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.

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: [Alaska and travel]; This film reel is made up of 11 smaller reels. Reel 1 is labeled "1947 West Point and Kay, Bobbie and Ethel, Alcan Highway in mud and snow, Donn skiing and carnival, Mary, more skiing spring 1948," and it contains footage as described plus scenes of travel, a Whitehorse sign, kids playing football in the snow, hockey, skiing, a ski jump, dog mushing, the Fairbanks Winter Carnival, cars racing around a snowy track, and more skiing. Reel 2 is labeled "Trip To Alaska August 1947, Peekskill, Forest Glen, Jackson Lake, Xmas 1947 in Iowa, University of Iowa campus, Washington D.C., N.Y., Oregon," and it contains footage of road travel, scenery, small towns and cities, aerial views from an airplane, a dredge and mining views, a military formation, a football game, ice skating, and a city. A note inside the film can says "Washington D.C., New York, Hartsdale, Washington D.C., to California and Oregon, [?] and myself, February 1948, Alaska back to Peekskill, cadets and football, Forest Glen, Lilly, Jackson Lake Iowa, [?] and trip to Iowa for Xmas, farm, [?], University of Iowa campus." Reel 3 is labeled "Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier, start of plane trip to Alaska August 1947, Alaska map and California to Seattle," and it contains footage of a map of Alaska and aerial views. Reel 4 is labeled "Lilly and Keith, 1947, [?], Virginia, Lilly and I, Lilly at Skyline Drive, Keith's lacross games, [?] Island ferry and Lilly," and it contains views of people, a game, and New York. Reel 5 is labeled "Football May 8th UA at FHS, Whitehorse, Boats on Yukon, Spring 1949," and it contains scenes of a football game and sternwheelers in Whitehorse. Reel 6 is labeled "June 1949 Peekskill Graduation and West Point Parade," and it contains scenes of cadets. Reel 7 is labeled "Peekskill MA, waterskiing, Badlands, June to August 1949," and it contains scenes of cadets and waterskiing. Reel 8 is labeled "Cleary Hill Ski Meet March 1950, Keith's graduation Peekskill June 1950," and it contains footage of skiing and cadets. Reel 9 is labeled "Alcan, ferry, Yellowstone, east bear, elk, antelope, May 1949," and it contains footage of travel, the Alcan, a ferry, Yellowstone National Park, and a bear. Reel 10 is labeled "Peekskill and Keith June 1950, Garden of the Gods, Keith and I, bear and grouse, football, Huber's Ranch, June to August 1950, Peekskill to Alaska," and it contains views of cadets, travel, a bear, football, a Huber sign, and a house. Reel 11 is labeled "Rocky Mountain Sheep, Boulder Rodeo, Esther Braddock, July to October 1951," and it contains scenes of a rodeo.

: Alaska Division: Great Falls to Fairbanks; This is an Army Air Corps training film for crews ferrying aircraft from Great Falls, Montana to Fairbanks, Alaska, where Soviet pilots then took possession of the airplanes. The aircraft were part of the Lend-Lease program in which the United States sent war supplies to the Soviet Union during World War II. Footage includes graphics showing the route, aerial views of runways along the route, views of runways during landings, and graphics advising pilots of procedures for aborting flights. During the life of the Lend-Lease project, nearly 8,000 planes flew along this route, also known as the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) route, from Montana to Alaska then on to Krasnoyarsk in Siberia. The film was made by the U.S. Army Air Forces Air Transport Command Overseas Technical Unit.

: [Alaska Highway travel, winter carnival, mining]; This film contains footage of scenic outdoor views (possibly along the Alcan Highway), dog mushing, St. Joseph's Hospital and the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in downtown Fairbanks, The Cushman Street Bridge, buildings along the shore including the Pioneer Hotel and Northern Commercial Company power plant, scenes from a Fairbanks winter carnival including a blanket toss, people ice skating and playing hockey in outdoor rink, vehicles, a parade and crowds of people, footage of mining operations with a heavy piece of machinery, a man unloading wood near downtown Fairbanks, men standing in a field, airplanes parked on the ground, two men and a dog standing in snow, a small airplane taxiing in the snow, cars in front of a hardware store, a man standing in front of a house, a man and woman standing on a stone bridge (not in Alaska), mountain views (likely not Alaska), a man in a field with grapes, a woman tending a rose bush, a car in front of a house, scenic landscape views, a sunset through snowy woods, the Northward Building in downtown Fairbanks, a cabin in snowy woods, and a group of people at an indoor gathering.

