Guide to the Thomas Wade Bledsoe photographs
1975-1985
Collection number: HMC-1310.
Creator: Bledsoe, Thomas.
Title: Thomas Wade Bledsoe photographs.
Dates: 1975-1985.
Volume of collection: 4.0 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Wildlife photographs from a biologist and photographer.
Biographical note:
Thomas Wade Bledsoe worked as a biologist in the mid-1970s. He published a book about his time at McNeil River State Game Sanctuary entitled Brown Bear Summer. He was also a professional wildlife photographer. Mr. Bledsoe died in 1992.
Collection description:
The collection consists of Thomas Wade Bledsoe’s photographs. The collection includes thousands of 35mm slides of Alaskan and other North American wildlife as well as other subjects such as scenery and plant life. Locations of photographs include Alaska, Wyoming, Arizona, California, Utah, Florida, and Montana.
Arrangement: The slides are primarily arranged by the subject of the photograph which are assigned codes as reflected in the inventory below. Materials were retained in code order.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Use restrictions: Additional fees will be charged for commercial use of these images and the proceeds of the commercial use fees will be paid to the McNeil River Trust Fund at the Alaska Conservation Foundation. Please consult the Archives for details regarding pricing and payment.
Rights note: Copyright to the photographs has been transferred to the Archives.
Preferred citation: Thomas Wade Bledsoe photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Custodial history: The photographs were inherited from Mr. Bledsoe’s estate by Raymond J. Phillips, who donated them to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.
Acquisition note: The Archives received the collection from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in 2018.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2018. The codes in the folder list were taken from Mr. Bledsoe’s cataloging system.
Container list:
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1-5 | CY: coyotes, Yellowstone | 1980 |
| 1/6 | P: plants, McNeil River, Alaska, Montana, florida mangrove forest and Everglades | 1975-1980 |
| 1/7-12 | M: mountain goat, bison, hoary marmot, Arctic ground squirrel, red squirrel, pika, beaver, red fox, coatimundi, blacktailed prairie dog, jaguarondi, meerkat, desert bighorn, peccary, pronghorn, ocelot, margay, bobcat, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska, Arizona, California | 1980-1985 |
| 1/13-14 | BH: bighorn sheep, Montana | 1980 |
| 2 | B: birds, avocets, blacknecked stilts, tufted puffins, ground hornbills, cassowaries, emu, purple gallinule, American bitterns, laughing gulls, Franklin’s gulls, black-billed magpies, barred owls, black-crowned night herons, Caspian terns, gray jays, sage grouse, Bohemian waxwings, willets, longbilled curlew, killdeer, eagles, willow ptarmigan, gila woodpeckers, red-tailed hawks, curvebilled thrashers, house finch, blacktailed gnatcatchers, cactus wrens, Scott’s orioles, ladderbacked woodpeckers, mourning doves, phainopepla, verdin, yellow grosbeak, quails, whitecrowned sparrows, cardinals, Manchurian crane, flamingo, burrowing owls, hawk eagle, harpy eagle, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Utah, Wyoming | 1979-1985 |
| 3/1-3 | OP: Sonoran desert plants | 1978-1979 |
| 3/4-6 | FS: fur seals, Pribilof Islands, Alaska | 1984 |
| 3/7-10 | EB: elk, Yellowstone National Park | 1980-1984 |
| 3/11-13 | DS: Dall sheep, Denali National Park | 1977-1980 |
| 3/14 | MD: mule deer, Montana, Wyoming, Yellowstone National Park | 1980-1981 |
| 4/1-2 | S: scenic images, Yellowstone National Park, Coronado National Forest, Sonoran desert, Denali National Park, Grand Tetlon National Park, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Karluk, Wood River Lakes, Everglades, Oregon and California coasts | 1978-1985 |
| 4/3-5 | C: Anchorage, Hoonah, Haines, fish plant, balloon races, Fur Rondezvous, commercial razor clamming, Monterey Aquarium, salmon stocking, king crab fishing, sportfishing, Ninilchik, banding owls, Everglades, southern California | 1979-1985 |
| 4/6-9 | MB: moose, Denali National Park | 1978-1980 |
| 4/10-11 | WFI: white-faced ibis, Utah | 1979 |
| 4/12 | GB: grizzlies | 1980-1983 |
| 4/13 | CB: caribou, Denali National Park | 1977-1980 |
| 4/14-15 | birds, plants, bison, mule deer, coyotes, reptiles, sheep, spiders, elk, Alaska, Florida, Arizona, California, Montana, Wyoming (many of these may overlap with preceding folders: they appear to have been materials selected for stock photo image companies) | undated |
| 4/16 | Photograph index card file | undated |