Alaska Film Archives

[Alaska '35]
[Alaska '35]
This film contains footage of Alaska Railroad cars, horses pulling a wagon on a bridge, mountains and glaciers, mountain goats on a hillside, men with a boat on a beach, a street and buildings in Seward, a steam engine and train arriving at Palmer or Matanuska Junction, Matanuska Valley Colony and colonists, farm buildings and farm workers, a hog with piglets, men with pitchforks scooping hay, people in a truck moving furniture, a man and child at a water pump, a hay wagon, barns and silos, people building frame houses, a blacksmith or machinist at work, men moving building supplies with trucks and bulldozers, a family posing next to a finished house, workers and machinery threshing grain or chopping hay, a farmstead with a log home, a Caterpillar crossing railroad tracks, men unloading bags from a truck, people offloading supplies from a train, a bulldozer pulling a load of construction material, several Caterpillars clearing land and grading soil, a train and steam engine, trucks near tents, people with horses, a blacksmith, children in a wagon, the trading post and cooperative store, a family and home, a girl on a ladder, workers finishing house construction, people moving items into a house, a man chopping a tree, a man and boy at a water pump, men pitching hay, a frame home, a log home, a barn and silo, a horse and wagon, a threshing machine, a farm in the distance, and a car on the road.
[Alaska travel]
[Alaska travel]
This film contains scenes of mountains, the AJ Mine in Juneau, the state capitol building in Juneau, boat travel along the Inside Passage, a large steamship with three smokestacks or funnels, aerial views of glaciers and mountains, the Mendenhall Glacier, signs for White Pass and the Trail of ’98, Miles Canyon on the Yukon River near Whitehorse in Canada, Robert Service Camp, a brief glimpse of the sternwheeler S.S. Tutshi, men waving in front of a Lockheed Electric airplane (NC14906), aerial views of landscapes, aerial views of Fairbanks and landing at Weeks Field, the Old Main building at the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks, a car driving on railroad tracks, a sign for the golden spike along the Alaska Railroad near Nenana, Alaska Railroad Engine No. 1 on display, a White Pass and Yukon Route train, the entrance to Mt. McKinley National Park, a red tour bus in the park, black and white scenes of Alaska wildlife, a large placer mining operation with a dredge, a log cabin, men at work using hydraulic giants and steam points, a gold mining operation near the ocean, totem poles at Stanley Park in Vancouver in Canada, Alaska Native people and homes in Nome, fishermen unloading halibut from a boat (possibly at Prince Rupert in Canada according to Stevens's notes - he adds that the halibut heads were cut off and used for fertilizer), adults and children playing shuffleboard on a ship deck, a man playing accordion aboard the ship, and aerial views of landscapes including rivers and mountains.
[Church collection glacier and yacht]
[Church collection glacier and yacht]
Film contains views of a glacier in south or southeastern Alaska, the yacht "Westward," and barges.
Fairbanks Yesterday Today Tomorrow
Fairbanks Yesterday Today Tomorrow
This program presents the history of Fairbanks from its geological formation through 1974. Credits are as follows: host, Dave Geesin; pre-history, Florence Weber; miner, Tim Ames; mining discussion, Dr. Earl Beistline and Bruce Thomas; readings, Mark Bergeson, Pamela Buckway and Tom Duncan; narration, Charles Creamer, Tom Duncan, Don Hering, Clara Rust and Marion Wood; director, Frank Herriott; Hering segment director, Myron Tisdel; producer, Patrick Moore; production assistant, Frank Henry; research, Kit Jensen; cinematography, Mark Badger; graphics, Nancy Van Veenen; audio, Tom Saxton; video, Dave Walstad and John Reisinger; production, Carolyn Dowling, Pat Fitzgerald, John Ryan, Jim Schneider and Pat Thrasher; photos provided by Mrs. V.K. Brickley, CamerAlaska, Fabian Carey, William Cashen, Florence Collins, Roger Cotting, Mary Hansen, Nelson’s Studio, University of Alaska, and United States Air Force; furnishings provided by Nerlands; parka provided by Martin Victor Furs; produced through the facilities of KUAC-TV and the Division of Media Services at University of Alaska.
