Guide to the Carleton E. Miller letters
1955-1956
Collection number: HMC-0733.
Creator: Miller, Carleton E. (1916-2002).
Title: Carleton E. Miller letters.
Dates: 1955-1956.
Volume of collection: 0.6 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials in English.
Collection summary: Letters from a Western Electric radio technician working on White Alice Communications System sites to his wife.
Biographical note:
Carleton E. Miller was born on June 24, 1916. A long-time Augusta, Maine resident, he came to Alaska in 1955 as a radician (radio technician) to work on the set-up and testing of White Alice Communications System (WACS) sites as a contractor for Western Electric Corporation. Mr. Miller was also an avid ham radio operator, a hobby he engaged in while in Alaska. He died in Augusta, Maine on November 9, 2002.
Collection description:
This collection consists of 325 letters Mr. Miller wrote to his wife Marguerite (Rita) while en route to and in Alaska from April 1955 to August 1956, and six pieces of correspondence Mrs. Miller received from other family or friends. Most letters also have envelopes. In his letters, he details the set-up and testing work he is doing on the White Alice sites, leisure time activities such as fishing, photography, and his ham radio efforts, and the places where he is stationed and his travels between them. He also mentions many of his co-workers by name. At various times, Mr. Miller was stationed at or visited Anchorage, Homer, Cordova, Hinchinbrook Island, Kodiak, Sitkinak Island, Kotzebue, Kivalina, Nome, Naknek, King Salmon, Port Heiden, and Fairbanks. He wrote to his wife from all of those places.
Arrangement: The letters are in chronological order.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Copyright to this collection is not held by Archives and Special Collections.
Preferred citation: Carleton E. Miller letters, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The Archives purchased this collection at internet auction in 2005.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2005.