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General A.W. Greely Photograph Collection, 1900-1905

 Collection
Identifier: PCA 385

Scope and Contents

With the exception of the 10 Point Barrow Expedition photographs, the collection contains photos taken during A.W. Greely’s five inspection trips to Alaska, 1900-1905, during the construction of the Washington Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System (WAMCATS) by the Army Signal Corps.

Dates

  • 1900-1905

EAD

PCA0385

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is available for viewing however the photographs may not be photocopied.

Conditions Governing Use

Request for permission to publish or reproduce material from the collection should be discussed with the Librarian.

Biographical

General A.W. Greely was born March 27, 1844 and died October 20, 1935. He was a soldier, explorer, scientist and author. In 1881, Greely served as the commander of the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition. Later, he was head of the U.S. Weather Service and also supervised construction of 3,900 miles of telegraph line and ocean cable in Alaska that established the first successful long-distance wireless from Nome to St. Michael. Fort Greely and Greely Point, Alaska are both named for him. A number of books have been published about Greely.

Extent

34 Photographic Prints : black and white

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

John C. Greely, grandson of General Greely, donated the original images to the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. Alden Todd of Anchorage, Alaska who authored Abandoned: The Story of the Greely Arctic Expedition, 1881-1884, was instrumental in securing the images and depositing copies to the Alaska State Library and the Rasmuson Library in Fairbanks

General

According to Orth, Donald. Dictionary of Alaska Place Names, the name Ooglaamie refers to Barrow, Alaska.

Processing Information

The images are scans from original prints at the Anchorage Museum of History and Art. The photographs are numbered and an item-level inventory is available.

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Finding aid for the General A.W. Greely Photograph Collection, 1900-1905
Status
In Progress
Author
Processed by: India Spartz 1998 ; ArchivesSpace finding aid by: Sandy Johnston 2019 June ; Inventory added by: Sandy Johnston
Date
2020 April
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
English

External Documents

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections Finding Aids Repository

https://library.alaska.gov/hist/
Contact:
PO Box 110571
Juneau AK 99811-0571 US
907-465-2920
907-465-2925
907-465-2151 (Fax)