[Huttula Family films]
[Huttula Family films]
AAF-11853 is made up of four smaller reels of film. Reel 1 is labeled, "Reino Huttula film as boy," and contains footage of a greenhouse, a horse and plow, a gold dredge, and gold mining activities. Reel 2 is labeled, "Johnny Dunn etc - drinking, Mary Jo Frank, Catherine Rosella" [note that the writing on the box is faint and difficult to read], and contains footage of a walking dragline, a dredge, and people drinking at a table. Reel 3 is labeled, "Karen, caribou," and contains footage of social gatherings and a dredge. Reel 4 is unlabeled, and contains footage of a social gathering, a dredge, tailings piles, people with a car and dog, and (in color) hills and a dredge. Edge codes on films suggest that films were shot during the 1930s, with the color portion possibly shot in the mid-1940s.
[Huttula Family films 2]
[Huttula Family films 2]
AAF-11854 is made up of three smaller reels of film. Reel 1 is labeled, “Carnival” and contains footage of hills and caribou, a baby, and an airplane landing on a river. Reel 2 is labeled “Karen” on the leader and “Skiing Eugene Bell [or Ball], Mary Rosamond, Reini” on the box [note that writing on box is faint and difficult to read]. It contains footage of a family and a baby. Reel 3 is labeled, “Karen Jo, Togo, Circle” on the box, and “tablecloth” on the film leader and contains footage of a parade and carnival, dog mushing, sand hill cranes, people biking, people swimming (with a woman wearing a swimsuit made from tablecloth?), and a bear cub on a leash. Edge codes on films and postal marks on boxes suggest that the films were shot between 1941 and 1945.
[Lee family films 1]
[Lee family films 1]
AAF-16344 is from a film containing the following two notes: “Early film 1938 [??] Jean, Ingrid and Norman” and “Jean’s birthday 1947 party, 1948, 1949; Ingrid and Norm’s birthday; skiing with Guri, John, Arne and Margaret, Chena Slough; Enid[?] and Arne at Lost Lake.” The film contains scenes of the Lee family, the Richardson Monument, a family having a picnic, a woman wearing traditional Scandinavian clothing in Alaska, a girl sitting on an ice carnival throne, a girl riding a tricycle a sidewalk in Fairbanks, women with skis, people around a campfire in winter, dog mushers on the Chena River in Fairbanks, Cushman Street Bridge, the winter carnival throne, people downhill skiing and some falling, people cross country skiing, men walking through woods and at cabin, men filling a car with gas using a gas can, Fairbanks homes in winter and in ice fog, dog mushing, a family around a dinner table in a home, a family celebrating Christmas and opening presents, children racing on ice skates around an outdoor rink in Fairbanks, children figure skating, Cushman Street Bridge with United States and Canada flags, and a view down Second Avenue in Fairbanks during winter.
