H. Marion Thornton Photograph Collection, 1942-1945
Content Description
The collection primarily includes photographs and negatives. Correspondence, stationery, photographic manuals, programs, newspapers and other papers relating to military life comprise the remainder of the collection. Photographs are largely of the Aleutian Islands, but they also trace his progress by ship from the San Francisco Bay Area north along the coast to the Aleutians. Using a Graflex camera, Thornton photographed camp scenes including inspections, social gatherings and interiors of buildings. Other views show wartime activities such as bombing raids, clearing airplane wreckage and hauling supplies. A large number of aerial views show Aleutian Island landscapes and volcanoes.
Dates
- 1942-1945
Conditions Governing Access
The photographs may be viewed, however, the images may not be photocopied.
Conditions Governing Use
Requests for permission to publish material from the collection must be discussed with the Librarian. Photocopying does not constitute permission to publish.
Biographical / Historical
H. Marion Thornton was born December 13, 1919, in Blanchard, Washington. He served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as an aerial photographer at Dutch Harbor, Alaska. He attended Western Washington University and eventually graduated with several degrees. Through the years, he worked as a high school teacher and counselor. While in the military, he took aerial photography courses at Pensacola, Florida and served as an aerial photographer in the U.S. Navy at Dutch Harbor, Alaska from 1942-45. Upon the end of World War II Thornton retained these training pictures for his personal collection. He died of liver failure on July 19, 1972.
Extent
4 Linear Feet (12 boxes) : circa 1,939-1,965 photos
Language of Materials
English
Acquisition
Hilary Marc Thornton, son of H. Marion Thornton, donated the collection to the Alaska State Library in 1992. Evelyn Thornton, wife of H. Marion, donated additional items in 1995. (Acc. No. 1992-018, 1995-044).
Existence and Location of Copies
Some photographs in this collection have been digitized and are available to view via Alaska's Digital Archives.
Processing Information
The collection was processed in three phases as photographs were delivered to the library in 1992 and in 1995. In 1999, new prints were made from many of the negatives in the collection. Some prints duplicated others in the collection and in some cases, photos were identified with information found on the negative sleeves. At this time, the collection was slightly reorganized as identical photographs with separate numbers were pulled out and labelled as duplicates. Rearrangment also included gathering group images of similar subject together and in some cases placing them in chronological order. Due to the size of the collection, this was done only to a limited extent. An inventory was compiled at that time. Anne Rowland, Director of the Museum of the Aleutians identified many photos in 2004 [AR].
SUBJECT INDEX
ALASKA NATIVE ART and ARTIFACTS: Box 1 #1-28, Box 7 #1256-1257 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-BEARS: Box 1 #29-33, Box 3 #659 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-BIRDS: Box 1 #34, Box 3 #649, 678, Box 5 #1086 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-CARIBOU: Box 1 #35 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-CARIBOU HARVEST: Box 1 #186-188 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-FUR SEAL HARVEST: Box 1 #189-190 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-SEAL AND SEA LIONS: Box 1 #36-50, 189-190, Box 5 #850, Box 7 #1182-1184, 1193, 1218 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-DOGS: Box 1 #52, Box 5 #848, 1004, Box 7 #1237-1238, 1240 ; ANIMALS (non-human)-SHEEP: Box 5 #1020, Box 7 #1239 ; CEMETERIES: Box 1 #82-85, Box 2 #455, 456, 475-478, 618 ; CHURCHES- Funerals: Box 2 # 455b, 456, 474-478, 481 ; CHURCHES-Protestant: Box 2 #466-480, 614-616 ; CHURCHES-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, AKUTAN: Box 1 #74, Box 2 #483, 503 ; CHURCHES-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, UNALASKA: Box 1 #76-81, Box 2 #457-458, 482, 619, Box 5 #1008-1011 ; CHURCHES-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, KODIAK: