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Alaska Film Archives

About the Collection

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

1 to 14 of 14 Objects
[Lounsbury film collection 6]
[Lounsbury film collection 6]
Footage includes Earl Pilgrim's Stampede Mine, Alaskan animals, men feeding Susie the black bear, Hughes, Bettles, Ester, Summit Lake Lodge, and a brief glimpse of an albino moose.
[Whittier earthquake cleanup, Lake George glacier breakup, wildlife]
[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.
[Alaska sheep and bear]
[Alaska sheep and bear]
This footage shows Dall sheep in the hills (focus is soft) and a bear near a river.
[Merton Attwood Collection 2]
[Merton Attwood Collection 2]
Footage includes children playing in snow outside a cabin, children walking with their mother, a Wien airplane landing, a moose, a group of Eskimos in an outboard powered riverboat arriving at a fish camp on the shore, dead caribou being unloaded from a Nodwell tracked vehicle, caribou, a view of a mining camp in winter, a dogsled, spring break-up on a river, a mining camp, a man feeding a black bear, a camp with a Telache Oil and Mining sign on the building, Christmas and other domestic family scenes, a mock wedding, and real married couple departing in a decorated car. Additional footage includes a man unloading a light airplane that flipped during landing, a helicopter arriving, a dog sled, a helicopter hauling a barrel of fuel, getting a camp water with a Nodwell, and camp activities. Additional footage includes a family Christmas, someone hauling freight in a small truck, children playing and working in a Kobuk school, Kobuck village scenes, and an aircraft departing. Additional footage features airplanes in Palm Springs, aerial views of Interior Alaska in winter, a river break-up, aerial and ground views of a mining camp, an ATCO building at a camp, a Wien C-46, a Caterpillar clearing snow, a light airplane landing, mining activity with heavy equipment, airplanes, men building a log cabin, a Cessna 180 on skis departing, a C-82 cargo airplane landing and departing, a Caterpillar clearing snow, sled dog races, and Yukon 800 boat races. Additional footage includes Santa Claus at a Christmas party in a village, Tanana Winter Carnival dog races, a supply barge on the Yukon River, and a water skier on the Yukon River.
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 2]
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 2]
Footage includes a construction camp for the Anchorage International Airport, and airport construction scenes from both summer and winter. Additional footage includes winter travel, University of Alaska buildings in Fairbanks, a weasel tracked vehicle, airplanes that were damaged in the Easter 1949 wind storm at the Fairbanks airport, winter travel scenes, bison on a road, a muddy street in Fairbanks, the General Store in Fox, vapor trails, people skiing, travel on the Glenn Highway, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, Copper Center Roadhouse, Keystone Canyon, people traveling by outboard-powered riverboat, a picnic, men working on a Caterpillar, a road construction camp, and 40 Mile Roadhouse. Additional footage includes a bear cub, salmon drying by a cabin, people traveling in umiaks, an unidentified village, a Cessna 195 light plane taking off, a gold dredge, a small outboard riverboat, caribou, black bears at a dump, summer scenes, ships at a dock in Seward or Whittier, Alaska Railroad travel, Alcan Highway travel, Seward, light planes, Winter Carnival activities, and people sport fishing.
[Merton Attwood Collection 1]
[Merton Attwood Collection 1]
Footage includes ALCAN travel, a C-47 Wien flight from Fairbanks and a Cessna 180 flight from Bettles, men prospecting with a steam boiler and windlass, people gold mining with a hydraulic giant and heavy equipment, mining activities, a Pan American World Airways (PAN AM) Boeing 377 Stratocruiser arriving in Fairbanks, a Golden Days Parade in Fairbanks, the F.E. gold dredge in operation, a UAF building, placer gold mining activity, pans with gold, aerial views of Northern Alaska, a PAN AM airplane, people building up land on a lake or inlet, graduation activities and a parade, various family activities outside of Alaska, a PAN AM 707, a Wien C-46, a helicopter, a black bear in garbage, mining camp activities including construction and helicopter operations, people unloading a Beaver airplane, village activity, people building a metal structure on Nodwell, children in a village catching fish and playing, men working on equipment, a badminton game, a black bear, and men taking core samples with a drill.