: [Alaska statehood celebrations and scenery]; Footage contains images of a sign that says, "Deposit Wood for Statehood Bonfire Here!"; a sign that says, "This Property Guarded by Post 728 Explorer Scouts - Central Lutheran Church;" a view of the bonfire pile in downtown Anchorage; a boy holding a newspaper with the headline "Final Vote Hours Away;" crowds gathering near a large American flag hung on a building along Fourth Avenue in Anchorage; men, including Alaska Constitutional Convention delegates Victor Fischer and Marvin R. "Muktuk" Marston hold a small "49th state" banner; parade floats; neon signs along Fourth Avenue; crowds gathered around the statehood bonfire woodpile; the woodpile being set ablaze as horses run around the fire; people waving and celebrating; Alaska railroad travel in autumn; snowy mountains; aerial views of Anchorage, the Alaska Range, and a coastal town; Dall sheep; and people at an event with retriever dogs. 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. [AAF-11870 includes scenes of] Statehood celebration at Federal Building, 4th Avenue, Anchorage; Statehood bonfire on park strip; various scenes along Seward Highway; flightseeing, Susitna Valley; flightseeing, Anchorage; flightseeing, viewing Mt. McKinley; flightseeing, Kodiak; Sheep at Windy Corner; and dog trials at Sand Lake."

: Alaska, The Great Land; Footage includes historic photos, a gold dredge, an oil drill rig, a coal mine, a gravel conveyor, Matanuska Valley farms, salmon king crab and halibut fisheries, a pulp mill, Wien aircraft, Native dancers, and scenery. Footage of towns and cities include Wrangell, Petersburg, Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Fairbanks, University of Alaska campus, Point Barrow, Kotzebue, Nome, Prince William Sound, Valdez, Seward, Kenai, and Anchorage. Earthquake footage includes scenes from Anchorage and Seward. Towns shown following the earthquake include Anchorage, Whittier, Valdez, Seward, and Kodiak. During the program, Governor Egan speaks and accounts of the earthquake are told by survivors.

: [Aleutians travel, Old Town Valdez]; The original film is unlabeled. The film contains scenes of ocean waves crashing against a rocky shore in the Aleutian Islands – likely Amchitka, a large abandoned building, a man with a sign that says “Amchitka forest,” a sea otter in ocean waves, otters playing in an enclosed pool, military buildings and Quonset huts, a man fishing, grave markers, a barbed wire fence, wrecked military airplanes, a large airplane hangar, a gun turret, a Reeve Aleutian Airways DC-6 airplane landing, aerial views of clouds and a volcano, grebes in water, a man with a string of fish, John Baker with a string of fish, a road sign for New Valdez and Old Valdez, homes and buildings in Old Valdez that were abandoned following the 1964 earthquake, Pioneer Hall, the oldest building, an old cable office, Hotel Valdez, an abandoned vehicle, old oil tanks along the shoreline, the wrecked boat “Gulf King,” Valdez sheet metal works, a Gilson’s sign, a church, a boy with a bicycle, and pickup truck driving out of town.

: [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."

: [Antarctic studies part 1 roll1]; The original film is labeled, “Antarctic B&W Part 1 Roll 1.” The film contains aerial shots of vast ice fields, various tracked vehicles driving across the snow, a field camp, a man patting a penguin on the head, a person skiing, a U.S. Navy airplane, and scientists using various instruments to take measurements.

: [Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 1]; This notes on this film say “Anne leaving for Norway, trip on Livengood Road high water, bear hunting, Manley hot springs, Christmas at home, Oslo slab[?], Moss Pery[?], Akers Lees, Snirre.” The film contains footage of a family with a red car, an overview of an Alaska placer mine in a river valley, a summer celebration in downtown Fairbanks with couples dancing in the street as a replica steam train drives by and a KFAR-TV cameraman films the action, an Alaska Airlines airplane landing and taking off again, interior Alaska hillsides in summer and fall, a sluice box and mining operation, high water on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, a hunter with a dead bear, Manley Lodge, scenic Alaska landscapes and skies, winter in Fairbanks, a Fairbanks home and trees covered in frost, snowy hillsides, an aerial view of the Alaska Range mountains, passenger airplanes at an airport, and sites in northern Europe.

