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Marvin R. “Muktuk” Marston scrapbook

Guide to the Muktuk Marston scrapbook
1955-1956

Collection number: HMC-0781-APU.
Creator: Marston, Muktuk.
Title: Muktuk Marston scrapbook.
Dates: 1955-1956
Volume of collection: 0.16 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Scrapbook kept by delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention in 1955-1956.

Biographical note:
Marvin R. “Muktuk” Marston was born in Tyler, Washington in 1889. He attended Seattle Pacific College and Greenville College.  Marston first came to Alaska during World War II as a major in the U. S. Army Air Corps in charge of special services and worked at Elmendorf Field on Fort Richardson, where he organized recreational activities and facilities for soldiers. He also acted as a special aide to the governor of Alaska and organized the Alaska Territorial Guard, also known as the Alaska Eskimo Scouts, which later became the Alaska National Guard. After the war, Marston worked as a businessman and real estate developer in Anchorage and was responsible for the creation of the Turnagain-by-the-Sea subdivision in 1951. His interest in aiding the lives of Alaska Natives included work to develop agriculture in the Unalakleet area. In 1969, Marston authored the book, Men of the Tundra: Alaska Eskimos at War. His honors included service as a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention from Anchorage (1955-1956), appointment by Governor William Egan as “Alaska’s Goodwill Ambassador” (1963), the honorary rank of brigadier general in the Alaska National Guard (1973), and an honorary doctorate of public service from the University of Alaska Anchorage (1977). Muktuk Marston died in Palm Springs, California in 1980.

Collection description:
The collection consists of Muktuk Marston’s scrapbook from his participation as a delegate to the Alaska Constitutional Convention held at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks in 1955 to 1956. The scrapbook contains newspaper clippings and papers relating to the convention, and there is also a copy of the January 1956 issue of the Farthest-North Collegian, the newspaper of the University of Alaska. Papers in the scrapbook include Marston’s certificate of election as a delegate to the convention, itineraries,  correspondence with Marston regarding the convention, programs, invitations to convention events, and ephemera relating to the convention and Marston’s travels to Fairbanks.

Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.

Rights note: Archives does not own copyright to the materials in this collection.

Preferred citation: Muktuk Marston scrapbook, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Acquisition note: The collection was transferred to the Archives from Alaska Pacific University in 2005.

Processing information: The papers in this collection were removed from the original scrapbook and placed in a folder to preservation reasons.   This collection was described by Jeffrey A. Sinnott in 2006.  The guide to the collection was revised by Megan K. Friedel in 2010.

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