Alaska State Library – Historical Collections

Scope and Contents The Franklin Russell Brenneman photographs and papers include one photo album plus letters and various family papers which reflect his and his family's activities in Valdez and Katalla from 1903 through 1922, plus a few items concerning the family after their move to Long Beach, California, in 1922. The photo album contains snapshots of family and friends plus photographs purchased by the compiler. Photographs of interest are the first oil well at Katalla, Wood Island Mission, Judge Fred...

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The photographs show life around Nome, various Arctic communities, Eskimos, mining, whaling, airplanes and transportation, including views of Will Rogers and Wiley Post and the plane crash in which they were killed. The photograph collection includes an index of people, which is also a useful reference to the Brewster letters, MS 53.

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The John H. Brillhart collection of 233 photographs contains views of U.S. Forest Service and C.C.C. activities in Southeast Alaska from the 1930s to 1950.

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The 48 photographs in this collection depict a trip to Alaska in July 1926. Photos include Skagway on July 4, 1926; Cordova; Juneau; Columbia, Spencer and Childs Glaciers; McKinley Park; Liberty Falls, Pitchfork Falls and Delta River. Most of the black and white photographs (no negatives) have handwritten descriptive notes on the back of the photo.

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Most of the photographs were taken and captioned by Dave Brower. They depict Barrow events, whaling, hunting, Eskimo culture, the Brower family and friends and seven photographs of Charles and Anne Lindbergh with their airplane at Barrow, 1931.

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The postcards reflect the politics, history, geography, and other major Alaskan themes. People in photos are mainly from the Juneau area. The postcards were primarily published between 1980-1990.

Content Description Copy of letter written by J. S. Brown, 20 March 1877 to Secretary, Y.M.C.A., Portland, Oregon, seeking a missionary for the Tlingit Indians (Stickeens) at Fort Wrangel, Alaska. (6 sheets)Letter dated 1 June 1877 from Sheldon Jackson, Denver, Colo. to J. S. Brown, Fort Wrangel noting Brown's appeal to the Y.M.C.A. had been forwarded to him and seeking further information necessary to establish a mission at Fort Wrangel. (1 sheet)Printed flyer advertising THE ROCKY...

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Hirst-Chichagof Gold Mine, S.E. Alaska views, late 1920s. The collection includes other southeast Alaska views.

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Memoirs of mining, cannery and saltery work in Alaska between 1913 and the 1940s. Biographical sketches of Alaska pioneers in Ketchikan and Kasaan Bay, 1860s-1970s. A few b&w photographs are included as illustration. Index to collection with more complete details about manuscripts received less recently.

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Holograph letters written to his family in Chicago during the summer of 1928 while he was working at the New England Fish Company on Knight Island, Alaska; the letters describe the voyage to Knight Island, the beauty of Alaska, his fellow laborers (mostly Filipinos and Japanese), and his experiences in the salmon canning industry -- from pitching the fish off the boats to the removal of the canned fish from the retort.