: [Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 2]; This film is labeled “Alaska Steamship, Alaska RR, Ice Carnival Chatanika 1942, Fisher[?], Eldorado and skiing in Fairbanks.” A note inside the film can says “AK Steamship Port of Seattle to Valdez?, Alaska Railroad - Nenana, Weeks Field Fairbanks, Mother and Dad skiing, Winter Carnival, dog racing, parade, Leonard Seppala, Second Avenue, mining - gold dredge, Dad Guri[?] Lealand, Fairbanks Creek.” Writing inside film can says “Drilling and hauling ice Chatanika Birch Lake, Alaska steamship from Seattle, ARR Seward to Fairbanks, skiing in Fairbanks, Carnival 1940, Fish Creek, Cleary Creek, Eldorado.” The film contains images of the Alaska Steamship Company dock in Seattle, the Seattle waterfront as seen from aboard a ship, a Port of Seattle sign, Alaska Pacific Salmon Company buildings, the Alaska Steamship Company dock in Juneau, the AJ Mine in Juneau, a small vehicle on railroad tracks in winter, snowy mountains, Alaska Railroad steam engine 614, scenic views from travel via the Alaska Railroad, the train station in Nenana, the Nenana Bridge, a couple skiing, a musher and dogs, Pollack Flying Service hangars in Fairbanks, ice hockey in downtown Fairbanks, a Pacific Alaska Airways Lockheed Electra airplane, crowds of people watching dog mushers on the Chena River, the 1940 Winter Carnival parade with floats, a dog yard, a sign for the 1940 Fairbanks Dog Derby, a welcome sign over downtown Fairbanks, Leonhard Seppala, a panorama of downtown Fairbanks in winter, Pollack Flying Service, men driving thaw points for a dredge mining operation, a mining camp, hydraulic giants being used to clear muck, men testing the ground with a drill rig, a mining camp, tailings piles, an old wooden mine shaft revealed as muck is cleared away by hydraulic giants, a dredge in operation, ice being removed from a dredge pond, a drilling rig in operation, small log cabins, a group skiing, a mining operation with buckets emptying onto a large pile of pay dirt, a sluice, a mining camp, a bulldozer, and a building at Chatanika Gold Camp(?).

: [Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 4]; Notes with this film say “1946 DC3 PAA FAI-Norway at Weeks Field Oct, Winter in Fairbanks lots snow, Emil and Jergen, Canada? dam, PAA plane DC3, gold dredge, Fairbanks winter carnival parade, reindeer Ingrid and Norman, Norway ski jump Holmekolen, Seattle – New York Farm.” Writing inside the film can says “Lee Family going to old country, Fairbanks winter time, Vancouver Island, back to Fairbanks, Dredge No. 3 1946, Fairbanks Creek Dredge 2, Winter Carnival, Skibowel [Skibowl?] Seattle, Graham, Palsbo." The film contains footage of a Pan American World Airways Clipper DC-3 airplane, frost-covered trees and snow-covered homes in Fairbanks, a mammoth tusk leaning against a utility pole, scenes outside Alaska, a Pan American airplane, a dredge in operation, a downtown Fairbanks Winter Carnival parade, a Pioneers of Alaska float, a Fraternal Order of Eagles float, other parade marchers and floats, a captive reindeer, and ski-jumping and other scenes outside Alaska.

: [Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 5]; Notes with the film say “1949-50, Trapping, Copper River, Moving FE Dredge, Taken by Arne Larsen.” Writing inside the film can says “Moose Lake trapping, Hanegela[?] Valley, Living Seattle, Moving Dredge No. 2, Fairbanks Creek 1950” and “Trapping, Dredge No. 2 moving 1949-1950.” The film contains footage of snow-covered mountains, a red building with a “Strelna” sign, a small log cabin or cabins, a dog with puppies, beaver pelts stretched to dry, a man snow-shoeing as dogs follow, dogs pulling a sled up a steep hill as a man pushes, Pan American Airways and United Air Lines airplanes, bulldozers moving a dredge in winter, and a Goldstream mining office and buildings.