[Lee family films 4]
[Lee family films 4]
AAF-16347 is labeled “Lee,” and it contains the following note written by Norm Lee in about 2017: “Electric dragline, bucket is big enough to drive car into 1936, mom with Jean 1937, mom at Sixth Avenue house, Birch Lake, dredge at Ester, dad and mom and Jean, Sixth Avenue Fairbanks, dad with Jean, Weeks Field 1937, dad skiing Chena River, Leonhard Seppala, Griffin Park hockey, clown in front of Griffin’s store on Cushman Street, Arcade 1938?, Pacific Alaska Airway float, Jean, mom with Jean, dad with Jean, friend of mom and dad’s, Jean growing up, dad’s wolf, dredge, old bridge over Chena River, Jean 1938, Harding Lake mom and Nancy Brealy[?], Chena River, looking at downtown Fairbanks, NC Company etc., early bomber to Weeks Field 1939?, Jean with neighbor, hydaulicking, big electric dragline at Ester (one of the biggest at the time), Eagle Summit, caribou, raining on the road to Circle Hot Springs, miner’s cabin, Seward - Alaska Steamship, mother aunt uncle and cousins with Jean, Bridal Falls near Valdez, Uncle Harold and mom, Gulkana Roadhouse, cool way to supply water, Cushman Street bridge, picnic time mom and Jean, our ’36 Ford Coupe, Birch Lake, Jean on Sixth Avenue, Arne Larson and Gurry skiing, Weeks Field 1939, Fairbanks Winter Carnival Parade 1942?, Cousin Marian waving, Jean 1942 or 1943, Harding Lake, mom and Jean 1943, mom and Gurry (from Norway), neighbors, twins Norman and Ingrid 1943, black and white 1944, color, Jean and Karen Jorgenson, sled on Sixth and Cowles, fire on Second Avenue and Cushman, dog racing on downtown Chena, mom with kids on the way to Norway 1946 (Weeks Field), Pan Am DC-3 to Seattle - first leg visiting relatives in California and New York on way to Norway, darker film is in Norway (stayed for one year), May 17th Independence Day parade in Norway, Grandpa and Grandma Lee with us kids and dad’s beautiful home, mom’s mother and dad and uncles and aunt, relatives, Jean and her friend Turrie skiing (Norway), ski jump (Holmenkollen), Norwegian flag, boarding the ocean liner (Stavangerfjord) to return home.” Scenes are as described in Norm Lee’s note.
[Lounsbury film collection 1]
[Lounsbury film collection 1]
Footage includes children, rotary snow plow, men outside F.E. company building, downtown Fairbanks, a dredge, Pacific Alaskan Airways (PAA) hangar and people leaving, the Cleary City Post Office, people posing, Billy Roots bus (?), Cleary Summit roadhouse, men with a caterpillar tractor, small cat train in front of Service motors, Fairbanks streets, Jimmie Mattern signing autographs at PAA Hangar at Weeks Field, Mattern's airplane “Texan” and Russian flying boat at Weeks Field during search for Sigismund Levanevsky, people departing Fairbanks on Alaska Railroad (ARR), Richardson Highway Transportation Company bus, steamship travel in Southeast, a gold dredge and thaw field, MST Company bus , boys at Fox, woman with a horse at Cleary Summit roadhouse, a boy with shovel, Chena River spring break-up, dog races, Sigrid Seppala wearing parka, Winter Carnival Parade, and dog races.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14548--14552]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14548--14552]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14548 is unlabeled, and contains images of seals entering the water as waves crash along a rocky coastline. AAF-14549 is labeled, "White People, etc." and contains scenes of a man and woman picking flowers, a truck driving along a wooden track or road, people posing at a house and boarding a ship, a woman and man exploring a grassy island, men with fur seals, men digging, men possibly gathering eggs from a cliff, men with cameras standing near a windy beach, people posing for camera, man walking near boats, people in a horse costume, men with cameras filming fur fox, man and women walking along a rocky beach, and a group of people with flowers. AAF-14550 is labeled, "Seals," and contains images of large groups of fur seals on rocks and beaches in the Pribilof Islands. AAF-14551 is unlabeled, and contains scenes of rocky shorelines, birds including murres and puffins nesting on rocky cliffs, eggs in a basket, men in small boat, seals, auklets and other birds, small bird and chick, cormorants, and a fox. AAF-14552 is labeled, "Our Friends," and contains scenes of Pribilof fur seals with the following title screens:"Sleek fat bulls arrive first," "Selecting the Harem Sites," "After the Harems are formed," "A single family," "Boy! Do I itch," "A fight over the Ladies," "Seals resting after a hard season," "Pups playing in the surf," "Final Fall coat for the pup," and "Taking to the water through the surf. Following the title screen "Pribilof Bird Life" are scenes of puffins