Alaska State Library – Historical Collections

Scope and Contents

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.

Scope and Contents

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.

Scope and Contents

Diary, typescript of diary, photocopy of photograph, and family genealogy.

Scope and Contents The images in this collection were taken largely on and around Adak Island, Alaska, in 1944 and 1945. Over a third of the photographs are aerial views. A majority of the prints are numbered, dated, and stamped with the following notification: “Official photograph, not to be used for publication, by order of Chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Unit: U.S. Naval Air Station, Adak, Alaska.” During the Aleutian Campaign, these photographs would have conveyed sensitive information about the...

Content Description The Jack and Mabel Burford Collection was donated to the Alaska State Library by Don Burford. The 8 cubic feet of materials contains several photograph albums, reels of 8mm motion picture film, photo prints and 35mm slides. Most of the thousands of slides were shot by Mabel Burford beginning in the 1930s and continuing through the 1970s. The photographs document many aspects of life in Southeast Alaska, centering primarily on the activities of the Burford family. Interesting...

Content Description

Working notes, photographs, maps, and periodical articles. Personal and business correspondence. Some personal photographs. Some published articles written by Burg. See Burg AV Collection also.

Scope and Contents

28 glass plate negatives showing people and activities in the St. Michael, Alaska, area. The name “Drane” appears on some photographs, may be the photographer.

Scope and Contents

The album contains views of Alaskan towns and communities, people and activities aboard the U.S.C.and G.S. Steamer, Gedney and miscellaneous non-Alaskan views. Penciled captions accompany most of the images.

Scope and Contents

The Burns Collection contains ~151 images of the mining and living conditions in Alaska in 1919-1925, at Kennecott, Nizina, and McCarthy, Alaska. Photos include images of: pilot Noel Wien, railroads, and other Alaska transportation, homesteads, mining camps, placer mining, animals, and natural and human constructed features. There is also a personal letter dated Sept. 27, 1924.

Scope and Contents

The images depict the construction and surveying activities of a 9.5-mile segment of the Klondike Highway. These images were taken during the summer months of 1975 and the spring and summer months of 1977. The collection includes a brief history of the Klondike Highway construction written by Robert Burrell who was an Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT) surveyor working on the highway project.