Alaska Film Archives | Archive

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.

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: [trucks hauling pipe on Haul Road]; Footage includes trucks hauling 80-foot sections of pipe on the Elliot Highway and the Haul Road.

: [birch bark container]; Notes on the film reel says "Native woman demonstrates tracing and cutting pattern from small birch bark container."

: [Yukon River Bridge construction and hovercraft]; Footage includes aerial views of the Yukon River Bridge under construction, a hovercraft with tractor-trailer trucks crossing the Yukon, and aerial view of a construction site. Additional footage includes Senator Mike Gravel being interviewed in an airplane, viewing a hovercraft, sitting on the pipeline, and welding a pipe.

: [Wrangell scenes]; The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20063 numbered as Bacon 13-02 and titled “Wrangell, Petroglyphs, Lumber Mill, Chief Shakes House.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Bight Saxman Museum and Nathan Jackson family - He is one of the greatest Tlingit artists - He is a carver - Film of him carving on a totem.” Notes on the film box are as follows: “Ketchikan, totem poles, Saxman, Nathan Jackson family - Wrangell, petroglyphs, Chief Shake’s house, town shots” and “Reel 2: Original, ECN, Wrangell, overall shots of town, petroglyphs, Cha Johnson, street scene in rain, lumber mill, and Chief Shake’s house.”

: [Whittier earthquake cleanup, Lake George glacier breakup, wildlife]; Footage includes foxes playing in brush; men working to repair railroad tracks, damaged buildings and burned out fuel storage tanks in Whittier following the Great Alaska Earthquake of 1964, rubble along the shoreline, Lake George glacier breaking up, bears fishing in a river and playing onshore, aerial views of a volcanic crater, seals on a beach, closeups of young seals, and bears and cubs eating and fishing. The film is made from six shorter reels of film spliced together. The original boxes and can are labeled as follows: 1) Foxes - #60013 – 100’ $30.00. 2) R-58 Whittier Earthquake - $15.00. 3) #41 Lake George Glacier Breakup - $15.00. 4) #49 Close-up Brown Bears - $15.00. 5) #39 Fur Seals - $15.00. 6) #44 Bear and cubs - $15.00.

: [White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad in winter]; This film is labeled “Railroad shorts.” The footage contains scenes of travel on the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad in winter, a church and a train station at Bennett Lake, an airplane taking off, snowy train tracks and a tunnel, railroad workers and employees near a track and inside a train, a train traveling over trestles, snowy mountain scenes, a and sternwheeler in Carcross.

: [We Live in the Arctic - Reel 2]; Detailed summary information for this film was provided by the filmmakers, Bud and Connie Helmericks – see a film archivist for full information. According to these notes, films include scenes of an Inupiat family identified in notes as Nanny and George, son Apiak, and daughters Lydia and Martha; Nanny tending a fishnet set in the Arctic Ocean; Lydia (age 5) eating dried meat with an uluruk; Martha (age 17) holding a mirror and applying lipstick; a woman identified in the notes as Bessie with a homemade guitar made from a Prestone can; a whale boat in the Arctic Ocean; people identified in the notes as Oolak or Job (age 15), Little Jacob, Carrie with little Maugaulak or Mark, and Richard; Chandler Lake; a group of inland Inupiat or Nunamiut at Chandler Lake, including people identified in the notes as baby Franklin Roosevelt and his father, Simon Paneak; caribou skin tents covered with canvas; bear damage at a cabin; Connie picking berries; Bud and Connie hunting moose; Connie rendering tallow; Connie chinking a cabin with moss; Bud making a cabin window; Bud demonstrating winter wear; fishing through ice; Bud cutting ice blocks; and heating the airplane engine before take-off.

