U. S. Army Signal Corps, ca. 1889-1970

Collection

Identifier: PCA 175

Staff Only

Alaska's Digital Archives: U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection, ca. 1889-1970. ASL-PCA-175

Content Description

The collection includes images of military forts, telegraph stations, World War II, Army personnel, prisoners of war, and general views of Alaska. Photographs numbered 1-41 are from the National Archives and 42-193 are from the Pentagon.

Dates

Majority of material found within circa 1889-1970

EAD

PCA0175

Biographical / Historical

In May of 1900, Congress appropriated nearly half a million dollars [to establish] a communications system connecting the military posts in Alaska. Washington-Alaska Military Cable and Telegraph System, or WAMCATS for short, was constructed by the Army Signal Corps [beginning] in the summer of 1900. By the time WAMCATS was completed in 1904, it included almost 1,400 miles of overland telegraph cable, over 2,000 miles of submarine cable as well as [a] short wireless section.

In 1936 WAMCATS was renamed the Alaska Communications System.The Alaska Communications System remained under the control of the Army Signal Corps until 1962 when it was taken over by the Air Force. In 1971 the system was purchased by RCA and currently [2003] most long haul communication systems are owned by ALASCOM, a public utility.

Over the past three decades, the Signal Corps in Alaska has undergone several name changes. In 1962, it was called the US Army Signal Office. Later [it] went by the name the STRATCOM Signal Group, and in 1974 it assumed the title US Army Information Systems Command Alaska. In October 1989 the unit was redesignated the 1117th US Army Signal Battalion. In October 1992 it became an MTOE structured organization and were redesignated the 59th Signal Battalion. [From World Wide Web, with permission: GlobalSecurity.org, accessed 21 April 2003.]

Extent

0.25 Linear Feet : 195 views

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Existence and Location of Copies

Photographs digitized and available for viewing via Alaska's Digital Archives: 027-028, 036-065, 067-068, 093, 095, 097-098, 105, 110-119, 126, 133, 137, 137, 140, 146, 163-164, 167B-183, 185-190, 192-193

Processing Information

The photos are numbered and sleeved in mylar. An index is found following the item-level collection guide. Original negative numbers are indicated in parenthesis at the end of the photo description. Some captions have been condensed for this listing.

PLACES: Adak 73, 77 ,80, 92, 97, 109, 137, 138 Aleutian Islands 81, 98 Amchitka 48, 54, 66 Anchorage 157-160, 172, 185-186, 188 Andreanof Islands 76 Attu 43-47, 49-50, 51-53, 55-57, 65, 72, 82-84, 104, 108, 111-112, 139, 192, 193 Big Delta 156, 163 Circle 2 Copper Center 3 Dyea 4 Dutch Harbor 91, 101 Eagle River 182 Eklutna Glacier 174-175, 177-178, 183 Excursion Inlet 114-123 Fort Egbert 5-6 Fort Gibbon 7-12, 27 Fort Greely 184 Fort Liscum 13-14 Fort Mears 135 Fort Richardson 127, 145-147, 168-169, 191, 194 Fort Snelling 37 Fort Tongass 15 Fort William H. Seward 16 Fort Wainwright 180, 190 Fort Wrangell 17 Galena 155, 165 Juneau 18, 126, 167a, 167b Ketchikan 125 Keystone Canyon 19-20 Kiska 78-79, 87-88, 90, 93-94, 96, 107, 140-143 Kodiak 144 Louden 22 Nenana 85 Nome 161 Palmer 162 Peace River 130-131 Rampart 23 St. Lawrence Island 170 Seward 154 Skagway 69, 132, 134 Talkeetna 166 Umnak Island 75, 89, 95, 110 Valdez-Gulkana 24, 187 SUBJECTS: ALCAN 67, 71, 106, 133 Earthquake, 1964 184-188 Japanese soldiers 113 Nike Hercules Missile 73 Telegraph Offices 25 WAMCATS 26, 39 White Pass and Yukon Railroad 68, 70, 148-152 Women 137 PEOPLE: Abercrombie, Lt. W. R. 36 Buckner, Lt. Gen. Simon B. Jr. 103, 105, 136 Castner, Col. Lawrence 102 Cook, Sgt. 176 Folda, Major Gen. Jaroslov 189 Gruening, Ernest (Governor of Alaska) 104 Halleck, Maj. General H. W. 38 Kanengal, Pvt. Franklin 164 Kennedy, Capt. 179 Landrum, Brig. Gen. 138 Marvin, Pvt. Richard D. 164 O’Connor, Col. 106, 129 Pershing, General 40-41 Ryan, Pvt. Roy S. 164 St. Streett, Capt. 40-41 Sturdvant, Brig. Gen. 128 SHIPS: BURFORD (US Army Transport) 28-30 BURNSIDE (US Army Transport) 86 CROOK (US Army Transport) 31-32 LENOIR (ACS Cable barge) 153

Digital Material

Alaska's Digital Archives: U.S. Army Signal Corps Photograph Collection, ca. 1889-1970. ASL-PCA-175

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title: Finding aid for the U. S. Army Signal Corps, ca. 1889-1970
Status: In Progress
Author: Processed: 1981 by Verda Carey ; Revised: 4/23/2003 ; ArchivesSpace finding aid by: Sandy Johnston 2019 May; Inventory added by: Sandy Johnston
Date: 2020 May
Description rules: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description: Undetermined
Script of description: Code for undetermined script
Language of description note: English