: [Chuck Gray film collection addition 1]; The original reel and can notes for AAF-10075 are: “Shee fishing, 1987 review, miscellaneous Clearwater, and miscellaneous fishing.” The footage includes the Blankenship Trading Post in Kiana, men eating inside a cabin, people fishing from boats, an airplane on skis, men setting beaver traps, an airplane cockpit, men hunting (in Wisconsin?), a tracked vehicle, a cabin home in winter, fishing and river travel in Alaska, a moose, a fox, people dipnetting, airplanes on floats, and a boat with “Kobuk Camp” painted on the side.

: [Chuck Gray film collection addition 2]; The original reel and can notes for AAF-10076 are: "Dune Lake 1 and 2 - 1970, Beaver Creek 1956, and Old John 1 and 2 - 1970." The writing on film leader is "Dune Lk. 1989." The footage features building supplies being offloaded at a remote site in winter, a large vehicle with a trailer, a cabin being constructed, an airplane on floats, men clearing an ATV trail, a man on a snowmachine setting traps, ice fishing, an airplane on skis, men in snowshoes fishing in open water, fishing and boating, men and a campfire, cooking and eating in a camp, and loading supplies into an airplane.

: [David and Mike Doxey Film collection 4]; This film is labeled "Hunting 1980, Anaktuvuk 1981, Minto 1981, Yukon 1981." Footage includes a family at a hunting camp, airplanes, a man hand-propping a Super Cub airplane on skis, an airplane in flight and landing on snow, a Cessna on skis landing, men on snowshoes ice fishing, airplanes taking off, aerial view of a Cat train, Mike Doxey and Jerry Halberg travelling by riverboat and pike fishing, a Yukon 800 riverboat, a Cessna floatplane taking off from a lake and returning to land, aerial view of forest fires, travel by riverboat, fishing and a tent camp, ice pans on a river, and a man pulling a fishing net.

: [Dawson Cooper collection]; This footage features the Ice Carnival puppy parade and regular parade in Fairbanks, people at a wedding in a private home, people hauling boxes on a dog cart, a fishwheel, interior river scenes, a town on a riverfront, Ft. Yukon scenes, river scenes, flower gardens, people in a house, sled dog races on Chena River, teams passing under a foot bridge on Noyes Slough, downhill skiing on Birch Hill, a parade in the summer, hockey at Griffin Park ice rink, the Ice Carnival throne, an unidentified woman, a stack of logs, a walking dragline, conveyor and mine scenes in Ester, columns of smoke from a forest fire, the KFAR transmitter building, people on a picnic, the midnight sun, a car on a narrow road, mining equipment, car travel filmed from inside the car, airplanes, placer gold mine operations, sluice box clean-up, a box with gold amalgam, a dredge operating, a flower garden, and tomato plants.