: [We Live in the Arctic - Reel 1]; Detailed summary information for this film was provided by the filmmakers, Bud and Connie Helmericks – see a film archivist for full information. According to these notes, this film includes scenes of a Cessna 140 (the “Arctic Tern”) taking off from Tucson, Arizona; aerial views enroute to Alaska; Grand Prairie, Alberta; aerial views of Hughes, Alaska; Brooks Range mountains; landing at Takahula Lake; Connie and Bud at their log cabin at Takahula Lake; snowshoeing and seeing a “snow doughnut” that has rolled down from the mountain; Bud splitting wood and Connie collecting water; ice fishing on Takahula Lake while sunbathing; planting a garden; Connie climbing Takahula Peak; kayaking on the Alatna River; an airplane flight 300 miles north to the Arctic Ocean; cooking a meal of caribou and cornmeal along the Arctic Ocean; the village of Paulatuk in Canada; Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island; a power schooner (the “Tudlik”) traveling from Banks Land; Inuit hunters cooking caribou in northern Canada; Lakes Peter and Schrader in Alaska; and the filmmakers, Bud and Connie.

: [Waymon Vest collection films 3]; AAF-13897 is from a film identified by the filmmaker as: white grizzly bear on North Slope, North Slope scenes, and Kenai Peninsula scenes circa 1970-1972. The full 15-minute reel was made from five smaller reels labeled by the filmmaker as follows: grizzly bear - North Slope 1970, moose sheep - Kenai Peninsula Alaska; cat train Porter; good one Slope; Brooks Range from airplane Alaska; Herc C-130. Scenes on Alaska’s North Slope include a "blonde" or nearly-white-colored grizzly bear and oil exploration activities including a cat train, helicopter, Pilatus Porter airplane, tracked vehicles moving across snowy terrain, C-130 Hercules airplane, and a helicopter. The following information was received from the filmmaker: At about 2 minutes and 40 seconds into the full film reel is a scene of Portage Glacier as seen from the road in 1970; beginning at about 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the reel are barges frozen in the Arctic Ocean; and at about 11 minutes and 40 seconds into the reel, the camera zooms in to a scene of Mt. Susitna, also known as the “Sleeping Lady.”

: [Waymon Vest collection films 2]; This reel is made from four smaller reels labeled by the filmmaker as follows: bull riding, steer wrestling, kid bull riding, horse races, Calgary; Calgary Stampede parade; bull riding, chuck wagon race, Calgary Stampede; bronc riding, calf roping, horse races, Calgary Canada 1968. The film features footage from the Calgary Stampede rodeo, an exhibition and festival in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

: [Waymon Vest collection films 1]; This film was identified by the filmmaker as North Sea and Denmark, circa 1967-1969. The full 25-minute reel was made from eight smaller reels labeled by the filmmaker as follows: 1968 helicopter, North Sea, Denmark; air jump and pick up by chopper; air show, Esbjerg Denmark 1969, hovercraft glider; Denmark Germany ferry; Zapata jackup North Sea 1968; Denmark [illegible]; Denmark King’s summer house; hovercraft, Peder Iversen Denmark, Hanna and Peder. The film features scenes of an oil platform in the North Sea, people boarding a large helicopter and taking off from a platform, supply boats in rough seas, oil workers on a platform, parachutists jumping to water from an airplane and being retrieved by a helicopter (as part of a Danish military exercise, according to filmmaker), aircrafts flying in formation, a hovercraft demonstration, people shoveling snow, a ferry, aerial views of farmland and an oil platform from a helicopter, family scenes, an aerobatic airplane, a balloon, and travel and site-seeing scenes in the Denmark area.

