Guide to the Alaska At War symposium records
1992-1996
Collection number: HMC-0451.
Creator: Alaska At War.
Title: Alaska At War symposium records.
Date: 1992-1996.
Volume of collection: 2.5 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Materials about World War II in Alaska.
Organizational history:
An international conference on World War II in Alaska, northwest Canada, and the North Pacific region was held in Anchorage by the Alaska at War organization in November 1993, as part of a commemoration of the war. Alaska at War was a nonprofit association which was formed in 1992; it grew out of the Alaskan Command’s World War II Commemoration Committee on Elmendorf Air Force Base. The conference and the publication of its papers were funded by the Alaska Humanities Forum, the Legacy Program of the U.S. Department of Defense, the Quest for Truth Foundation of Seattle, and the Center for Global Partnership of the Japanese Foundation. The three day symposium, the focal point of the week long conference, brought together an international and interdisciplinary group of scholars, historians, American and Japanese soldiers, civilian evacuees, Alaska civilians, government officials, and descendants of prisoners of war to comment on the issues, personalities, and effects of the war within the microcosm of the Alaska theater.
Collection description:
The collection contains the records of the association, Alaska at War, and their symposium. Included are steering committee minutes, committee correspondence, correspondence with paper presenters, copies of conference papers, financial records, tape recordings of symposium addresses, and conference posters.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged into five series:
Series 1: Committee minutes and correspondence; 1992-1996
Series 2: Financial records; 1992-1996
Series 3: Program Committee speaker files; 1992-1994
Series 4: Audiotape recordings; 1993
Series 5: Posters and art; 1993
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Collection materials may be subject to copyright not held by the Archives.
Preferred citation: Alaska At War symposium records, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Related materials: For other materials held by the Archives related to World War II, see our World War II in Alaska subject guide.
Acquisition note: The collection was presented to the archives by Bruce Parham of Alaska at War acting for the organization. A deed of gift was signed in 1996.
Processing information: This collection was arranged and described by Michele Wellck in 1996. The guide to the collection was reformatted to meet current standard by Arlene Schmuland in 2017. Some duplicates were removed.
Container list:
Series 1: Committee minutes and correspondence; 1992-1996. 0.7 cubic feet.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | Minutes of meetings | 1992-1993 |
| 1/2 | Publicity and announcements | 1993-1995 |
| 1/3 | Veterans’ Day Conference and Symposium program | 1993 November 7-13 |
| 1/4 | Symposium photographs, includes Air Force Band of the Pacific | 1993 November 7-13 |
| 1/5 | Exhibits committee records | 1993-1996 |
| 1/6 | Film committee records | 1993 |
| 1/7 | Finance/fundraising committees records | 1992-1993 |
| 1/8 | Program committee records | 1992-1994 |
| 1/9 | Publications committee minutes | 1994-1995 |
| 1/10-11 | Publications committee correspondence | 1994-1996 |
| 1/12-13 | Symposium mailing lists | 1995 |
| 1/14 | Program cover art file | 1993 |
| 1/15 | Reminiscences from veterans, made available at conference | 1993 |
| 1/16 | Publications committee photographic research | 1994 |
| 1/17 | Alaska/Aleutian campaign, 1942-1945 photographic prints and copies | undated |
| 1/18 | Photographs used in The Forgotten War Remembered | undated |
| 1/19 | Photographs not used in The Forgotten War Remembered | Undated |
| 1/20 | Publications committee advertising file | 1995 |
Series 2: Financial records; 1992-1996. 0.3 cubic feet.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/21 | Alaska Humanities Forum grant proposals | 1993 |
| 1/22 | Alaska Humanities Forum grant correspondence | 1993-1994 |
| 1/23 | Cook Inlet Regional Inc. Foundation grant proposal | 1993 |
| 1/24 | International Research and Exchanges Board grant proposal | 1993 |
| 1/25 | Japan Foundation/Center for Global Change grant proposal | 1993-1994 |
| 1/26 | Private/corporate foundations correspondence | 1993 |
| 1/27 | Quest for Truth Foundation grant proposal | 1993 |
| 1/28 | U.S. Dept. of Defense Legacy Program grant proposal | 1993 |
Series 3: Program Committee speaker files; 1992-1994. 0.8 cubic feet.