and auklets, men holding birds and eggs, people gathering eggs from rocky beach, and boat full of eggs. Following the title screen "Blue Foxes," are scenes of fur foxes in summer and winter. Following the title screen "Stellar Sea Lions," are scenes of seals on a rocky beach, reindeer, people herding reindeer, reindeer in winter, and reindeer in corral. Following the title screen "Working Cargo During June," are scenes of men working to row a boat away from a rocky shoreline and toward a larger vessel further away, and rowboat returning to shore. Following the title screen "Winter - Snow and ice scenes in March," are images of a snowy landscape, icy waters lapping against the shoreline, men digging away drifted snow, men dragging large rowboat to water, and men rowing to and from steamboat. Following the title screen, "Pribilof snow plows," are images of a line of men digging large drifts of snow while another man watches. Following the title screen, "Native Church service," are scenes of a procession of people led by men carrying an American flag and banners and a priest, and an unidentified church building. Following the title screen, "Flower scenes on the Pribilofs" are images of wildflowers, and women on beach picking flowers. Following the title screen "St. Paul Island sunset on Big Lake," are scenic views of the water and sky. Film ends with the title screen "A Bering Sea sunset.", Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14553--14554]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14553--14554]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14553 is unlabeled, and contains images of ships on the water, a community along the shoreline (possibly Ketchikan), totem pole, sunsets, views from boat on water, people disembarking ship and crawling into rowboats that are towed to shore at one of the Pribilof Islands, storm waves as seen from shore, people at dock, people in row boats waving, stormy waves crashing beach, woman walking near home and posing on steps, woman walking along boardwalk, buildings in community, boys swimming [portions intentionally blurred for online display], children participating in foot races, gunny sack races, racing with a pole etc., boys bobbing for apples, girls eating donuts off of string, pie-eating contest, baseball game with teams wearing uniforms, men herding seals and tossing seal hides into truck [approximately five minutes of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], men offloading supplies from ship, men gathering chunks of ice, power shovel filling dump truck with soil, men excavating hillside, men with shovels working in stream, people herding reindeer, men rowing boat to dock, and cliffs and surf. AAF-14554 is labeled, "Funter bay," and contains scenes of foxes on a rocky beach, numerous foxes in winter, and seals on beach., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate. Some scenes have been removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content. Where removed, the omission is noted by a title screen. Contact film archivist for more information.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14555--14557]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14555--14557]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14555 is labeled, "Seattle Trip etc.," and contains images of clouds, many people in a small boat, a shoreline with small white buildings, a sailboat, rigging on a boat, ice coating the boat rigging, sunsets, flag blowing in breeze, Juneau shoreline, Ketchikan Cold Storage building, a drawbridge at an unknown location, many people in small boats, man raising a U.S. flag, birds, cattle, and a woman picking flowers. AAF-14556 is labeled, "St. Paul," that contains scenes of ships (possibly military ships), a procession led by men carrying a United States flag and religious banners, many people in small boats and standing on shore, small children standing and waving, girl's and women's foot races, men participating in a pie-eating contest and tug-of-war match, baseball game, ship at sea, men unloading barrels on shore, a cliff and birds, and a landscape. AAF-14557 is labeled, "St. George misc.," that contains scenes of a man smoking, boys participating in a gunny sack race and pie-eating contest, people coming out of a church (possibly a wedding party), a procession led by men carrying a United States flag and religious banners, seals, a landscape and hills, reindeer, and birds on a rock., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14558--14559]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14558--14559]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14558 is labeled, "Natives 1," and "St. George, Road Building, P. Manderville[?]," and contains images of men carrying wooden