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Alaska Film Archives

About the Collection

Over the past half century, the University of Alaska Fairbanks has built the largest collection of archival films in and about Alaska. The collection combines hundreds of donations of film and videos to UAF by individuals, organizations and institutions. Materials range from professional productions to amateur home-movies, made in and about Alaska from the earliest days of filmmaking through today. Since 1993 these materials have been held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library. Films and videos selected for this portal project are a sampling of the thousands available for checkout on DVD through the Rasmuson Library. Unless otherwise noted, items are presented here in their entirety, unedited and uncut. Short, popular clips from the collection can be viewed on our YouTube channel. Read more about the Alaska Film Archives.

1 to 7 of 7 Objects
[Alaska On Line: Red Boucher interviews Perry Eaton]
[Alaska On Line: Red Boucher interviews Perry Eaton]
In this episode of Alaska On Line, Red Boucher interviews Perry Eaton, president of the Alaska Native Heritage Center. The program was recorded on October 24, 1998.
[Bird dogs, parade, earthquake damage, winter scenery, coastal views]
[Bird dogs, parade, earthquake damage, winter scenery, coastal views]
This reel is made from three smaller reels of film. The original cans are labeled: “Retrieve[?]; Log house[?]; earthquake, Fraiser Canyon, ferry, Alcan.” Footage includes dogs receiving retrieval training and perhaps being judged at a competition, the 1962 Golden Days Parade in Fairbanks, bridge construction at an unknown location, Astoria Column in Astoria Oregon, a Sitka spruce sign on the end of a large log, a large log building and a train display, waves along a beach, a sign for the end of the Lewis and Clark trail, waterfowl, a steam engine train display and other equipment at a museum, Anchorage buildings and homes showing severe damage from the 1964 earthquake, a sign that says "I knew it was tough to make a living in Alaska but I didn't think we'd go 'in the hole' this bad!,” mountains in winter, a car with a flat tire on an icy road, a tire being changed, a man dip netting for small fish, a coastal town and harbor, and scenes from aboard ferry.
[Kotzebue]
[Kotzebue]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has film AAF-20,085 numbered as Bacon 20-1, and it's titled "Kotzebue, fish camp, museum drummers, blanket toss, ivory carver, tundra, Alaska Airlines: WP[workprint]-1,100 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 20 - 2 Large Reels - The Hotel used to be the Alaska Airlines Hotel." Notes accompanying the reels are as follows: "Reel 1 - WP, ECL, Kotzebue, cutting up salmon, fish camp, Dave’s family, interior museum drummers –- dance blanket toss, tourist fish camp, Eskimo man talking about his childhood, tundra long shot, ivory carver with bracelet, waterfront exterior of museum building, exterior of hotel, Front Street fisherman, scenes of over bay, tourist getting off of Alaska airliner, museum stuffed animals, tourists going from bus into museum, Eskimo woman with baby on back, museum hallway."
[KTVF news stories, Chitina, Riverboat Discovery II]
[KTVF news stories, Chitina, Riverboat Discovery II]
Some segments of this film have sound, and others are silent. Specific dates and titles were noted on some segments and are included here in parentheses. The footage includes views from a Winnebago camper as it drives along the highway, people swimming in a lake, boats and houses on a lake, a person water-skiing (July 10, 1972) (silent and sound), Liberty Falls Campground, a KTVF Winnebago camper, men and boys with fish, a Chitina sign, views of a road and buildings, a Chitina store, old vehicles, people dip-netting, a Pioneer Access Road sign, an old log church, hikers, old buildings (August 28, 1972) (sound), a man in a hard hat being interviewed about fighting a fire at the McKinley Park Hotel (no date) (sound), clouds and sunsets (August 1, 1972) (sound), Carpenter's Local 1243 on strike, picketers in front of a Tanana Valley Clinic construction site and married-student-housing site (August 1, 1972) (silent), United States Secretary of the Interior Morton speaking about progress on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline project (August 2, 1972) (sound), a small airplane taking off (August 2, 1972) (silent), Japanese men stepping off an Alaska Railroad train car (August 3, 1972) (silent), women holding up an award plaque, reception scenes (August 3, 1972) (segment is titled "Fohn-Hansen Award") (silent), a man being interviewed on the UAF campus about the similarities between Australia and Alaska (August 4, 1972) (segment is titled "Ambassador Plimsoll") (sound), exhibits at the University of Alaska museum (August 4, 1972) (silent), a man being presented with a gold key and a gold pass (August 4, 1972) (segment is titled "Barker Award") (silent), the Fairbanks railroad station, a pile of cabbages (August 4, 1972) (silent), and people boarding the Riverboat Discovery II on a fundraising tour for U.S. Senator Ted Stevens. Aboard the boat, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Morton talks with Senator Stevens about the pipeline, conservation and development issues, jobs and population growth in Alaska, and hiring preferences on the pipeline project. Subsequent footage shows Captain Jim Binkley talking about the future of tourism and riverboats in Alaska (August 7, 1972) (sound), people viewing paintings (August 7, 1972) (segment is titled "Engles Art Show") (silent), firefighters battling a blaze in a burning house (August 8, 1972) (segment is titled "Grahhl Fire") (silent), Dr. William Wood and others speaking (August 9, 1972) (segment is titled "Reindeer Symposium") (silent), a man being interviewed about traffic flow on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus (August 9, 1972) (sound), buildings and satellite dishes, a man being interviewed (August 10, 1972) (segment is titled "Space Data Acquisition Facility") (sound), people boarding a small riverboat, river views, a Ronald McDonald clown entertaining children (August 9, 1972) (segment is titled "Openings/Fisher") (silent), protestors holding signs about a rent-raise at Birch Park housing (August 9, 1972) (silent), the construction of apartments, a health spa, a service station (August 12, 1972) (sound), circus trucks and a tent, circus animals (August 12, 1972) (silent), the M.B. Equipment Company building, and junk in a field (August 12, 1972) (silent).
[KTVF television news stories, footage and political commercials from 1974 to 1977]
[KTVF television news stories, footage and political commercials from 1974 to 1977]
Footage and news stories include the christening of the ARCO Juneau (5/18/74), a tracked vehicle unloading a large building from a barge in Prudhoe Bay (1974), the christening of the ARCO Anchorage (5/75), Granny Hamme commercials for the Pantry Market (silent), a swimming pool at Chuck Reese's home, workers flooding ice on the Yukon River while building an ice bridge (1974), Five-Mile Camp (1974), an Alaska International Air C-130 Hercules cargo plane being loaded then flown to the North Slope and unloaded (1974), the Sheldon Jackson Museum and college buildings, Jim O'Sullivan campaign commercials featuring scenes of Alaska International Air C-130 Hercules operations and Weaver Brothers trucking operations, Ted Lehne city council campaign commercials and outtakes (1977), the Fairbanks City Manager talking about transportation development, a commercial for Direct Distance Dialing (the first time callers in Fairbanks could direct dial long distance without going through an operator), and Jules Tileston speaking about planning issues involving land used by the oil industry.
[Lewis Gibson films 1]
[Lewis Gibson films 1]
This footage was filmed in the mid-1960s and is labeled, “Tour with Visiting Relatives, Nova Scotia, snippet of UAF plaza, Chena Hot Springs, Alaska Highway Milepost Marker Fairbanks, Malemute Saloon, and Gold dredge.” The film contains scenes of family activities outside of Alaska, travel in Alaska, a circle of flags on the campus of University of Alaska Fairbanks, interior scenes of the museum at the university, Malemute Saloon in Ester, gold dredges, Joy Elementary School, and the Alaska Highway milepost marker in downtown Fairbanks.
[Lewis Gibson films 4]
[Lewis Gibson films 4]
AAF-13920 was filmed in 1971 and is labeled, “Wildlife, Chena River, Riverboat Discovery Tour, Alaskaland, Downtown Fairbanks, 1971.” The film contains scenes of tourists and sites during a Riverboat Discovery tour near Fairbanks, flowers on the University of Alaska campus, bird skin and gut parkas at the university museum, animal mounts at the museum, more scenes from Riverboat Discovery tours, Alaskaland scenes including gold panning and cabins, a fanboat on the river, fishwheels on the river, looking north on Cushman Street in downtown Fairbanks, the Penneys building and parking lot, traffic on Second Avenue in Fairbanks, the Chena River, the Chamber of Commerce building and other buildings along the Chena River, and bars and cafes along First Avenue in downtown Fairbanks.