Contains correspondence, paper drafts, and other materials. Arranged alphabetically by speaker name.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 2/1 | Allard, Dean | 1993-1994 |
| 2/2 | Bartholomew, Ralph | 1993-1994 |
| 2/3 | Beard, Baker B | 1993 |
| 2/4 | Bezeau, M.V. | 1993-1994 |
| 2/5 | Burwell, Michael | 1994 |
| 2/6 | Bush, Norman | 1993-1994 |
| 2/7 | Butcher, Helen | 1993 |
| 2/8 | Candelaria, Gary | 1993 |
| 2/9 | Cloe, John | 1993-1994 |
| 2/10 | Cole, Terrence | 1993-1994 |
| 2/11 | Cook, Linda | 1994 |
| 2/12 | Coox, Alvin D. | 1993-1994 |
| 2/13 | Dawson, Don “Bucky” | 1993 |
| 2/14 | Davis, Nancy Yaw | 1993 |
| 2/15 | Delkettie, Buck | 1993 |
| 2/16 | Diters, Charles | 1993 |
| 2/17 | Dolitsky, Alexander B. | undated |
| 2/18 | Draper, William F. | 1993 |
| 2/19 | Earle, George, includes 6 color slide illustrations | 1993-1994 |
| 2/20 | Farquhar, Major John | 1993-1994 |
| 2/21 | Freeman, Elmer | 1993-1994 |
| 2/22 | Garfield, Brian | 1993 |
| 2/23 | Goerig, Gaye | 1993-1994 |
| 2/24 | Haigh, Jane | 1993 |
| 2/25 | Hales, David | 1993 |
| 2/26 | Hanable, William | 1993-1994 |
| 2/27 | Hannon, Leo, includes Alaska Territorial Guard commemorative patch and pin | 1993 |
| 2/28 | Haulman, Daniel | 1992-1993 |
| 2/29 | Haycox, Steve | 1993 |
| 2/30 | Hendricks, Charles | 1993-1994 |
| 2/31 | Hudson, Ray | 1993-1994 |
| 2/32 | Hunt, Bill | undated |
| 2/33 | Inouye, Ronald | 1993 |
| 2/34 | Irwin, Zachary | 1993 |
| 2/35 | Jacobs, William | 1993 |
| 2/36 | Kasukabe, Karl | 1992-1993 |
| 2/37 | King, Bob | 1993 |
| 2/38 | Kobayashi, Sylvia | 1993 |
| 2/39 | Kohlhoff, Dean | 1993-1994 |
| 2/40 | Kosheleva, Tat’iana | 1993-1994 |
| 2/41 | Leahy, M. Joseph | 1993 |
| 2/42 | Lekanof, Flore Sr. | 1993 |
| 2/43 | Lenihan, Daniel and Larry Murphy | 1993 |
| 2/44 | May, Joseph M. and Harold W. Steinhoff | 1993 |
| 2/45 | Morgan, Lael | 1993 |
| 2/46 | Morrisette, Stephen | 1993 |
| 2/47 | Nash, Marie Matsuno | 1993 |
| 2/48 | Neely, Alastair | 1993-1994 |
| 2/49 | Nishijima, Teruo | 1993 |
| 2/50 | Norris, Frank | 1993 |
| 2/51 | Ogle, Janice Reeve | 1993 |
| 2/52 | Parham, R. Bruce, includes photographic slides, speech, guides and other reference materials | 1993-1994 |
| 2/53 | Perras, Galen R. | 1992-1993 |
| 2/54 | Raizman, David S. | 1993 |
| 2/55 | Rawson, Tim | 1993-1994 |
| 2/56 | Russell, James | 1993 |
| 2/57 | Russell, Richard A. | 1992-1994 |
| 2/58 | Sfraga, Mike | 1993-1994 |
| 2/59 | Sinclair, Jack | 1993 |
| 2/60 | Smith, Barbara S. | 1993 |
| 2/61 | Sorenson, W. Conner | 1993 |
| 2/62 | Stewart, Henry | 1993 |
| 2/63 | Takahashi, Hisashi | 1993-1994 |
| 2/64 | Talley, B.B. | 1993-1994 |
| 2/65 | Thill, Michael and Mary Jo | 1993 |
| 2/66 | Twichell, Heath | 1993 |
| 2/67 | Webber, Bert | 1993-1994 |
| 2/68 | Wilson, Gwynneth Gminder | 1993 |
| 2/69 | Wooley, Chris and Mike Martz | 1993 |
| 2/70 | Yost, Harry | 1993-1994 |
Series 4: Audiotape recordings; 1993. 0.5 cubic feet.
