Guide to the Stanley Zuern films
1940
An Alaska Historical Society collection
Collection number: HMC-1351-AHS.
Creator: Zuern, Stanley.
Title: Stanley Zuern films.
Date: 1940.
Volume of collection: 0.2 cubic feet and 405 GB.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Films of trips to Alaska.
Biographical note:
Stanley Zuern grew up in Tigard, Oregon. In 1938 he married Barbara Anderson, and they lived in Portland Oregon. Stanley Zuern was a manufacturer’s representative and traveled to Alaska to take orders for various merchants.
Collection description:
The film consists of silent films taken by Stanley Zuern during his trips to Alaska. They include scenery and harbors and cities he visited. Locations include Seattle, Petersburg, Juneau, Cordova, Seward, Anchorage, Fairbanks, Sitka, and points in between.
Arrangement: The films canisters were labeled 1 through 4 and were retained in that order. The films appear to be in roughly chronological order, though the footage appears to cover more than one trip to Alaska which has been spliced together.
Digitized copies: This collection has been digitized. Digital copies have been placed online in the Alaska’s Digital Archives. For information about obtaining or using digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Access restrictions: Access is limited to the digital copies of the films.
Rights note: The Alaska Historical Society holds copyright to these items. Please consult the Archives for information regarding re-use.
Preferred citation: Stanley Zuern films, Alaska Historical Society collections, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: This collection was donated to the Alaska Historical Society in 2020 by Leonard Whitlow, executor of Barbara Zuern’s estate. The Historical Society retains ownership of the collection and placed it on deposit in Archives and Special Collections in 2020.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2020. The biographical information about Stanley Zuern was provided by Leonard Whitlow. Funding for the digitization of the films was provided by the Alaska Historical Society.
Container list:
| Film | Description |
| 1 | Seattle to Ketchikan to Petersburg aboard the S. S. North Sea. Seattle footage includes: the Alaska Steamship Company pier, loading the ship, passengers throwing tape from the decks, freight on deck, the ship departing, passing ships. Ketchikan footage includes: port, parks, water fountain, boys in uniform, a person on a porch of a house, a fish ladder, scenery from a hill, Totem Bight park, rowboats racing (?), fishing. Ketchikan to Petersburg footage includes: the Alaska Pacific Salmon Company cannery, navigational buoys, and the town of Petersburg from the ship. |
| 2 | Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Cordova, and Seward. Footage includes scenery at sea between ports. Petersburg footage includes: the hospital, school, buildings, harbor, pier. Footage after Petersburg includes an unidentified glacier. Juneau footage includes: the harbor, the Ark of Juneau boat. Cordova footage includes a hillside panoramic of Cordova and the Cordova pier as the ship departs dock. Seward footage includes: Resurrection Bay entrance, a log cabin, and the Alaska Railroad depot. |
| 3 | Juneau, Fairbanks, Anchorage, Seward, Sitka. Footage includes scenery at sea and deck scenes between ports, as well as footage of a rail journey between Fairbanks and Anchorage. Juneau footage includes the Douglas bridge, A-J Mine, waterfronts. Fairbanks footage includes: train station, ARR 1 locomotive display, outside thermometer reading -16 degrees, airplanes outfitted with skies, dog teams racing along a frozen river (possibly the Chena). Anchorage footage includes Cook Inlet, Anchorage houses, hospital. Seward footage includes the harbor, town, and fuel tanks at the port. Between the footage of Seward and Sitka is an unidentified port with graffiti along the cliff faces in the port. Sitka footage includes: the Sheldon Jackson School, the museum, the National Monument, the city harbor, and totems. Ship footage includes views of a S. S. Columbia lifeboat, and a S. S. North Coast life ring. |
| 4 | Anchorage, Curry, McKinley Park, a railroad journey from Anchorage north, and a bus trip down the Richardson Highway. Anchorage footage includes the train station, Cook Inlet, the Inlet hotel, a shed labeled the Anchorage Golf Club, buildings, Bootlegger Cove area, port area, Government Hill, and mountains around town. The footage of the railroad journey north and the trip down the Richardson Highway includes: the Curry Hotel, the McKinley Park Hotel, a dredge mining operation, steam thawing of ground for mining, people picking blueberries, caribou, Alaska Motor Stages bus, Golden Belt Tours bus, a river ferry, a Valdez-Fairbanks bus, roadhouses, Tonsina River sign and bridge, Thompson pass. The footage closes with views from a ship coming into the port of Seattle. |