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 1]
[Gold mining, Alaska travel and activities 1]
Footage features a bulldozer caught in ice on the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks, a large Service Motor Company fire in downtown Fairbanks, mining activities, a man holding a large gold nugget, a bulldozer and dragline in operation at a large placer mine operation, men walking toward camp, a sluice, tailings piles, a bulldozer stuck in the Chena River after breaking through ice, people in parkas ice skating, a man photographing people on skates as well as a man ice fishing with a net, people weighing fish with a scale, Chena River and Cushman Street bridge, the railroad depot in Fairbanks, chained black bear cubs being fed, river views, people in a small boat and a man with a duck, a cow and pig, St. Nicholas Russian Orthodox church and graves in Eklutna, women feeding a baby moose with a milk bottle, a man in a small boat, a tent and campsite, a family at a camp or picnic, men and women posing by a Birch Lake sign, a woman outside of a log post office, placer mining operations, aerial views of a mine area, a man operating a dragline, and people posing near an airplane. Handwritten notes on the film boxes are as follows: “Service Motor.” “Tractor and Gold Mine.” “Alaska, trip to Palmer, grave house, baby moose, skating, Birch L. “Bert P[?].” “Trip to Ophir, [?] Barrow trip.”
[Family, Alaska, travel outside]
[Family, Alaska, travel outside]
This film reel is made up of 14 smaller reels. Reel 1 is labeled "Military unit, 1936 Carnival, family skiing," and it contains footage of ROTC formation marching and ice. Reel 2 is labeled "Children skiing, 1938 Carnival, First Air Mail," and it contains footage of skiing, the Winter Carnival, the Chena River, skiing, dog sleds, and an airplane. Reel 3 is labeled "Trip to Paxons July 1940, Kay catching salmon, Xmas scenes, Thelma in grass skirt, Thelma and I in blue uniform," and it contains footage as described in addition to children skating and skiing as well as hockey on the Chena River. Reel 4 contains footage of people dancing. Reel 5 contains footage of people outside with a camera. Reel 6 is labeled "My Last Days at Home, May and June 1942," and it contains footage of family scenes, boys in Boy Scout uniforms, boys tumbling, boys on bicycles, boys playing a ball game, a boy with a pack, more family scenes, and a man in a military uniform. Reel 7 is labeled "Matanuska Farm, Dawson's Film," and it contains footage of cows, sheep, family, an airplane, a lake, and mountains. Reel 8 is labeled "Ski meet Birch Hill, College, Russ, June 15, 1942, disposing of dynamite pwd, ski towing car, College Hill," "Thelma and I kissing," and "Skiing 1941." It contains footage of skiing, hockey, and a couple kissing. Reel 9 is labeled "Fishing, geese, Naknek, 1943," and it contains footage of fishing, people posing with fish, and river scenes. Reel 10 is labeled "Xmas 1946 at Vinton, Iowa," and it contains family scenes. Reel 11 is labeled "California, ferry Staten Island, ski trip Vermont, around Washington, 1947?," and it contains views of a ferry, people with skis, and Washington D.C. scenes. Reel 12 is labeled "Tok trip, Mary, buffalo, skiing, Cleary Summit," and it contains footage of a bison on the road and people skiing. Reel 13 is labeled "September 1949 to March 1950, Donn in football, skiing, hockey, 1950 Carnival, dogs and sled being parachuted, Toni, auto races," and it contains footage as described as well as a ski jump and blanket toss in Fairbanks. Reel 14 is labeled "Air Trip to States July 1953," and it contains footage of a station wagon and trailer, a "to Alaska" sign, aerial views of mountains, family scenes, and bears.