Recordings of conference sessions on audiocassette. Arranged chronologically by conference session.
| Box/Folder/Item | Description | Date |
| 2/71/1-2 | Keynote address: “Naval Views on the North Pacific before and during World War II” (Dean Allard) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/3 | Session A: War in the North Pacific I, “Recollections of Dutch Harbor, Attu, and Kiska in World War II” (Admiral James Russell). “The Hula Operations” (Richard A. Russell) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/4 | Session A: War in the North Pacific I, “Theobald Revisited” (William S. Hanable). “The Coast Guard at War in Alaska” (M. Joseph Leahy) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/5 | Session A: War in the North Pacific I, “Enemy Sub? (Or Mobey Dick?) Southeast Alaska’s Naval Battle of World War II” (Don “Bucky” Dawson) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/6 | Session B: Minorities in Alaska’s Military, “Race Relations and the Contribution of Minority Troops in Alaska” (Charles Hendricks). “I Remember what I want to Forget” (Sylvia Kobayashi) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/7 | Session B: Minorities in Alaska’s Military, “A Challenge to the Status Quo?” (Lael Morgan). 11. “A Legacy of World War II: Alaska’s Territorial Guard” (Leo J. Hannon) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/8 | Session B: Minorities in Alaska’s Military, questions | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/9-10 | Luncheon keynote address: “An Alaskan Scout Remembers” (Buck Delkettie) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/11 | Session A: War in the North Pacific, II, “The First Special Service Force and Canadian Involvement at Kiska” (Alastair Neeley), “Kiska, the Test that Turned a Regiment into a Mountain Division” (George F. Earle) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/12 | Session A: War in the North Pacific, II, “‘When We Got There, the Cupboard was Bare’: Canada’s Greenlight Force and the Invasion of Kiska, 1943” (Galen R. Perras), “Kiska, the Test that Turned a Regiment into a Mountain Division” continued (George F. Earle) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/13 | Session B: Defending the Territory, “Search and Rescue in the Air Transport Command, 1943-1945” (Zachery Irwin), “Aleuts in Defense of Their Homeland” (Ray Hudson) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/14 | Session B: Defending the Territory, “The Tundra Army: Patriots of Arctic Alaska” (Chris Wooley and Mike Martz) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/15 | Session A: War in the North Pacific, III, “10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron, 11th Army Air Force, Alaska” (Ralph M. Bartholomew), “Life on Adak” (Joseph M. May and Harold W. Steinhoff) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/16-17 | Session A: War in the North Pacific, III, “The Story of the Three B-24s, Fairbanks, 1942” (Stephen M. Morrisette), “Japan Alpine-Ski Soldiers” (Karl Kaoru Kasukabe) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/18 | Session A: War in the North Pacific, III, “Tin Can at War: The U.S.S. Monaghan and the War in Alaska” (Gary L. Candelaria), “The Legacy of the War” (John H. Cloe) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/19 | Session B: Alaska Highway, “The Wartime Alaska Highway: Boon or Boondoggle?” (Heath Twichell), “Alcan-Ashcan-Oilcan: The Real Alaska Highway” (Terrence Cole) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/20 | Session B: Alaska Highway, “The Wrong Route: Donald MacDonald and the Alaska Highway” (William R. Hunt), “Roadside Development along the Alcan Highway: The Impact of World War II Military Construction on the Alaska Highway Corridor” (Jane Haigh) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/21 | Session B: Alaska Highway, “Snapshots from a Soldier’s Scrapbook” (Harry Yost) | 1993 November 11 |
| 2/71/22 | Keynote address: “American National Strategy in the Asian and Pacific War” (William A. Jacobs) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/23 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, I, “World War II in Alaska: A View from the Diaries of Ernest Gruening” (David A. Hales), “The Salmon Industry at War” (Bob King) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/24-25 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, I, “The Civilian Conservation Corps in Alaska and National Preparation” (W. Conner Sorensen), “My Alaska War Years, 1941-1946” (Helen Butcher) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/26 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, I, “World War II through The Alaska Sportsman Magazine” (Timothy Rawson), [U.S. Army in the Territory of Alaska?], Mike Sefaga | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/27 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, I, “‘It Only Makes My Heart Want to Cry’: How Aleuts Faced the Pain of Evacuation” (Dean Kohlhoff), “Recalling the Battle of Attu” (Teruo Nishijima) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/28 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, I, “Aleut Evacuation: Effects