Alaska State Library – Historical Collections

This collection of glass lantern slides presents a visual story of Alaska and Alaskans from the late nineteenth century until 1916. The collection is ongoing; slides are added to the end of the collection as they are received. Subjects include communities, pioneer life, fishing and the fishing industry, logging, ships, glaciers, farms, animals, landscapes and Alaskan Natives and their culture. The slides are both black and white and color; some are hand-tinted.

Commemorations, Memoriams, Honorings, 2000-[ongoing]

The maps and charts, prepared between 1889 to 1928, show lagoons, bays, ports, lakes, rivers, etc. in Bristol Bay, the Alaska Peninsula, Kodiak Island and Southeast Alaska. Shown frequently on the maps and charts are depth of the water and locations of fish traps, hatcheries, canneries, native villages and towns.

This collections contains material related to various Alaska Native regional or community organizations. The material includes articles of incorporation, newspaper articles, and references regarding Alaska Native land claims.

The individual and group portraits in this collection represent a span of years from 1912-1996 and include the 1912 founding fathers of the Alaska Native Brotherhood and Sisterhood (ANB, ANS). The photographs portray the wide scope of interests and activities of the Alaska Native organizations. A history of these organizations is included in the collection. Two 1996 portrait panoramas of Native dancers was added to this collection in 2017.

Provenance unknown. Most of the negatives contain images of daily life on or near rivers in Alaska. Some images show sternwheelers on the Yukon River. Pole-boats are also depicted.

Records: Correspondence, journals, maritime, administrative, operations, and personnel records, fish trap location maps, Soldiers' Additional Homestead surveys, general location maps, and fishery publications. 1891-1970. [San Francisco, Calif., Blaine, Wash.]

Includes files on oil fields, oil and gas leases, and petroleum pipelines.

This collection contains congressional legislation, correspondence, studies, and information relative to the construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. The files were maintained by Guy Martin as counsel for the State of Alaska.

The studio-mounted photographs in this collection are from the Alaska Photo Company, which operated a studio in Douglas, Alaska, in 1897. Individual photographers are not identified. Images include Douglas, Sitka, Ft. Wrangel (Wrangell), scenics, ships, people, and Alaska Native culture. The majority of the original photographs are mounted on boards and many are badly faded.