: [Dick King collection]; This footage includes a Cessna 140 C-140 taking off and landing from a river bed, men at a hunting camp by a campfire, a riverboat with duck hunters, a small airplane on floats taxiing, Bill Stroecker with a dog retrieving a duck, moving a house with a truck, construction of the Wien hangar at the Fairbanks International Airport, a young girl and boy playing, the chimney for the Wien hangar, an outboard motor-powered riverboat, a gold dredge operating, people watching a bucket train on a dredge , Bill Lavery with a whipsaw making lumber, a cabin, Bill Lavery in a plaid shirt and cap with unidentified men, men by a Cessna 170 C-170 airplane on ice with wheels, a truck moving a house, a man fly fishing, Bill Lavery working on a cabin, men with a riverboat loaded with a moose, Bill Stoecker in a rowboat loaded with a moose, a gold dredge, riverboat travel, a duck hunt with Bill Stroecker holding a duck, a lab retrieving a duck, Stoecker rowing a boat with a moose, a C-170 on ice, men whipsawing lumber, Bill Lavery in plaid, a lab retrieving ducks, children playing and being pulled on a sled by a dog in Island Homes (?). Activities on the North Slope during Dew Line construction include: a camp in winter, Caterpillars, a Wien C-47 airplane, aerial views of a LeTourneau Snow Train and a Cat train. Additional footage includes men unloading a Wien C-47, two riverboats on the Salcha River during freeze-up with ice running, ice skaters, crossing a frozen lake in a riverboat, unloading boats at a Salcha River landing , a truck hauling a disassembled C-47,a Wien Norseman on floats taxiing and taking off, children playing, a C-46 being repaired at Peters Lake, a herd of caribou, a Cat train on the North Slope, a short upside down segment of film with a fox, an Alaska Freight Lines Cat train on the North Slope with a Wien C-47, a Norseman and a Beaver on skis by a Cat train, dog races and an Ice Carnival parade in Fairbanks, a Wien C-47 on ice, a brief shot of a woman, men at a cabin and riverboat hunting, Bill Stroecker approaching with a duck, men unloading a Wien C-46, a moose, a 1 year old named Rebecca, men fishing in the ocean, children playing, a C-46 landing at a North Slope camp, people loading barrels into a C-46, an Alaska Freight Lines LeTourneau Snow Train, men loading a riverboat onto a trailer, Bill Stroecker fly fishing for grayling, a moose, a riverboat, float planes, a cabin on a river, cabins at Healy Lake (?), a man with a fish net, men hunting, a moose on a boats, Bill Stroecker holding a dead bird of prey, Bill Stroecker with a retriever, a string of ducks at a cabin, and a cabin on a river.

: [Fairbanks International Airport construction]; This film contains scenes of the construction of the Fairbanks International Airport runway and paved surfaces, starting after the trees have been cleared and ending with the first airplane landing. Footage includes construction crews with Caterpillar tractors, scrapers, dump-trucks and draglines moving earth and leveling ground, construction buildings and housing, a man demonstrating an unstable patch of ground which turns to jelly as he jumps on it, a drainage system and lighting system being installed, an asphalt plant in operation and paving crews finishing construction. The film ends with a Consolidated LB-30 Liberator owned by Morrison-Knudsen Construction Company making a landing on the completed runway.

: [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 travel and Alaska 1]; This film is made up of several smaller film reels labeled "1960 At Home, Diamond Mine [?], 707 Jet, Mike, Arkansas [?], back in Tex, [?] and Me, Plane at Post at Home," "Girls at Wisc Lake at Home [?] 1962," "At Home in Park 1964, Debbie and [?] 1962," "Parade 1964," "May 1964, Mike at Home, First Fishing, Ice and Snow, Pile Driver Slough," "Xmas 1965 and New Year 1966," "Fall 1966 Spring 1967, First Trip to Gulkana, Sourdough, Beautiful Scenes," and "At Home, Crappie, Dad and Shorty, Pat and the Kids, Swimming, June 7." The film contains a mix of footage from Alaska and travel outside Alaska, including family gatherings, airplanes, children fishing and playing, an Alaska parade, a man walking on an icy river, a public pool, and a beach.

: [Family travel and Alaska 2]; This film is made up of several smaller 8mm film reels labeled "Armed Forces Day at Airfield," "Seattle Zoo," "Zoo Animals," "Going to Hawaii," "Kodak, Hula, First Day at Aquarium," "Camper, Olympia Washington, Hawaii [?]," and [unlabeled]. The film contains views of military aircraft at a Fort Wainwright airshow, zoo animals including Polar Bears and Kodiak Bears, Valdez area scenes and camping, Hawaii travel and scenes, and Sitka.

: [Fur Rendezvous, polar bear, Kotzebue, Nome, Unalakleet, kayak races]; Footage features an Alaska Native dance demonstration in front of a crowd on an Anchorage baseball field, a blanket toss, and dog mushers racing across a flat area; polar bears on ice in Northern Alaska; 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; 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. The film is made from three shorter reels of film spliced together. The original boxes are labeled as follows: 1) Fur Rendezvous – 100’ $30.00 - #60013. 2) #54 Polar Bear - $15.00. 3) #28 Kotzebue, Unalakleet, Nome, Kayak Races.

