Alaska Film Archives

[Alaska Air Guard earthquake film]
[Alaska Air Guard earthquake film]
This film contains scenes of earthquake damage in Anchorage, Kodiak, Seward, and Valdez following the March 27, 1964 Great Alaska Earthquake. Title screens indicate the footage was shot by an Alaska Air National Guard Air Transport Squadron.
[Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner aircraft]
[Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner aircraft]
The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20723 are: “RM 16. Alaska Airlines, Connie OTZ, Cooper Ldg, Sheep.” This film features an Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner with "Fly Alaska" on its side (N7316C) landing and taxiing on a snowy runway at Kotzebue in northwest Alaska, an Alaska Airlines ramp agent directing the aircraft on the ground, passengers walking toward and boarding the airplane, and views of sheep on a hill. Note that the Starliner developed out of the Lockheed Super Constellation with the Starliner having a redesigned wing and more powerful engines.
[Alaska Native celebrations]
[Alaska Native celebrations]
This film contains scenes of different groups of Alaska Native peoples drumming and dancing in Southeast and Northern Alaska, people sharing and eating muktuk (whale) at a celebration in Northern Alaska, and a blanket toss in Northern Alaska (possibly Barrow).
[Anchorage, Seward, Hooper Bay, glaciers and skiing]
[Anchorage, Seward, Hooper Bay, glaciers and skiing]
AAF-11873 is made up of ten smaller reels that have been combined. Reel 1 is labeled “Turnagain School” and contains exterior views of the Turnagain School building (during the mid-1950s or 1970s?). Reel 2 is labeled “1954 Downtown NCG and Lib and [GA?] Hill School etc., airplane in [inlet?].” It contains views of Anchorage area buildings and an airplane in the water. Reel 3 is labeled “Misc. Anchorage signs” and contains views of signs (circa 1970s?). Reel 4 is labeled “Train to Seward thru loop” and contains views of a train and from a train (circa 1950s?). Reel 5 is labeled “Hooper Bay” and contains exterior views of a building and people exiting the building (circa mid 1970s?). Reel 6 is labeled “Columbia Glacier by Air 50s” and contains scenes of glaciers (circa 1950s?). Reel 7 is labeled “Flying” and contains aerial views of water (circa?). Reel 8 is labeled “Flying looks like King Salmon?” and contains aerial scenes of water (circa late 1950 or 1970s?). Reel 9 is labeled “[Global?] cup at Alyeska” and contains scenes of skiers in a competition (circa late 1950s or 1970s?). Reel 10 is labeled “Nat’l Ski Racer” and contains views of skiers with bib numbers – original film was processed in April 1963. Notes from the nephew of Wally Wellenstein in 2015: “Please remember that Uncle Wally put together several small spools of film to make the reels. We think that Wally was trying to tell a story for his family back in Minnesota, rather than relate in chronological order his adventures. Some of the scenes are out of order, date wise. The bulk of his movies were of his adventures in Alaska. He also spent time recording the life of his sister Joan’s family."
[Baby eating muktuk]
[Baby eating muktuk]
This film contains footage of the Benson family, children playing outside in summer, and a baby in a high chair eating muktuk.
[Caribou herds and Teller, Alaska]
[Caribou herds and Teller, Alaska]
First approximately eleven minutes of film contain various scenes of a large herd of caribou and Denali (Mt. McKinley). Remaining portion of film contains snowy scenes in Teller, Alaska, including a polar bear hide being offloaded from an airplane while people watch, woman and four children posing for camera (identified in 2022 as Rachael Otoyuk of Teller, Alaska, standing on the far right in a red kuspuk, with her children from left to right, Virginia Menadelook, Sam, Richard and Daniel), two boys demonstrating traditional Alaska Native dance (identified in 2022 as Marvin Okleasik at left in dark coat, and brother John Okleasik in light blue coat), woman in scarf (identified in 2022 as Theresa Soolook from Teller) hugging small baby, woman with tattooed chin and large fur ruff on her parka hood (identified in 2022 as possibly Ruby Gaugryya Singyke Cronin), man and woman wearing parkas with fur ruffs (identified in 2022 as likely John and Asicksik Kakaruk), boys demonstrating Alaska Native dance, aerial view of reindeer or caribou herd, dog sleds approaching herd, and men butchering a reindeer or caribou on the tundra. 2022 identifications were made by people from the Teller area via a historical social media site.