planks, men on shore and near a house, man killing fox [approximately 55 seconds of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], a small boat arriving and men pulling the boat ashore, crates on a truck, a boat leaving and arriving, men with a wooden beam, old church being disassembled, bulldozer, men moving rocks, and man climbing cliff. AAF-14559 is labeled, "Natives 2," and contains images of men with ropes climbing over a cliff to retrieve eggs, men hauling water, a white building and woman holding pitcher, men with a boat or umiak, people harvesting blocks of ice, wedding scenes, men in small boats, a religious procession, truck pulling boat, men portaging boat, boat rowing toward another boat, man high up on pole, man snipping fur from fox tail [approximately 41 seconds of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], child, and men with wheelbarrows near shore., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate. Some scenes have been removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content. Where removed, the omission is noted by a title screen. Contact film archivist for more information.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14560--14562]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14560--14562]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14560 is labeled, "4th Julys, games, wedding, birds," and contains scenes of men with an octopus, a procession of people coming out of a church and going back into church, row boat arriving at a dock, waves crashing against the shore, ship, whale spout, construction of a large dam at unknown location, football game at unknown location, man with film camera, sled with barrels, people carrying an umiak or boat and lifting it onto a truck, and a road made of planks on the tundra. AAF-14561 is labeled, "Surf," and contains images of a shore and waves, rowboats coming ashore, a ship in the bay (possibly a military ship), supplies being offloaded onto the shore, a boat named "Veca," rowboats along the shore, man climbing a mast, and flowers. AAF-14562 is labeled, "Good scenes," and contains scenes in the Pribilofs and outside Alaska including men and a green truck, seals, men with crates, birds, flowers, travel outside Alaska, car on a snowy road, snowy mountains, people sledding, woman and flowering shrub, garden and flowers, train, large dam, train, United States flag, and a priest leading a procession., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[Miscellaneous Alaska scenes]
[Miscellaneous Alaska scenes]
The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20844 are: “RW 109. Travel Scenes, St. Moritz, Skiing.” This film features scenes outside Alaska, which include a road trip in the United States and skiers at St. Moritz in Switzerland. Scenes in Alaska include the Russian Orthodox Church and Spirit Houses at Eklutna, Skagway street scenes, Skagway Inn, Kirmses Curios shop, White Pass & Yukon Railroad train trip, men at a fancy dinner, aerial views of mountains, a boat trip to a glacier, competitive downhill skiing, people eating and huddling around newspapers, men being served an extravagant meal including wine and caviar on an airplane, a series of historic black and white photographs, a group of Alaska Native children eating, William Egan meeting with people, entertainer Burl Ives at Alaskaland, cabins and carnival rides and games at Alaskaland (also known as A-67 or Alaska 67 Centennial Exposition), and Alaska Native people dancing with masks. This is followed by scenes of a lighted sign for Alaska Airlines Golden Nugget Jets followed by "Golden Samovar Service" aboard a Boeing 727 Golden Nugget Jet. Passengers are served an extravagant meal that includes hors d’oeurves, wine, caviar, soup and a main course. Alaska Airlines introduced “Golden Nugget Service” in the early 1960s as a tribute to the 1890s gold rush era. Passenger planes were decorated in red and gold wallpaper and plush red seats. In the early 1970s, Alaska Airlines added the extravagant samovar service to highlight the fact that it had recently begun offering charters to the Soviet Union. This is followed by black-and-white scenes (striations indicate this may be Kodacolor film) of an Alaska town (possibly Rampart?) and flowers, well-dressed people at a conference or meeting, soldiers fighting in Vietnam, William Egan and Henry "Red" Boucher talking to men and women at a dinner, “Egan for Governor” sign, a map of the Bay of Bengal, a moose, the Santa Claus House in North Pole, people on go karts on a track in downtown Fairbanks, Woolworths Building in the background of the track, a log cabin visitors center in Fairbanks, an airplane taking off in Fairbanks and landing at Umiat, a Wien airplane, and a small totem pole.