: [Glaciers, Wonder Lake, Merrill and airplane]; This film contains images of men sorting supplies for a field expedition (likely including Roscoe Bonsal, Ben Wood, Percy Pond, Andrew M. “Andy” Taylor, and Paul Kegal), a man unloading supplies from a small boat onto shore, men with packs hiking across an uneven glacier surface, a rock slide in the distance, canvas tents on a glacier, men hiking and posing for the camera, men hiking alongside crevasses, men roped together while hiking, men looking out across an icefield, snow covered mountain peaks, a glacier calving into water, mountain peaks as viewed from a boat, men on a boat, men posing with mountain goats they’ve hunted, a boat moving through icy waters, men with animal hides on a dock, a man (possibly skipper Paul Kegal) repairing the boat M/V Eurus, Paula and John Anderson’s fox farm and roadhouse (Polly’s roadhouse) at the north end of Wonder Lake in what is today Denali National Park, dogs pulling a sled in summer with one man driving and another riding in the sled, men at a cabin near the lake, a man and woman (possibly Paula and John Anderson) at a cabin, dogs, railroad tracks as viewed from a moving train, a train going through a tunnel, a south or southeastern coastal Alaska town, the Anchorage No. 1 Travel Air biplane taking off and climbing steeply, men in a rowboat towing the Anchorage No. 1 on floats, pilot Russel Merrill fueling an airplane, a man cranking and hand propping the Anchorage No. 1 airplane, aerial views of landscapes and shorelines from an airplane, a totem pole, Ketchikan, the Ketchikan Spruce Mill, a fish trap tender boat named the "Eureka of Seattle" with a fish scow alongside it named "APEX No. 3" (or possibly No. 8 or No. 9). The poles sticking out of the water are part of a fish trap known as a standing trap or pile trap. Identifications were made by comparing the film to photos in “With a Camera in My Hands: William O. Field, Pioneer Glaciologist: a Life History as Told to C. Suzanne Brown,” edited by C. Suzanne Brown and published by University of Alaska Press, 2004. According to Ketchikan author and retired Alaska Marine Highway System Captain William M. Hopkins in 2016, the end of the film contains views of Ketchikan, including the old Spruce Mill at the mouth of Ketchikan Creek. The waterway scenes are of the Eastern Channel of the southern end of Tongass Narrows between Mountain Point and the Coast Guard base and the Spruce Mill. If the entire clip was filmed in the same general area, the fish trap is possibly located somewhere along the southern Tongass Narrows or along nearby Annette Island.

: [Gold mining in Alaska]; The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20641 are: “M 7. Gold Mining in Alaska.” This film contains scenes of a bulldozer clearing land and knocking down an old log cabin, a pilot with an airplane on floats, a large placer mining operation, draglines and hydraulic giants, a man and women cleaning a large sluice box, the Sternwheeler Nenana pushing a barge, many people on the porch of a Northern Commercial Company building as barrels are loaded onto the barge, a sternwheeler paddling away, hydraulic giants removing overburden at a mining operation, a sign for N.C. Co. Air Field, metal-sided buildings, a Gullwing Stinson airplane being fueled, an International tractor wrecked in the ice, and sled dogs.

: [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.

: [Hauling pipe to North Slope, work in icy waters, sailboat Endeavor]; AAF-10588 is labeled "BP Pipe to Slope work print." It includes images of men unloading an oil well or a feeder line pipe in the rail yard at Fairbanks, hauling pipe sections by truck, loading pipe sections onto a C-130 airplane, a cockpit and views from an airplane in flight, and Prudhoe Bay. The label on the film indicates that scenes cover the shipping process to Prudhoe Bay from train to truck to airplane to slope. The title "Ships to Slope" is also included, and this section of film contains images of boats and barges operating in extremely icy waters, pipe sections being unloaded, a man loading and setting sail aboard the small orange sailboat "Endeavor," and an oil well in the distance with cans of Polar Start oil displayed in foreground.