[Chalkyitsik films - part 1 of 2]
[Chalkyitsik films - part 1 of 2]
These notes are from Jennifer Jolis of Fairbanks and UAF Prof. Stanley Edwin of Fort Yukon, who viewed this film in the Alaska Film Archives offices at the Rasmuson Library, UAF, on November 21, 2017. Jolis was a VISTA volunteer and Edwin was a 6-year-old growing up in Chalkyitsik, Alaska, during 1966-1967, when Jolis and others shot these films. AAF-13933 begins with images taken in January 1967 by Jolis’ father (Bernard Jolis) and sister (Gillian Jolis), who visited Chalkyitsik; father and sister snowshoe in front of Isaac and Sally Henry’s cabin; Bill Fredson on snowshoes; snowmachine; muskrat trapping; mushing; scenes from Wien or Wright Airlines flight from Fairbanks to Fort Yukon to Chalkyitsik; first snowmachine in town belonged to Edison Peter; Jolis’ house belonged to the Episcopal Church; group of cabins includes homes of Mimi and William Salmon, Ben and Julia Thomas, Mary Thompson, Belle Herbert, Charlie and Sharon Thomas, Paul Thomas, and the Community Hall; caches belong to the Salmon Family; Jolis’ father and sister, and Bill Fredson; owl on pole erected for radio reception; two unidentified children; breakup of the Draanjik or Black River; Stanley Edwin as a child; Eagle-the-dog who was originally from the town of Eagle; Community Hall; Johnny Edwin standing to left of dog; Spring Carnival; Sam Herbert; teacher Marianne Nicholson in red coat; Simon Francis Jr. in center; Johnny Edwin standing to left of person wearing bib #5; Sam Herbert standing in center under banner; Ladies’ snowshoe race during Spring Carnival; Sam Herbert in parka on left; Bill Fredson in group; elders Henry and Sarah Williams on left; David Salmon’s wife in red skirt; Patty Salmon in white coat and checked scarf, on right; Woody Salmon standing next to Patty Salmon; Patty Salmon’s face; Abraham Henry behind sled with parka; Johnny Edwin; Sam Herbert in overalls; moose in boat; hunting scenes were maybe filmed by Bill Fredson in fall 1966; Sam Herbert in bow of boat; and also in boat are Paul Herbert, Johnny Edwin, and Woody Salmon.
[Chalkyitsik films - part 2 of 2]
[Chalkyitsik films - part 2 of 2]
These notes are from Jennifer Jolis of Fairbanks and UAF Prof. Stanley Edwin of Fort Yukon, who viewed this film in the Alaska Film Archives offices at the Rasmuson Library, UAF, on November 21, 2017. Jolis was a VISTA volunteer and Edwin was a 6-year-old growing up in Chalkyitsik, Alaska, during 1966-1967, when Jolis and others shot these films. AAF-13934 contains scenes of Eagle-the-dog; slough where fall fishing and ice fishing happened; Bobby Moses as a boy; Alice and Carl Moses cutting moose; Marianne Nicholson; Patty Salmon in canvas-covered canoe; summer of 1966 scenes; cabins with poles sticking up for radio reception; cabins; greenhouse and the old school, which was replaced in 1967 because of flooding; Bob Mott’s barge; Fort Yukon boat; Bill Fredson changing stovepipe; children playing on oil barrels include Stanley Edwin, Darryl Salmon, Robert Moses, Paul Edwin, and Agnes Herbert (wearing a scarf); unknown boy on swing; girl on swing is Isabelle Salmon wearing red; Bill Fredson with hand over face; scenes from flying over Chalkyitsik – possibly in Wien airplane – when Jolis was first arriving in 1966; fall time of year; Red Bluff, so called because of the reddish color of the soil; Johnny Edwin and possibly Woody Salmon in plaid shirt (maybe Paul Herbert shot this portion of the film); and Bill Fredson at lake.
[Chuck Gray film collection]
[Chuck Gray film collection]
This film includes footage of Seward, aerial views of Seward, and Anchorage following the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. Additional footage includes Alaska Dog Mushers dogsled races at the Fairbanks track on Farmers Loop Road, dogsled races with Le Mans style start, dogsled slalom race, a snowshoe softball game, the 1966 Golden Days Parade including Charlie Creamer driving a car and George Clayton with his old truck. Final images feature people on rides at the Golden Days Midway.