: [Walrus hunt, Kotzebue, Nome, Unalakleet, kayak races, wildlife]; This film contains footage of a waterfront in a northern Alaska coastal village, many people in a motor-powered umiak, a camp on a rocky beach, Alaska Native children playing in a tent, men throwing a rope into the water to retrieve a log, men on the edge of sea ice getting into an umiak, open water and sea ice, homes at the edge of the steep rocky island of Little Diomede, people unloading supplies from an umiak onto the shore on Little Diomede, and then some footage is repeated. The footage also features foxes playing in brush; the Kotzebue waterfront, fish drying on racks, children, the post office, the trading post, the Wien Arctic Hotel, a whalebone, and Alaska Native women and a man with closeup views of their faces; a Native dancing in Nome with King Island Chief Aulaġana (John Olarana or Olaranna) and others, a blanket toss, and fish drying on racks; the Unalakleet waterfront with kayaks and an airplane on floats, kayak races, and a demonstration of a kayak roll by a man wearing a gutskin parka; arctic ground squirrels or parka squirrels, a man feeding squirrels, a pika, a marmot, and seals on a beach and in water. Persons and locations identified in 2015 by a person who once lived in the Nome area include: Belmont Point, Snake River, Bering Sea Hotel, Sam Mogg, Charlie Dickson (?), Olaf Piscoya and persons from the Ozenna family, Big and Little Diomede Islands, and Aloysius Pikonganna. This film is made from five shorter reels of film spliced together. The original boxes and cans are labeled as follows: 1) Walrus Hunt - $131.25 [on leader = Color Reproduction Company – Hollywood, California]. 2) Walrus Hunt Reel 1 - $73.00. 3) Reel #19 Foxes – 220’ @ .29 $63.80. 4) XXVIII – 400’ – Kotzebue: tents, homes, post office, trading post, Wien Arctic Hotel, old Eskimo woman in sun on beach, older Eskimo woman and son – Nome: informal Eskimo dance with King Alarna, blanket toss – Unalakleet : 4th of July kayak races, rolling kayak over to upside down then to right side up. 5) #67 Parka Squirrels – Alaskan Parka – 100’ $30.00.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 7]; This film consists of one reel of 8mm film labeled “Winter Carnival” on the outside of the film can and “#1 Cleary Hill” on a piece of tape applied to the reel itself. This film contains footage of mining operations, sled dogs and people dog sledding, scenery in Alaska in winter at sunrise/sunset, fireworks at night; an airplane in the snow; a caribou; people gathering at an outdoor location in winter (possibly a winter carnival), a parade taking place in the, and more dog sledding.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 6]; This film consists of one reel of 8mm film labeled “People and Parties.” It contains footage of various locations throughout Alaska, a sign for ‘Evelyn’s,” a dog; the Traveler’s Inn, a number of well-dressed women exiting a building and showing off their clothing to the camera, a number of scenic views of Alaska landscapes, people and couples dancing at an undisclosed location indoors, a gathering of people in a home, and a woman and a baby playing together.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 5]; This film consists of one reel of 8mm film labeled “Aniak” and contains footage from a vehicle driving in the winter in Alaska, the exterior of a house in the winter, possible footage of a fire at nighttime, scenery of Alaska landscapes and river villages taken from an airplane in the winter, two people standing in front of an airplane in the winter, and the front of the Aniak Lodge.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 4]; This film consists of two reels of 8mm film that have been combined onto one reel. Reel 1 is labeled “2-1538” on the outside of the film canister and includes footage of large-scale excavation work, including large machinery moving dirt, men gold panning, mountain vistas and Alaska scenery, and the Cushman Street bridge dedication ceremony in Fairbanks, Alaska [Identified by George Lounsbury in 2013: Eva McGowan and Robert (Bobby) E. Sheldon appear in the dedication ceremony scenes]. Reel 2 is unlabeled and contains footage of powerboats on a river, river scenery during breakup, Alaska vistas and mountain views, a moose in the woods, and an outdoor circus including animals, clowns, acrobats, and tightrope walkers.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 3]; This film consists of two reels of 8mm film that have been combined onto one reel. Reel 1 is labeled “Lavery Fire” and contains a slip of paper inside the canister labeled “Lavery fire day & night.” This reel contains scenes of the 1959 Lavery Building fire at night and daytime scenes of downtown Fairbanks near Cushman Street and Second Avenue where the building once stood. Reel 2 is labeled “Aniak & Winter Carnival Parade,” and it contains aerial views of the Alaska landscape, scenes of an unidentified parade, cars racing around a dirt track, and sled dog races.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 2]; This film consists of 3 reels of 8mm film that have been combined onto one reel. Reel 1 is labeled “2-0084” and contains footage of a parade in front of Pinska’s in Fairbanks, the University of Alaska power plant and campus in Fairbanks, and a Wien hangar and airport tower. Reel 2 is unlabeled and contains aerial footage of Anchorage-area damage and the movement of earth following the 1964 earthquake (footage is shaky due to camera movement and deterioration of the emulsion on the film). Reel 3 is labeled “Shrine Circus” and contains footage of a circus.