: [Howard C. Robinson's Alaska film]; AAF-11895 begins with the title screens: "Howard C. Robinson presents Alaska" and "Produced by Robinson Studios." Program includes scenes of the Inside Passage, Ketchikan, commercial fishing activities, Wrangell, Petersburg, Taku Glacier, Sitka, Skagway, White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, Valdez, the Gulf of Alaska, Prince William Sound, Resurrection Bay, Seward, Resurrection River, Iron Mountain, a map of Alaska, the Alaska Highway, White Horse, Fairbanks, gold mining and dredge activities, Anchorage, a bear pulling cart with small girl in cart, Worthington Glacier, Keystone Canyon, Matanuska Glacier, Matanuska Valley, Palmer, Juneau, the Governor's mansion, Mendenhall Glacier, Malaspina Glacier, Cordova, Columbia Glacier, Whittier, Anchorage, Lake Spenard, Cook Inlet, the Alaska Railroad, scenery between Seward and Anchorage, the Whittier tunnel, Hurricane Gulch, Talkeetna, Mt. McKinley Park and park hotel, Elmendorf Air Force Base, Nome, placer mining, pilot Gren Collins and an airplane on skiis, Alaska Native activities such as seal hunting and jigging for tomcod, a Russian Orthodox Church, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor, Umnak, Adak harbor, Massacre Bay at Attu, captured World War II-era Japanese equipment on Kiska, an Aleutian storm, and Aleutian volcanoes.

: [Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 1]; This film includes scenes of Bud and Connie Helmericks traveling with their young daughter, Jeanie, throughout northern Alaska. The date of 1952 was confirmed by Jean (Jeanie Helmericks) Aspen in 2015. Detailed summary information was provided by the filmmakers. According to these notes, the films include scenes of Bud, Connie, and their daughter Jeanie (just turned two years old) walking toward their airplane; an airport in Montana; the family en route to Alaska; scenes from Takahula Lake, including the Helmericks’ log cabin home in the Brooks Range (Jeanie had never seen it before); Connie lifting Jeanie out of an airplane; Jeanie’s first view of the Arctic following a five-day flight from the U.S.; Jeanie wearing a factory-made brown alpaca parka with a hood; the next day, Jean on her tiny snowshoes watching her daddy cut a hole through the four-foot ice of the lake; Ice-fishing; Connie in rubber boots carrying Jean through water to get out on the lake ice in May; Bud gassing up the airplane; ice on Takahula Lake getting slushy and treacherous, and so they must go north because the airplane’s landing field on the frozen lake is disappearing; arriving at the still-frozen Arctic Ocean, 300 miles directly north of the cabin; Bud setting up an Explorers Club flag on a staff; pitching a tent and making a polar camp; Jean watching from a gas can seat dressed in a new caribou fur parka; a dog team driven by a friend arriving from the shore by arrangement; Jean walking on her snowshoes; hunting seals; Jean helping her mother fetch a bucket of snow for melting; on sunny days, camp gear and bedding hung out over the airplane to dry out the dampness of living on the salt ice; Connie hanging child’s diapers to dry on the airplane prop; Bud stalking and killing a polar bear; Jean and her toy seal; ice getting dangerous; on shore again after two months; Oliktok Point, on the north coast of Alaska, changing the landing gear for summer flight; inside a tent – Nannie, Martha, and George; a summer evening on the Koyukuk River and an aerial view; a trading post at Hughes for mail and supplies; over the Brooks Range; a sunset rainbow over Takahula Lake in summertime; building a dock and steps to the cabin; planting a garden; Bud hanging moose antlers up on a gable; Connie and Jeanie paddling through the waters of Takahula Lake in a seven-foot homemade kayak, which was very tippy; on the Arctic coast in summer - the Helmericks family camping with a tent; mosquitos on Bud’s back; Point Barrow - a tractor pushing off a boat; two views of the polar ice pack as it looks in summer; a walrus hunt; a bull walrus charging the boat; and a walrus being harpooned and butchered.