[Dawson, 1964 Good Friday earthquake aftermath, Kodiak]
[Dawson, 1964 Good Friday earthquake aftermath, Kodiak]
Footage contains images taken during a trip to Dawson City in Yukon Territory, a Texaco station in Anchorage, people loading of camper, travel along Glenn Highway, highway signs, map showing the route to Dawson City, litter, a woman and a dog, signs at Gakona, signs and buildings at Tok, Forty Mile Roadhouse, Taylor Highway road sign, scenery along Taylor Highway, the Alaska - Canada border, buildings and old mining equipment in Dawson, a woman with a rocker box, a Klondike River bridge, and a sternwheeler deck. Images filmed in Anchorage and along the Seward Highway following the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake include damaged buildings in downtown, damaged houses in Turnagain, a Caterpillar clearing snow, policemen nearing a truck, a business block with buildings below street level, downtown traffic, a loader working on a street, a collapsed airport tower, a funny sign on building, a power line repair crew, law offices, West High School damage, trailers with relief offices, workers replacing bricks, fire trucks, a snow avalanche along Seward Highway, and a power shovel loading rail cars. Images at Kodiak from 1964 include filmmaker Victor Rovier talking with a man on horseback, the waterfront, fishing boats, a petroleum tank farm, a Russian Orthodox Church, downtown buildings, houses, Alaska State Ferry Tustemena arriving, cars being loaded onto a ferry, a motor home being unloaded, a float plane landing and being tied up, aerial views of Kodiak, people at the King Crab Festival, and the dome on a Russian Orthodox Church.
[Eyth Family collection films 1]
[Eyth Family collection films 1]
This film contains images of family Christmas scenes, children on a swing set in winter, children dressed up and with a kitten in an Easter basket, a family in a boat, a moose in a river, an amusement park, a moose, children in a boat on a river bank, and children playing in water with a cabin in the background.
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
This film contains scenes featuring people posing and getting into a small airplane, a small framed cabin, a log cabin, boats on a river, women and a cabin, cabins and caches along a river, a family at a cabin, many people in a boat, a moose in a river, and mountains as seen from a river.
[Eyth Family collection films 3]
[Eyth Family collection films 3]
This film contains aerial views of mountains as seen from a small airplane as well as scenes featuring men talking, homemade rafts on a river, moose, children playing in a river, mountains and a glacier, waterfalls, ice, and seals.
[Eyth Family collection films 4]
[Eyth Family collection films 4]
This film contains scenes from the 1967 flood in Fairbanks including flooded streets and homes, a bridge, cars under water, people in a yard, a military truck driving through water with a truckload of people evacuating the flood, people on top of George’s Supermarket sign, and people on the roof of Traveler’s Inn.
[Eyth Family collection films 5]
[Eyth Family collection films 5]
This film contains scenes of a family during Christmas time, children playing outside in snow, and family scenes during Fourth of July celebrations.
[Eyth Family collection films 6]
[Eyth Family collection films 6]
AAF-13879 contains scenes of a house and buildings in winter. AAF-13880 contains scenes of a house and buildings in winter. AAF-13881 and AAF-13882 contains family Christmas scenes. AAF-13883 contains scenes of men packing game meat onto a small boat. AAF-13884 contains scenes of a woman and children with a baby skunk. AAF-13885 contains scenes of the Valdez harbor, moose, and cabins. AAF-13886 contains scenes of men loading game meat onto a boat and small cabins in winter.
[Eyth Family collection films 7]
[Eyth Family collection films 7]
AAF-13887 contains scenes of a family Christmas, a moose, and a glacier. AAF-13888 contains scenes of deep snow. AAF-13889 -- AAF-13894 contain scenes of a glacier face, a Bridal Veil falls sign, Fourth of July celebrations, a family camping, a river and fishing (poor exposure on original film), a family Christmas, and a camper and boat.
[Fairbanks 1960s]
[Fairbanks 1960s]
This film contains views of Fairbanks in the early 1960s, including cars driving through thick ice fog downtown, muddy neighborhood roads during spring break-up, the sternwheeler “Nenana” parked along the Chena River prior to its restoration and move to Alaskaland, and a bulldozer clearing snowy land.
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 1]
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 1]
This film contains scenes of sled dog races (possibly near Anchorage) as well as Fairbanks area sled dog races and amateur baseball.
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 2]
[Fairbanks sled dog races and baseball, 1969 North Slope exploration and Haul Road construction- part 2]
This film contains on-the-ground and aerial views of Alaska's North Slope and the future Haul Road corridor, caribou running, a man with a small net standing next to a stream, caribou near bluffs, Sagwon Lodge, a braided river, a camp and tower (drill rig?), bears, wolves, caribou, sheep, rivers, mountains, men pulling a net from a stream, men fly fishing, bear tracks, a small airplane near a camp, moose, a man with a fish net, a bear, views from a boat in the river, cabins along the river, jumpy aerial views of the Fairbanks area including Creamer's Dairy and a mining operation, aerial views of road construction crews at work and trees being cleared north of Fairbanks along the Haul Road (Dalton Highway) corridor between Livengood and the Yukon River, men fishing from a boat, and Bridal Veil falls near Valdez.