: [Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 1]; AAF-11473 consists of 3 reels of 8mm film that have been combined onto one reel. Reel 1 is labeled “March 6, 1961” and contains footage of people sunbathing (the film has a mag stripe soundtrack that was badly deteriorated, so no audio was captured during digitization). Reel 2 is labeled “Hotel Fire” and contains footage of a burning building with firefighters responding (the film is badly deteriorated). Reel 3 is labeled”Chena Ice Classic etc.” and contains detailed scenes of the construction of the Cushman Street Bridge over the Chena River in Fairbanks in 1959.

: [UAF campus views]; Footage includes students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks walking in front of the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, the Wood Center, Wickersham Hall, and the Gruening Building.

: [Trucking on the Dalton Highway]; Footage includes still shots of a sign on a building, truckers and trucks, trucks on Haul Road in the summer and fall, views of trucks hauling pipeline sections in summer and fall, views from aboard a truck, views of Fairbanks, trucks on Haul Road, an airplane landing, an airport at Old Man camp, an airplane taking off in slow motion, a truck on Haul Road in early winter, stills of a trucker [identified on the original film as Sam Little?], a mechanic working on a truck in a shop, a man driving a truck, a truck parked in twilight, a man climbing into a truck, Fox Roadhouse, a trucker reading the "help wanted" ads in a cafe, closeups of a truck, a truck on Haul Road (some sections of film are double-exposed), a garage, a trucker climbing into a Sourdough Freight Lines truck, and a truck driving through Fairbanks.

: [Trucking in Alaska]; Footage includes a bulldozer clearing snow at Alaska Freight Lines in Valdez, Tsaina Lodge, an Alaska Road Commission sign, blowing snow in Valdez, 40 Mile Lodge, a Beechcraft Bonanza airplane, a Canadian border station, a small sawmill in Port Chilkoot, people loading lumber, a Golden North airlines C-46 airplane loading polar bear cubs, "Polar Bear Line" painted on a C-46, car races at Rendezvous raceway in Fairbanks, an Alaska Freightlines van, travel on the Richardson Highway during winter, a minor truck accident during winter, clearing snow in Thompson Pass, a buffalo on the road, travel on the Richardson Highway during summer, early telegraph tripod poles along a highway, the Lowe River, a washed out bridge, Keystone Canyon, a tunnel on a road, unloading a ship at Valdez, Paxson Lodge, a damaged bridge near Sheep Mountain on Glenn Highway, a truck with flat tires being repaired along the highway, winter travel scenes showing overflow sections or glaciering across the highway, Knik River Bridge, and downtown Anchorage.

: [Trucker on Haul Road]; Footage features semi-trailers on the Haul Road in Alaska, the "furthest north" white spruce tree, a road being repaired, a trucker cleaning off his windshield, the Hammond River, Coldfoot Cemetery, semi-trailers on a road in twilight and snow, a trucker driving, an airplane landing on a runway, an Arctic Circle sign, mountains, bridges, pump station signs, and a trucker eating and driving.

: [Trucker in Fairbanks]; A man gets into a Sourdough Freight Lines truck and drives through Fairbanks (several takes).

: [Trucker film out-takes, Pump Stations 1 and 6, North Pole Refinery, Valdez tankers, Pump Station 8 explosion]; Some segments of film contain audio, and others are silent. Specific dates and other information noted on the original film are given here in parentheses. Footage includes the profile of a truck cab, a man and woman (identified in notes accompanying film as "John and Joan") at a cabin and pouring coffee, a man driving a truck, a man and woman at a cabin, dust on a road, a passing truckload of pipe, a sunset, trucks, a man ("John T."), a truck and sunset, trailer chains, the moon and trees, a Texaco sign, trucks on a road, a trucker ("John"), the Haul Road in winter, Sunset Strip, men drinking coffee, pipes being unloaded from a truck, more truck views, Sam's Place, a man talking (silent), a truck on a road ("Hess Creek"), aerial views of a pump station ("Pump Station 6"), a pipeline crossing the Koyukuk River, aerial views of a pump station ("Pump Station 1"), a pipeline and snowy landscape, a truck hauling pipe, a BP official being interviewed about caribou crossing systems along the pipeline (sound), aerial views of a refinery ("North Pole Refinery, September 23, 1977"), people celebrating around bonfires ("Valdez Bonfire"), the tanker "Arco Juneau" in Valdez, and a man being interviewed briefly about Alaska transportation systems (sound). The next segment of film was labeled "Pump Station 8 Explosion" and contains footage of police stopping traffic on a road, a smoke plume at a pump station, and firefighters working at the scene. The final segment of film contains footage of pipeline sections being hauled by railroad cars.

