Guide to the J. Otto and Virginia Lee George photographs
circa 1917-1940
An Alaska Historical Society collection
Collection number: HMC-1397-AHS.
Creator: George, J. Otto.
Title: J. Otto and Virginia Lee George photographs.
Dates: circa 1917-1940.
Volume of collection: 0.1 cubic feet and 28.6 GB.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Photographs from an Indian Health Service doctor and his wife.
Biographical note:
Dr. J. Otto George was born in 1893 in Missouri. He grew up near the Kiowa Indian Reservation in Oklahoma. During World War I, George served in the Army. He then earned his bachelor’s degree from Reed College in Portland in 1925 and his medical degree from the University of Oregon Medical School in 1930. He spent some summers working in the Cascade Mountains with the U.S. Forest Service. George met his future wife, Virginia Lee Brown, a nurse, at the Good Samaritan Hospital. The Georges came to Alaska on the S.S. William M. Tupper in 1936 to provide medical care in Akiak through the Indian Health Service. They also lived in Barrow and served in other locations in Alaska. The Georges had two biological children, Virginia and Paul, and one adopted teenage daughter, Mary Christiansen. Mary died of tuberculosis in Barrow. The Georges left Alaska in approximately 1940 to live in Oregon. Dr. George later wrote a memoir of his time in Alaska entitled Eskimo Medicine Man.
Collection description:
This collection contains 242 black and white negatives and 1 photograph of people and scenes from Dr. J. Otto George’s life from World War I until he came to Alaska. Early images are likely World War I-era and depict Army recruitment and training camps, German sailors, and Black soldiers. Other scenes include the Portland harbor, people camping and riding horses, unknown Indian peoples, young men with their cars, family portraits, and Michigan Avenue in Chicago. Alaskan scenes are from Akiak, Utqiagvik, Bethel, and unidentified areas from roughly 1936-1940. These images depict the George family, a whale hunt, children and dogs, airplanes, family the S.S. W.M. Tupper and crew, boats, pilots (including Murrell Sasseen), and houses.
Arrangement: The photographs are in no discernable order. Negative envelopes are in the order in which images were scanned.
Digitized copies: This collection has been digitized. Digitized copies of collection materials are not available online; however, they are available to view in the Archives Research Room. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: The Archives holds copyright to materials in this collection created by J. Otto and Virginia Lee George.
Preferred citation: J. Otto and Virginia Lee George photographs, Alaska Historical Society collections, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Related materials: Otto George’s diaries from his time in Alaska are held by Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Acquisition note: This collection was donated to the Alaska Historical Society in 2022 by Michael George, son of Otto and Virginia. The Historical Society retains ownership of the collection and placed it on deposit in Archives and Special Collections in 2022.
Processing information: This collection was described by Arlene Schmuland in 2022. Additional information added by Becky Butler Gallegos in 2024.