[Family activities]
[Family activities]
This film contains images of a family gathering at Christmastime, a boy and dog playing, a dead wolf, a mining operation, an airport, children dressed as cowboys, travel scenes outside Alaska, a parade outside Alaska, and the Hoover Dam.
[Family activities, Circle Hot Springs]
[Family activities, Circle Hot Springs]
This film contains footage of a little girl walking with help from woman, a woman holding a baby in her lap, a man holding a baby in his lap, a small child walking, a small child in a chair playing with toys, a small girl in a winter coat walking indoors, a small child playing with toys and a table, a 1st Birthday party, a child in a rocking chair, an airplane taking off over water, a scenic view of mountains, a group of people outside (possibly a picnic), children walking on a lawn, the Santa Claus House in North Pole, people lighting a wooden structure on fire and then driving through it with cars and bikes (possibly a stunt show?), an airplane (Boeing B-47 Stratojet) flying overhead, a woman with a very small baby, a horse-drawn wagon, Circle Hot Springs Hotel and gardens, a bridge with driftwood caught against it, mining operations, a dragline and conveyor at work in mining operations, two well dressed women walking outside, two children opening presents, two children playing with toys, a Christmas tree, views of the inside of a house decorated for Christmas with Christmas cards on the wall, a soft water company's storefront, a large group of elementary age children digging in dirt or sand, a large group of elementary age kids playing on a playground and sliding down a slide, children riding ponies, children on a spinning amusement park ride (airplanes suspended by cables), boats moving fast on the water, people at a formal sit-down dinner, a group of people posing for a group photograph, a woman walking around outside with a baby, a parade outside Alaska in the summer that includes a marching band and small cars and parade floats, a child's 2nd birthday party with lots of small children in attendance, a child opening presents, a birthday cake with two candles, children reading books while sitting together on a couch, children playing with each other indoors, and a little girl spinning around for the camera.
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
This film contains footage of two women standing outside of an Aeronca Sedan airplane in the snow, women washing a car, a wildfire, two women standing in front of a house with a small dog, a group of boys putting on heavy backpacks being handed to them out of the back of a truck, airplanes on floats on a lake, people water skiing on a lake, children playing next to a lake, a Christmas tree and Christmas presents, people opening Christmas presents, Spooks' Nook at Chitina, a waterfall, views of the mountains, children playing in the snow, a family gathering with a baby in a long (baptismal?) gown, children playing on a swings, a small child looking at a baby in a woman's arms, a Christmas tree, people opening Christmas presents, a child playing with a toy horse, a baby looking at toys, a parade outside Alaska with large floats, horse drawn carriages, motorcycles, old cars, a marching band, a person driving a tractor in a film superimposed over footage of a baby walking, footage of a family gathering, people posing for photographs superimposed over footage of a child walking on grass, men on horses herding cattle (likely not in Alaska), women standing in front of a car with a dog, children playing outdoors, people sitting on the grass, the sternwheeler Riverboat Nenana in Fairbanks, men in a boat on the water, and men next to a river and swimming in the river, a small child playing in the snow, and a family picnic outdoors.
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel]
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel]
Film contains footage of a little girl (aproximately 1 year old) at a birthday party with a cake and presents, a little girl playing with toys, a little boy's 3rd birthday party with children, cake, the child opening presents, a truck on a snowy road, scenic views of mountains and winter snowscape, a little girl about 2 years old, a man, woman, and child standing outside on the side of a road in winter, snowscapes viewed from a moving vehicle, snowy roadway viewed from a moving vehicle, winter landscapes, tall cabin at Whitehorse in Canada, sternwheeler riverboats on a shore at Whitehorse, cars racing around a snow track in the winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, ice skaters performing for a crowd outside in winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, views of Fairbanks businesses along river, views of the outside of a building, a man standing with a dog, scenic views of the landscape, ships on the water, a church with a Nativity scene in front, a bridge (not in Alaska), a woman and man standing outside of a brick home (not in Alaska), Pan American airplane at an airport, the mountains filmed from an airplane in flight, a man and a boy standing in snow in front of a truck, military vehicles along a snowy road, views from a truck driving down the Alaska Highway, and a truck at Whitehorse in Canada with sternwheeler riverboats on the shore in the background.