Box 3 #626 ; CHURCHES-RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, Unidentified: Box 1 #182-183, Box 2 #484-485, 617 ; COMMUNITIES-AKUTAN: Box 1 #74, Box 2 #483, 503, 513 ; COMMUNITIES-ATTU: Box 3 #634-635, 652, Box 7 #1185 ; COMMUNITIES-BIORKA: Box 5 #1044 ; COMMUNITIES-DILLINGHAM: Box 7 #1193 ; COMMUNITIES-Dutch Harbor: Box 1 #53-59, Box 2 #457, 458, 541, Box 5 #1032-1033, 1043, 1045-1046, Box 7 #1185, 1242 ; COMMUNITIES-KODIAK: Box 3 #626 ; COMMUNITIES-NAKNEK: Box 3 #648 ; COMMUNITIES-NIKOLSKI: Box 5 #1029 ; COMMUNITIES-SEWARD: Box 3 #625 ; COMMUNITIES-ST. PAUL: Box 1 #36-42, Box 3 #622 ; COMMUNITIES-ST. GEORGE: Box 2 #494-495 ; COMMUNITIES-ST. PETER: Box 1 #43-44 ; COMMUNITIES-UNALASKA: Box 1 #60, 75-81, 447, Box 2 #457-458, Box 3 #621, Box 4 #698 ; COMMUNITIES-Unidentified: Box 1 #61-62, #64-73, Box 2 #484-485, 496-498, 501-508, 513, 515, 516, 538-540, Box 3 #624, 627-630, Box 5 #852-853 1030, 1041-1042, 1047-1048 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Activities on base: Box 1 #140-141, Box 2 #590-592, Box 5 #789-851 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Camp scenes: Box 1 #137, 143-145, 164, Box 2 #481, Box 5 #854-869, 1031 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Christmas on base: Box 2 #479-480, Box 5 #870-882 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Entertainment (music, USO shows): Box 5 #883-954 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Entertainment (sports): Box 1 #166, Box 4 #723, Box 5 #1035, Box 6 1087-1181; DUTCH HARBOR-Portraits of men: Box 1 #165-169, Box 2 #569, Box 5 #959-995, 1007 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Scenery: Box 3 #649-651, 677, 686-687, Box 5 #1012-1086 ; DUTCH HARBOR-Structures (docks, roads, etc.): Box 1 #86, 88-102, 105-108, Box 2 #532-534, 538-541, Box 3 #645-651, Box 4 #700-701, 725, Box 5 #1028, 1034, 1036-1040, 1071, 1085, Box 6 #1128, Box 7 #1219-1220, 1228-1229, 1241 ; INTERIORS: Box 1 #112-138, Box 5 #854-857, 859-861, 863-882, Box 7 #1231-1237 ; MILITARY WORK: Box 1 #158-164, Box 2 #486-493, 567, Box 4 #743, Box 5 #1049, 1053, 1084 ; MISCELLANEOUS- Map - Unalaska Bay area: Box 1 #139 ; MISCELLANEOUS-Non-photo items - cards, articles, brochures, cautionary handbills: Box 1 #142, Box 2 #572, 590-591, Box 4 #702, 753-781, Box 7 #1266 ; NON-ALASKA VIEWS: Box 1 #152-157, Box 3 #645-646, 692-696, Box 4 #703-720, 744-752, Box 7 #1259-1265 ; PEOPLE: Box 1 #154-190, 193, Box 2 #500, 509-512, 517-523, 568-571, 573-589, 592-613, Box 3 #636, 652-656, Box 4 #721-724, Box 5 #789-851, 854, 856ab- 857, 859, 861-864, 866-868, 870, 872-876, 878-879, 883-1007, 1051-1063, 1067-1068, 1083-1084, Box 6 #1087-1181 ; PEOPLE- ERROL FLYNN (Hollywood portraits): Box 5 #919-921 ; PEOPLE-NATIVES: Box 1 #171-187, Box 2 #494, 593, Box 5 #1001 ; PEOPLE-THORNTON: Box 3 #637, Box 4 #721-722, Box 7 #1258, 1267-1268 ; SCENICS-GLACIERS: Box 1 #217 351-374, 376, Box 4 #740 ; SCENICS-ISLANDS: Box 1 #36-51, 248, 304, 313, 375, 398-401, Box 3 #674-676, Box 4 #732, 735, 736, 741 ; SCENICS-LANDSCAPES: Box 1 #63, 87, 103, 104, 108-109, 191-350, Box 3 #643-644, 652-690, Box 4 #697-699, 726-739, Box 5 #1012-1027, 1056-1084, Box 7 #1182-1227 ; SCENICS-VOLCANOES: Box 1 #195, 375-408, Box 2 #514, Box 3 #691, Box 5 #1019, 1025, Box 7 #1194-1204 ; TRANSPORTATION-AIRPLANES: Box 1 #409-424, Box 2 #524-531, 535-537, 542-545, 594, Box 4 #742, Box 5 #782-788, Box 7 #1246-1253 ; TRANSPORTATION-SHIPS AND BOATS: Box 1 #104, 425-442, Box 2 #465, 562-566, Box 3 #639-641, Box 5 #1084, Box 7 #1243-1245 ; TRANSPORTATION-VEHICLES: Box 1 #103, 203-204, 443-446, Box 5 #1050-1051, 1054-1055, Box 7 #1254 ; WILDFLOWERS: Box 1 # 202, 448-454, Box 3 #644 ; WRECKAGES OF AIRPLANES: Box 2 #459-464, 542-545, 554-561
- Title
- Finding Aid for the H. Marion Thornton Photograph Collection, 1942-1945
- Status
- In Progress
- Author
- Processed by: M. Kwock, 1993; Processed and Revised by: I. Spartz, 1998; Revised by: M. Slemmons, 2000; ArchivesSpace Finding Aid by: Melissa Scriven, April 2019
- Date
- 2019 April
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the Alaska State Library - Historical Collections Finding Aids Repository
PO Box 110571
Juneau AK 99811-0571 US
907-465-2920
907-465-2925
907-465-2151 (Fax)
asl.historical@alaska.gov