Alaska State Library – Historical Collections

Content Description Clemons documented the waterfront and street scenes in the rapidly growing communities of Ruby and Iditarod following nearby gold discoveries. Athapascan Indians of the area, families of miners, storeowners, various gatherings and events are also depicted. This collection is significant to the history of Alaska because it provides a direct view of Iditarod and Ruby during a time of tremendous development. The photos are well documented because Clemons carefully engraved identification on...

Scope and Contents

Documents include: letter of assignment (to teach) dated Oct. 21, 1937, Alaska teaching certificate dated September 1, 1937, a letter dated Nov. 30, 1941, mentioning World War II and the fear of attack by submarines, 1 envelope and one postcard stamped as cleared by wartime censors, and a 1944 identification card from the Alaska Travel Control department.

Scope and Contents

The collection includes three scrapbooks of clippings from the National Fisherman about the Alaskan fisheries from 1974-1980. The content of the clippings is described in the Background Note above. The collection also contains clippings on boat wrecks and boat design. Three Alaska Packers salmon labels are also included in Scrapbook 2.

Scope and Contents

Photographs were taken circa 1934 on board the NORTHLAND around Nome area. Photos show activities of the Coast Guardsman and others on board the NORTHLAND as well as on the shore. A few photos are of a whaling boat. First image is a Christmas greeting card from the NORTHLAND.

Scope and Contents

An ongoing collection of U.S. Coast Guard activities in Alaska, primarily the 17th Division, which includes slides and photographs of patrol, search and rescue, the Exxon Valdez oil spill, law enforcement, lighthouses, Coast Guard vessels, icebreakers, bases, aircraft, Bering Sea fisheries, individuals. The folder titled Lighthouses (folder 5) contains a range of photos mostly from 1915-ca. 1930s. The bulk dates for the collection are the 1980s.

Scope and Contents

These include views of commercial fishing in Alaska from 1897-1918 -- fisheries, canneries, salteries, and hatcheries, fishing vessels, whaling stations, and fish traps. Includes views of Admiralty Island, Akutan, Bristol Bay, Craig, Deweyville, Ideal Cove, Kasaan, Ketchikan, King Cove, Klawock, Kodiak, Loring, Naknek, Petersburg, Port Armstrong, Port Walter, Shakan, Shumagin Islands, Sulzer, Sumdum, Tee Harbor, Tonka, Unalaska, Unga, Wards Cove, Wrangell, Yes Bay.

Scope and Contents This collection contains a leather bound photograph album with photographs covering the construction of the Alaska-Canada Highway in 1943. The photos are from Section “E”, Fort St. John to Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Canada. There is a final engineering report by Robert Coffey for that section of road. There is a map showing the Alaska Highway and river drainages from Dawson Creek, British Columbia to Fairbanks, Alaska. There is one biography of Robert Coffey written by his oldest...

Scope and Contents

The document in this collection is a typed, photocopied transcription of 14 pages of E.A. Coffin’s diary. Included in the diary pages are entries about the 1919 Influenza epidemic.

Scope and Contents

Box 1 & 2: Alaska Marine/Maritime history files, 1867 – Box 3: [Investigation records of the Edward Krause murders, Southeast Alaska. 1915-1919.]

Includes correspondence, muster rolls, orders and regulations, records of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, U.S. Dept. of Justice, FBI files, and Gerald O. Williams manuscripts titled "Alaska killer: the enigma of Edward Krause" and "The U.S. Marine detachment at Sitka, 1879-1912 and the founding of the Pioneers' Home."

Scope and Contents

Maps, plans, charts – hand drawn originals, bluelines and photo reproductions from various sources. Some of these items may be found in other collections. Noted if known. Includes copy of official floor plans of Fort Wrangell. The collection is ongoing.