” photo postcard; No. S-400 | undated |
| 1 | 6/2 | “Cecil Gowen, Geo[rge] Fairbanks, Jud [Conkle]” Standing in front of totem pole | 1947 August |
| 1 | 7/1 | “Lois M. Gowen, 35, Cecil A. Gowen, 42, Aug. 6, 1947, Folks back yard in Boise, Idaho, Day we left for Alaska” | 1947 August 6 |
| 1 | 7/2 | “Uncle Will, Bunnie [Celia Gowen Fairbanks], Cec” Scene at side of house in Ketchikan | 1947 |
| 1 | 7/3 | “Bunnie & Geo[rge Fairbanks’] house – side view, Aug. 1947, Ketchikan, Alaska.” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 8/1 | “Geo. Fairbanks washing oysters at the oyster beds,” Ketchikan, Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 8/2 | “Snow Ball & Jud [Conkle] & Geo. [Fairbanks],” Ketchikan, Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 8/3 | “Lois and Pet Hen” Sitting in front of Bob’s shack, Ketchikan, Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 9/1 | “Bunnie’s Ship ‘The Stormy Petrell‘” boat | undated |
| 1 | 10/1 | Cruising boat at Coon Cove, “Near-The-Oyster-Beds” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 11/1 | “Across Bay-From-Coon Cove, Our-Oil-Land-In-Alaska, 1947” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 12/1 | “This is a snap of Harry and Jud [Conkle]- on our hunting trip at 12 mile arm – about 60 miles from Ketchikan. We got four deer – Harry 2 and I 2 – and Jud didn’t get any. Rain all the while we were out there” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 12/2 | “Geo[rge Fairbanks] – the Ranzo and Bob’s shack” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 12/3 | “Bob’s Shack” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 13/1 | “Cec on the Ranzo“ | 1947 August |
| 1 | 13/2 | “Geo. Fairbanks and June at Coon Cove” In rowboat | 1947 August |
| 1 | 13/3 | “Jud – June in back boat – Geo, Cec & I in other boat – Coon Cove” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 14/1 | “Jud Conkle’s Boat, the Mars…” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 14/2 | “House to clean oysters in at Coon Cove Bay” | 1947 August |
| 1 | 14/3 | Cecil Gowen on the Ranzo | 1947 August |
| 1 | 14/4 | “House in Ketchikan” 1947 August | |
| 1 | 15/1 | “At Bunnies in Ketchikan, Alaska: Cecil Gowen 43, Lois Gowen 35” | 1947 |
| 1 | 15/2 | “Florence (Geo[rge’s] niece), Bunnie, [&] George [Fairbanks]” | 1947 |
| 1 | 16/1 | “Cecil” Sitting on chair on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 16/2 | “Lois” Sitting on chair on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 17/1 | Cecil Gowen standing on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 17/2 | Lois Gowen standing on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 18/1 | Men playing shuffle board on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 18/2 | Men in life vests on deck of the U.S.S. Alaska | 1947 |
| 1 | 19/1 | George Fairbanks and hanging deer on hunting trip near Ketchikan | undated |
| 1 | 20/1 | Family portrait: “Grandpa Gowen, Arthur Gowen, Ella Gowen, and Beula Gowen” | undated |
| 1 | 21/1 | “Mrs. Geo. W. Fairbanks, Prominent Pioneer, Died Here Labor Day”; Ketchikan Daily News | 1948 September |
| 1 | 21/2 | Portrait in front of house: “Cecil Arthur Gowen, Raymond N. Gowen, Freeman W. Gowen (Freeman’s house, Thanksgiving) | 1936 November |
| 1 | 22/1 | “Bunnie at Park in Ketchikan, 1942” Standing next to drinking fountain | 1942 |
| 1 | 23/1 | Woman in fur coat sitting on dock piling: “Mum was afraid the camera would miss her, so she got as close as possible in order to crowd out the sea gulls, I presume” | undated |
| 1 | 24/1 | Cecil Gowen and mother Celia Gowen standing at side of automobile | 1936 |