[Valdez, Alaska and Outside travel]
[Valdez, Alaska and Outside travel]
The first segment in Alaska includes footage of blowing snow in Valdez the and aerial views of winter countryside. Footage outside of Alaska includes George Meals at his farm in Atkinson Nebraska with unidentified women, traffic at night, a Northwest Airlines airplane, a man chopping wood, a woman and dog, tourists watching a dog sled in the summer, mountains, women in a Valdez Light and Power office, men and women in a garden (Nancy, Frank and Ertha Mills in Sebastapol CA), seals in cages, homes and roads, lights in downtown Las Vegas, an old west town (Nancy and Ertha with figures), a dam site, Nancy and friends posing for the camera, homes, people posing (Nancy and family near Amarillo Texas, George Meals with a hay wagon, and farm scenes in Atkinson Nebraska with Melvin and Marvin Meals. The second segment includes footage of downtown Valdez, snow removal vehicles, a propeller-driven vehicle (probably built by Owen Meals) driving down a street, freight being unloaded from a ship, fuel tanks, Alaska Freight Lines and other semi-trucks with trailers and freight, a snowplow, parked semi-trucks, snow removal, a snowy road, wintertime dock activities, an Alaska Steamship Company trailer being offloaded from a ship,Valdez street scenes during winter, trucks hauling pipes, a Valdez Light Power & Telephone Company truck, a small helicopter landing and taking off, and dock views. The third segment includes footage at the Valdez airport with a military DC-3 and other airplanes, an airplane taking off, cars driving on a snowy road, Anchorage city lights, mountains and a lake, foxes at a fox farm, a small water wheel, a cabin and cache, a bear cub and people, scenic views, highway travel, a small airplane taking off and flying by, wind in the mountains, a no-hunting sign, a waterfall and ice, Valdez City School (built in 1936 and used until the 1964 earthquake), and views from a ship. The fourth segment outside of Alaska includes images of families posing for the camera, scenes at a large airport, a woman climbing oil derrick/tower stairs, oil-drilling operation, a small windmill, and oil rigs.
[Stenberg films 9]
[Stenberg films 9]
This film is labeled, “Home Reel 1.” The film contains scenes of southeast Alaska, men and women posing with bundles of furs, small boats, mountains and glaciers, a waterfall, views from a boat, fishing vessels at a dock, and women walking along a snowy street. The segment titled “Alaska River Voyage” by the Alaska Sportsman Magazine includes scenes filmed in Southeast Alaska such as tourists boarding a boat, a woman posing with a dog, women looking at totem poles, boats, and bears.
[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.
[Howard C. Robinson's Alaska film 2]
[Howard C. Robinson's Alaska film 2]
This film contains scenes of fishing operations at Bristol Bay, sail boats and fishermen of Bristol Bay fishing fleet, cannery barges, a cannery line, sport-fishing, pilot Gren Collins and his airplane on floats, Kenai River, Brooks River, Kokolik River?, Alaska birds and waterfowl, Dall sheep, mountain goats, deer, caribou, buffalo, bears, moose, fur seals in the Pribilof Islands, the fur seal industry, Lake George and Knik Glacier, and emptying of Lake George.
[Howard C. Robinson's Alaska film]
[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.
[Savoonga, Kenai, Homer, McNeil River]
[Savoonga, Kenai, Homer, McNeil River]
Location identifications are from Victor Rovier's notes. According to original notes accompanying this film, the first five segments, all dated 1966, were likely filmed by Jack Fuller in Savoonga and include scenes of women skinning seals, travel by umiak, a walrus laying on ice, walruses scattering after gunfire, a baby walrus swimming in water, Native men in a shelter, men pulling an umiak across snow, men with harpoons and guns shooting a walrus at a breathing hole, piles of muktuk, men pulling up and cutting a whale, a boat and a whale, men carving a whale in water, walrus tusks and meat, people with dogsleds and snowmachines meeting a airplane, a blanket toss, men harpooning a walrus through a hole in ice, and distant views of an umiak at sea. According to original notes, the following three segments were filmed by Victor Rovier in June of 1966 and include views of Anchorage, an earthquake-caused slump in Turnagain Arm, a man (identified in notes as Wilcox) fishing at Alexander Creek, airboat travel up Alexander Creek, oil tanks and an oil platform, Kenai, and dock facilities. Remaining film segments are all titled "McNeil 1967" and include images of filmmaker Victor Rovier packing a tent, men (identified in notes as Hans and Rovier) loading an airplane, the airplane taking off, buildings in Homer, takeoff of an airplane and aerial views, the instrument panel of an airplane, mountains, Rovier talking to the pilot, Mt. Augustine, McNeil River from the air, Rovier carrying gear at a beach, Rovier setting up a tent and blowing up an air mattress, bears wrestling, a bear with a red tag, waterfowl (poor focus), bears walking, Hans giving Rovier a shave while Rovier holds a revolver, bears fishing in a river, Rovier fishing in McNeil River, men (identified in notes as Rovier and Dick) wading across McNeil River, Rovier at McNeil Falls, Homer spit, fjords and islands en route to Seldovia, and Rovier with a camera in Seldovia.