: [Jeanie of Alaska – original reel 2]; This film features an airplane in flight from underneath, showing the floats; the word HELP written on the ground at remote Anaktuvuk Pass in the Brooks Range; Chandler Lake people, dressed in summer parkas, are worried about a very sick baby (Bud flies the baby to the nearest hospital at Point Barrow - not shown); a view of landing on Takahula Lake; the family examines a new electric generator weighing 800 pounds which was flown in 100 miles from the trading post; painting the big yellow canoe; Jeanie crawling over an ancient mastodon tusk on the lake shore; Bud motoring up the Alatna River in the big yellow canoe; caribou and sheep; Bud felling a giant spruce tree; Bud hoisting an enormous eight foot log on his shoulders and carrying it; Bud filling a 20 gallon water tank inside the house; Connie at her twin aluminum sinks inside the cabin with piped water; Jeanie sampling the pie dough; Bud cutting moose steak from a moose Connie shot in the fall; Connie, author of books on the northern wilderness, at her typewriter inside the cabin; the cabin at treeline is used as a base for northern explorations as much as for a home; Jean sleeping in her little sleeping bag; outside, the first snow of winter begins to fall; barricading the cabin and lying a plank with spikes in front of the door to ward off bears; Bud and an unidentified man at Hughes, the trading post, pulling a plane from the Koyukuk River by tractor; ice cakes running in the Koyukuk; flying through Anaktuvuk Pass over the Brooks Range once more to the Arctic Ocean to meet with commercial fishing partners and friends, George and Nannie; landing on sand beach of the Colville River delta and waiting for the Arctic Ocean to freeze for ice fishing; friends looking at the power generator brought for them; their old house and a view of their new frame house (lumber was ocean-freighted from Point Barrow, 240 miles to the west); Connie pulling 12-year-old Lydia and Jeanie on a sled across the new ice of the Colville River channels; Apiak, the oldest son, pulling another sled; George, the father, using an ice chisel to work at a fishing hole; sculpins, or “Irish Lords,” inhabit all the oceans and are a great nuisance to fishermen - they are worthless, covered with spines, and it takes valuable time to disentangle them from nets; tossing fish into the sled lined with a caribou skin to hold them; skinloads of fish are upset onto the ice, making piles of frozen fish all over the river delta to be picked up at will; Jean with George and Nannie, her “Eskimo grandparents,” inside the new frame house - looking at the Sears catalog is a popular pastime; Nannie and her sewing machine; grace, taught by Presbyterian missionaries at Point Barrow, is said before a meal with all participants seated on the floor; Bud draining the oil out of the “Arctic Tern” when the temperature turns 30 below zero; Jean and Lydia in their warm caribou parkas playing house in the discarded airplane cowling as Bud works; Bud’s tool kit - he must do all work on the airplane and make all checks himself without the benefit of a CAA inspector, for the nearest repairs or authorities are 520 air miles away in Fairbanks; Jean scrambling about in her double parkas - the outside parka she wears over caribou is of fancy grey rabbit – she also wears caribou pants, caribou stockings, and caribou booties; the instrument panel upon which the lonely pilot depends; the airfield at Barrow is marked by two lines of empty oil drums on the snow; scenes at Point Barrow: a tractor is used to haul Arctic Ocean ice (fresh) for drinking water for the village - lakes can’t be used because they are too distant and are tainted with salt from the ocean - but ocean ice “turns” fresh when it is over one year old; a sign for Barrow Theater - there are three motion picture houses in Barrow at this time, all owned and operated by an Eskimo businesswoman - the theaters run 24 hours a day, and fresh films are flown in daily from the U.S.; a panorama of Barrow shows a city without sidewalks or streetlights - garbage and sewage disposal is by truck and sled, carrying the city’s refuse out on the Arctic ice to be carried away - permanently frozen sub-soil makes a flush system impossible; Barrow Post Office and children getting mail; polar bear cubs in Barrow await shipment to some zoo; Ice blocks are stacked for the year’s water supply beside the school; a panorama shot of Barrow village, ending with the white framed Presbyterian church whose diocese covers an area the size of England and the British Isles; an Eskimo businessman who owns much stock in the cooperative Native Store enterprise; an American flag; Connie, Jean, and Bud walking through the snow in full winter dress consisting of two parkas; and The End (written in the snow).

: [Julius & Opal Fowler Harkey Collection]; Black and white footage from Kotzebue (?) includes sled dogs, buildings, boardwalks, children leaving school and playing, and a baseball game. Color footage from Shishmaref (?) includes people travelling in a skin boat, outdoor games including running and walking on stilts and rolling fuel drums, and men pulling an umiak across ice with sled dogs. Additional footage includes men hunting seals and walruses, people processing meat, a Norseman airplane landing on a beach, people unloading mail, and an airplane departing.

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