on the People” (Flore Lekanof, Sr.), “Aleuts in Japan, 1942-1945” (Henry Stewart) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/29 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, I, questions | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/30-31 | Keynote address: “Strategic Cooperation: The Canadian Commitment to the Defense of Alaska in the Second World War” (M.V. Bezeau) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/32 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, II, “The Civilian Population–Seldovia, Alaska” (Gaye L. Goerig), “The S. S. Northwestern: The Ship That Always Came Back” (Michael Burwell) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/33 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, II, “Deadly Japanese Balloon Bombs” (Bert Webber), “Childhood Memories of the War” (Nancy Yaw Davis) | 1993 November 12 |
| 2/71/34 | Session A: War’s Impact on the Home Front, II, “Hollywood, Alaska, and Politics: The Impact of World War II on Films About the North Country” (Frank Norris) | 1993 November 12 |
| 3/1/35 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, II, “A Matter Very Close to the Aleut Heart: The Politics of Restitution” (Dean Kohlhoff), “Behind the Scenes: Aleut Evacuation: The Untold Story” (Michael and Mary Jo Thill) | 1993 November 12 |
| 3/1/36 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, II, “An Alaskan Who was Interned Introduces Remarks by Senator Ted Stevens” (Marie Matsuno Nash) | 1993 November 12 |
| 3/1/37 | Session B: Aleut Relocation and Restitution, II, questions | 1993 November 12 |
| 3/1/38 | Evening session, “The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians” (Brian Garfield) | 1993 November 12 |
| 3/1/39-40 | Keynote address, “Japanese Campaign in Alaska” (Hisashi Takahashi). Comments: Dr. William A. Jacobs | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/41 | Session A: The War’s Aftermath, “Mining the Federal Government: The War and the All-America City” (Stephen W. Haycox), “The Air Route Nobody Wanted: Reeve Aleutian Airways” (Janice Reeve Ogle) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/42 | Session A: The War’s Aftermath, “Northern Shield and Drawn Arrow: Alaska’s Role in Air Force Reconnaissance Efforts, 1946-1948” (John T. Farquhar), “World War II, Exploration for Petroleum in Alaska’s Arctic” (Kathleen “Mike” Dalton) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/43 | Session A: The War’s Aftermath, “A Well-Kept Secret (Gwynneth Gminder Wilson) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/44-45 | Session B: Lend-Lease, “The Bradley Mission: The Evolution of the Alaska-Siberian Air Route” (Baker B. Beard), “The Construction and Use of the Fairbanks-Kransoiarsk Air Route, 1942-1945″ (Tat’iana Valentinovna Kosheleva) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/46-47 | Session B: Lend-Lease, “The Northern Staging Route” (Daniel L. Haulman). 4.” The Alaskan-Siberian Friendship Route” (David S. Raisman). Questions: David S. Raisman | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/48-49 | Keynote address: “Art and the Reminiscences of the Aleutian War” (William F. Draper and George Earle) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/50 | Session A: Historic Preservation, I, “Right Before Your Eyes: Finding Alaska’s World War II Records in the National Archives” (R. Bruce Parham), “Attu and Kiska, 2043: How Much of the Past Can the Present Save for the Future?” (Charles E. Diters) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/51-53 | Session B: Japanese Americans, “For Immediate Sale: Tokyo Bathhouse–How World War II Affected the Alaskan Japanese Civilians” (Ronald K. Inouye), “Alaskan Japanese Americans Who Experienced World War II” (Ronald K. Inouye, discussion leader) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/54 | Session A: Historic Preservation, II, “The Landscape of a Landmark: Strategies for Preservation” (Linda Cook), “Turning the Forgotten into the Remembered: The Making of Caines Head State Recreation Area” (Jack E. Sinclair) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/55 | Session A: Historic Preservation, II, “Making it Right: Restitution for the Aleut Churches Damaged in World War II” (Barbara S. Smith) | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/1/56-57 | Session B: Writing About the War (Panel Discussion), moderator: Heath Twichell, author of Northwest Epic. Panel Members: John Cloe (The Aleutian Warriors); Elmer Freeman (Those Navy Guys and Their PBYs); Brian Garfield (The Thousand-Mile War); Lael Morgan (Writing Minorities Out of History: Black Builders of the Alaska Highway), and Bert Webber (Silent Siege), Questions | 1993 November 13 |
| 3/2/1-34 | Compiled recordings set used for reseale | 1993 |
Series 5: Posters and art; 1993. 0.2 cubic feet.
| Folder | Description | Dates |
| OSF1 | Art for poster, Alaska at War Conference and Symposium, 7 sheets | 1993 |
| OSF1 | Poster, Alaska at War Conference and Symposium, matted | 1993 |
| OSF1 | Poster, “A Brush with War: World War II Art from the Aleutians,” (artwork is “R.C.A.F. Briefing Before Kiska” by Paul Alexander Goranson) | 1993 |