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel, winter carnival]
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel, winter carnival]
Film contains images of cars driving down a street, an aproximately 1-year-old girl outside of a red house climbing stairs and playing, the same girl indoors, sheep in a field, a group of people standing in the field, a group of people dressed up at an outdoor gathering, people sitting in a group in chairs outdoors in a social gathering, the exterior of a red house, children swimming in what appears to be a lake, a child aproximately 1-year-old walking, views of a beach and a sign that says "Indian Village" on it, scenic Alaska wilderness with a rainbow, children running through a sprinkler and playing with a hose on the lawn in front of a red house, a family standing in front of cars, children playing with a cat, children playing outside in the snow in the winter, adults and children standing for a group photograph, outdoor winter scenery, the Watson Lake Signpost Forest along the Alaska Highway in Yukon Territory of Canada, mountain scenery, a moose in winter in a field of snow, children being pulled on a sled, caribou pulling a dog sled, a Fairbanks Winter Carnival parade with parade floats, kids on a snowy beach throwing rocks into the water near a glacier, a parade in summer with a man riding in the parade and women marching in the parade, flowers in a garden, a barn in winter, well dressed people standing outside in winter with a bunch of cars in front of a church outside of Alaska, people pushing wagon wheels in the snow, a little girl opening presents next to a Christmas tree, a woman holding a baby, a Christmas tree, presents under a tree, a man with children on his lap, children sitting on a couch, children opening Christmas presents, children playing with toys, and children roughhousing and tumbling.
[Fur Rendezvous, dog races, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Matanuska Valley]
[Fur Rendezvous, dog races, Fairbanks, Anchorage and Matanuska Valley]
Footage includes a merry-go-round and a wolf dance at the Fur Rendezvous, the World Championship sled dog races in Anchorage, the Open North American sled dog races in Fairbanks, Roland "Doc" Lombard with a trophy, giant cabbages, Chilkat dancers in Haines, High Ridge, downtown Fairbanks, the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks, Dr. Vic Hessler, an ice bridge across University Avenue in Fairbanks, a man tying reindeer to a truck bumper, a fur auction, dog races and an Eskimo Wolf Dance at the Fur Rendezvous, a radar site, soldiers eating a meal in a field during winter, military base housing, berries, harvesting grain, dogs, an Anchorage sign, a small well-drilling truck in High Ridge, Ernest Gruening, a health clinic, a mechanic working on a truck, a ski plane being moved and taking off from High Ridge lake during winter, Sara Machetanz paintings, Traeger Machetanz, a statehood headline, fly fishing, an Air France plane, glaciers in the Southeast, and men taking a canoe upriver to fish for grayling.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 1]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 1]
AAF-16390 is a super-8mm film labeled, “Start flight into camp, end with [illegible] and fox.” The film contains aerial views of snowy mountains as seen from a small airplane, coming in for a landing over a spruce forest onto a snowy runway, aerial scenes of a small settlement [possibly Good News Bay?], coming in for another landing on a snowy runway [possibly the Platinum airport?], a grab dredger moving what looks like chunks of ice, a dog team in the distance, a snowshoe hare running, and four men working with what appears to be a clamshell bucket while a smaller grab dredge removes ice from a slushy pond in the background. Additional scenes include a dredge that appears to have a huge chunk of ice stuck on its bucket, a snowy landscape, a helicopter, a group of people shoveling [possibly digging clams] in a tidal area, snowy mountains in the background, a mining camp and surrounding areas, a smaller dredge, a general overview of area, a fox, and a grab dredge with another large piece of machinery.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
AAF-16391 is a super-8mm film containing footage of a container ship or barge in a bay and men using the ship’s crane to offload a container onto the shore. The last few seconds of the film show a grabber dredge, a stream sluice, and a man working with a high pressure hose.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
AAF-16392 is a super-8mm film labeled “Bird Island – Clean up at Plt Creek.” The film begins with daytime scenes of small motor boats traveling over open water. A whale surfaces a few times in front of the boats followed by scenes of a rookery. The sun sets behind a rock outcropping as birds fly by. A bulldozer moves mud and snow from a roadway or ditch. A man fishes for salmon from a motor boat, then two men show off their catch. This is followed by scenes of draglines and a large sluicebox and men working and cleaning the sluicebox with shovels.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
AAF-16393 is a super-8mm film containing scenes of a bucket dredge in a frozen pond, a dragline moving water and mud from the pond, snow surrounding homes, snow piled almost to the top of the roofs, a bucket dredge working in an icy pond with mountains in the distance, a town as seen from a hill above, and more scenes of mining equipment in operation. A man works a dragline while a dog sits nearby. A group of adults gather around people who are processing salmon, and a man holds up a large salmon. The film ends with a shot of the Platinum Post Office and structures along a river or inlet with mountains in the distance.