| 1 | 25/1 | Group photo: “Bernice Gowen, Lois Gowen, Lillian Gowen, Freeman [Gowen], Raymond [Gowen], Cecil [Gowen], Dick & Bill [children], Nov. 1936 – taken at Freeman’s House [Nampa, Idaho]” | 1936 |
| 1 | 26/1 | Group photo of Gowen family in front of Freeman Gowen house in Nampa, Idaho: “Cecil Gowen, Lois Gowen, Lillian, Raymond, Bunnie (mother), Bernice, Freeman, Dick, Barbara” | 1936 November |
| 1 | 27/1 | Group photo in front of Freeman Gowen house in Nampa, Idaho: “Celia Gowen Fairbanks, Betty Gowen, Geo. Fairbanks, Barbara Gowen, Bill Gowen, Dick Gowen” | 1936 November |
| 1 | 28/1 | Group photo in front of Freeman Gowen house in Nampa, Idaho: “Betty – Barbra – Dick – Bill” | 1936 November |
| 1 | 28/2 | Portrait of Betty Gowen in ballet dress as young girl | undated |
| 1 | 29/1 | Celia Gowen Fairbanks standing next to model of lighthouse in Ketchikan | circa 1942 |
| 1 | 30/1 | Portrait of Barbara and Betty Gowen as young girls | undated |
| 1 | 31/1 | Gowen family group photo outside corner of house | undated |
| 1 | 31/2 | Gowen family group photo with small boy in foreground | undated |
| 1 | 31/3 | Gowen family group photo in front of automobile | undated |
| 1 | 31/4 | Gowen family group photo with tree in right background | undated |
| 1 | 32/1 | Cecil Gowen and dog Pepper | undated |
| 1 | 32/2 | Cecil Gowen and older man | undated |
| 1 | 33/1 | “Ce – relatives in Ontario, Oregon, Thanksgiving 1936” | 1936 November |
| 1 | 33/2 | Cecil Gowen and woman at Yellowstone Park | 1937 |
| 1 | 33/3 | Group family photo of relatives in Ontario, Oregon | 1936 Novemver |
| 1 | 34/1 | Group photo at Aunt Ella’s house, Waitsberg, Washington: “Aunt Ella, Uncle Mac, Maxine” | 1936 August |
| 1 | 34/2 | “Aunt Ella’s House, Waitsberg, Wn., 1936” | 1936 |
| 1 | 35/1 | Cecil Gowen at Fort Defiance Park, Washington | 1936 |
| 1 | 35/2 | Cecil Gowen reaching into crevice in stone cliff | 1936 |
| 1 | 36/1 | Cecil Gown in swimming trunks at Long Beach, Washington | 1936 |
| 1 | 36/2 | Woman in swimming trunks at Long Beach, Washington | 1936 |
| 1 | 37/1 | Mount Rainier Inn | 1936 August |
| 1 | 37/2 | State capitol building in Olympia, Washington | 1936 |
| 1 | 38/1 | “North Head Light House, Ilwaco, Wash.” | undated |
| 1 | 39/1 | “Weeding a Young Marsh” | undated |
| 1 | 40/1 | “M.S. Kalakala” Ferry in Puget Sound | undated |
| 1 | 41/1 | “Lake Washington Pontoon Bridge looking toward Seattle”; Johnston photo, No. 1189 | undated |
| 1 | 42/1 | “Olympic Hotel – Seattle, Wash.” | undated |
| 1 | 43/1 | “Seattle, Wn.” Aerial of downtown and waterfront; Johnston photo, No. 1169 | undated |
| 1 | 44/1 | Group photo on a saloon porch, Tijuana, Mexico: Cecil Gowen, Juanita Gowen, Elsie Gowen, Lillian Gowen, and Raymond Gowen | undated |
| 1 | 45/1 | Unidentified woman and Elsie at campground, Warm Lake | 1941 |
| 1 | 45/2 | Older man with rifle? | undated |
| 1 | 46/1 | Cecil Gowen and custom trailer he built at his welding and blacksmithing shop in Meridian, Idaho, with his 1940 Ford sedan in the background | 1941 May |
| 1 | 46/2 | Custom trailer below sign for Cecil Gowen Welding & Blacksmithing, Meridian, Idaho | 1941 May |
| 1 | 47/1 | Rear view of custom trailer | 1941 May |
| 1 | 47/2 | Rear view of custom trailer | 1941 May |
| 1 | 48/1 | Custom trailer in front of Cecil Gowen Welding & Blacksmithing shop, Meridian, Idaho | 1941 May |
| 1 | 49/1 | Cecil Gowen sitting on park bench at Sun Valley, Idaho | 1942 August |
| 1 | 49/1 | Raymond Gowen and wife Gwen with infant son Dickie and family dog | circa 1932 |
| 2 | Album covers and pages | 1932-1948 | |
| 3 | Xerographic copy of scrapbook | 1932-1948 | |
| 4 | Copy negatives | 1932-1948 |