: [Trucker Billygoat Wild, Haul Road, Muleskinner's]; Specific dates and other information noted on original film are given here in parentheses. The footage features traffic and semi-trailers on Haul Road, men working on trucks, views of scenery and caribou along Haul Road, Deadhorse or a pipeline camp area, the Yukon Tire Service store (possibly in the Livengood area, according to notes on film), the pipeline mid-construction, a trucker (identified in the notes as "Billygoat" or "Billy Goat"), photos of old trucks, "Welcome to Arctic Circle" signs, pipeline camps and pump stations along Haul Road, mountain scenery, a man changing a tire on a truck, a forklift taking a pipe off of a truck, trucker Billy Goat in a truck cab talking on a CB radio, a cabin and possibly a homestead area (identified in the notes as "Muleskinner's"), a family working together at various activities, old photos, a truck parked under a Fox Roadhouse sign, a man reading a newspaper in a cafe, views of trucks and truckers, cabs at an airport, truckers getting luggage at the airport, a trucker (identified as "Sam Little") with his family, people dancing, trucks hauling pipeline sections, a view of the road from inside a pipeline section on a truck, people dancing at a tavern, Samson's Hardware Store in Fairbanks, Sunset Strip in Fairbanks, and views of highway and Haul Road.

: [Truck on Haul Road]; Footage includes a semi-trailer transporting sections of the Trans-Alaska pipeline along the Haul Road, interior and exterior views of a truck and trailer, pipeline sections being loaded onto a trailer, a semi-trailer traveling on the Haul Road, trucks crossing a bridge, a crane stacking pipeline sections, workers putting pipeline sections on a trailer, and semi-trailers traveling on a road.

: [Totems, dancing, Prince of Wales Island, fish program]; The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20065 numbered as Bacon 13-04 and titled “Totems, Dancing, Prince of Wales Island, Fish Program.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Bight Saxman Museum and Nathan Jackson family - He is one of the greatest Tlingit artists - He is a carver - Film of him carving on a totem.” Notes on the film box are as follows: “Ketchikan, totem poles, Saxman, Nathan Jackson family - Wrangell, petroglyphs, Chief Shake’s house, town shots” and “Reel 4: ECN, Klawock, Prince of Wales Island, totems, Indian kids dancing, and fish program.”

: [Totem pole carving, dancing]; The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20046 numbered as Bacon 10-06 and titled “Haines, Air Shots, Indian Art Center, Carving Totem Pole and Silver, Ermine Head Dress, Charley Jimmy Painting, Carl Heinmiller Repairing Mask, Dancing.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Carl Heinmiller repairs mask - He started the saving of the Tlingit culture - Carl was a WWII veteran - He came back and bought the houses for Chilkat at Haines - He bought two or three of the quarters that the army used and had them repaired - State ferry coming into Haines, pass by North Star landing at Skagway, the old pilings at the waterfront at Skagway; that is where the ships used to come in - It is all worn out now - This is where they used to have the dock.” Notes on the film box that pertain to this film are as follows: “Reel 6: 1986, Work Print, Haines, air shots of Indian, Indian Art Center shop, artist carving totem pole, Sue carving silver, repairing head dress made of Ermine, Charley Jimmy painting, Carl Heinmiller repairing mask, dancing in big hall, dancing outside for Bill special.”

: [Television commercial outtakes]; This film includes a series of KTVF television commercial outtakes from Nerland's Home Furnishings in Fairbanks with an unidentified female announcer and Larry Holmstrom, Captain Jim Binkley standing by the Discovery II and giving a political endorsement for Andy Warwick, and Darrell Russell of Russell's Union 76 Station talking about car repairs and working in the garage. Additional silent portions of the film include a man in makeup dressed like a trapper at a campfire and a couple at the Sunset Strip restaurant having dinner and dancing at the bar.

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