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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 8 of 8 Objects
[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.
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 1]
[Richard and Janet Ward collection 1]
Footage includes a porcupine, Dick Ward with a chained sled dog, Dick Ward in a Pan American World Airways (PAA) uniform in Metlakatla, the PAA terminal building, a PAA Dc-4 or DC-6 passenger plane, Annette Island scenery (?), trucks and equipment at an asphalt plant, men paving a runway, cars and trailers at the Log Cabin Inn on the Glenn Highway, a gold dredge in operation, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, aerial views of mountains, cars and a semi truck on a muddy road, a glacier moraine, early tripod-style power poles or telegraph/telephone poles used by ACS, a river, a rainbow, power boats, a parade in downtown Anchorage, power boat races on Spenard Lake (?), a squirrel, a light airplane taxiing across railroad tracks, and a small boy. Footage from outside Alaska includes palm trees, scenery, neon lights, an orange grove, highway travel, and a variety of locations. Additional footage includes Alcan Highway scenes during winter, Whitehorse, U.S. Customs at the Alaska border, Macintosh Trading Post, Alcan Highway scenes during summer, sternwheelers and street scenes in Whitehorse, Peace River Bridge, and travel back to the U.S. Border. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes a college, road travel, a flock of sheep on a road, beach and city scenes, PAA and logging trucks, crew members, and (back in Alaska) scenes in Fairbanks following a large snowfall. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes neon lights, travel, a cactus, small children and adults, and a parade.
[KFAR television news footage 4]
[KFAR television news footage 4]
Footage from around Fairbanks includes an Alaska State Trooper conducting a traffic stop, concrete being poured at a building construction site at UAF (?), a Boy Scout Camporee or Jamboree at Alaskaland, several cargo jets at Fairbanks International Airport, a drug education center called the Island, boys playing a baseball game, busses at Joy School, Fairbanks Curling Club matches, an Interior Airways Twin Otter airplane at a remote camp in the arctic, motorcycles on Chena Ridge, a Yamaha motorcycle dealership, construction at the Tanana Valley State Fair grounds, a Lathrop Malemute men's basketball game, the Wood Center at UAF opening, residents leaving Steel's Hotel and moving to the Polaris Hotel, voting precincts, beauticians, snow removal, moose in yards, a swearing in ceremony at the City Council (?), a dinner event at Alaskaland Community Center, Mayor Red Boucher receiving a trophy from Mayor Julian Rice, Red and Heidi Boucher dancing, an African American art and fashion show, a switching gear at the Municipal Utilities System (MUS) building, city garbage pick-up, a front end loader dumping snow on a burning cabin, an ambulance at an auto accident, a damaged Cessna airplane in a snowbank, Alaska Railroad passenger cars, an ambulance, people in St. Joseph hospital, the city dump, an elephant and a hippopotamus at Alaskaland, boating, children practicing archery, voting precincts, the Youth Conservation Corp working on Cripple Creek Campground, the Kaktovik Post Office building being loaded into a C-130 Hercules airplane, a small parade, the ceremonial opening of a picnic site (?), rides at the Fairground, Aurora Animal Clinic, parking meters around town, stock car racing at Mitchell or the North Pole Speedway, the city dump, and a heavy equipment loader that ran off the University of Alaska bridge being pulled from the Chena River.
[1939 New York World's Fair, travel]
[1939 New York World's Fair, travel]
This film reel is made up of 6 smaller reels. Reel 1 is labeled "West Point, World's Fair New York 1939," and it contains scenes of men doing calisthenics, men boxing, men fencing and wrestling, men in uniform and marching, and scenes from the world's fair. Reel 2 is labeled "New York to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, June and July 1939," and it contains footage of New York City streets, a West Point gathering, and Puerto Rico. Reel 3 is labeled "July 1939, Trip to Clearwater with Jim Ryan and Ray Henderson 193[?]," and it contains views of children playing, a pilot climbing into a biplane, people with a captive bear cub, Hap Arnold's B-10 Bomber flight from Washington D.C. landing at Weeks Field and pilots in Fairbanks in August 1934, a military aircraft at Weeks Field, a boy's birthday cake, children playing in a garden, and a boat on the Tanana River traveling to the Delta Clearwater River. Reel 4 is labeled "July and August 1939, Plymouth, Washington D.C., Marengo, Black Hills, Seattle, Juneau, Fairbanks," and it contains footage of Washington D.C., people at home, people swimming, farm scenes, a man in a boat, a family gathering, Mt. Rushmore, Elkhorn Mountain, camping, a family eating watermelon along the roadside, Columbia River, boats and fishing, Juneau, and trucks on the Richardson Highway. Reel 5 is labeled "Fort Riley - Marengo," and it contains scenes of men in uniform, children playing, a family gathering, farm scenes, a waterfront and ships, totem poles, glaciers and icebergs, a car towing a trailer, travel along the Richardson Highway, a glacier, "Devil's Elbow," a family at Christmas, hay being loaded, and women getting into a car. Reel 6 is labeled "Bear, Sunset, Village of Ruby, Caribou, Mendenhall Glacier," and it contains footage of the Ruby waterfront, wildlife, the Black Rapids Glacier near Richardson Highway during its advance in the 1930s, and scenery.
[Alaska 1931 or 1935, Copper River Railroad, Harriman Fiord, Inside Passage, Juneau]
[Alaska 1931 or 1935, Copper River Railroad, Harriman Fiord, Inside Passage, Juneau]
This film is labeled “Alaska 1931 or 1935” and “Copper River RR, Harriman Fiord, Inside Passage.” The film contains scenes of a boat moving through icy waters, an airplane on floats in water, a train crossing a bridge over Copper River and moving alongside the river, four men maneuvering an automobile outfitted for travel on railroad tracks, a car running along train tracks, a man walking on a rocky hillside and chopping at earth to make steps, glacier scenes, snowy mountains, men in a rowboat, men examining ice, a man operating a film camera, icy waters, travel alongside steep mountains rising out of an inlet, men in a boat, the Juneau waterfront, A.J. Mine, and downtown Juneau.
[Hunting and Alaska scenes]
[Hunting and Alaska scenes]
This film reel made up of 15 smaller reels. Reel 1 contains scenes of musk oxen, men feeding musk oxen, a man and sheep, and a bridge (very overexposed). Reel 2 is labeled "Military class, children, trip up the Chena, University reindeer, crane," and it contains views of children playing, children riding in a car, children pulling a wagon, a child in snowshoes, reindeer, cars on a road, a small boat with outboard motor on a river, and a man fly fishing. Reel 3 is labeled "Airplane hunting trip" and "February 12, 1933." It contains aerial views during winter, an airplane on skis, landscapes, a cache, mountains, cabins, dog teams and passing by a Northern Air Transport ski plane, a family walking on a road with a child pulling a sled, and cabins. Reel 4 is labeled "Circle trip, caribou, children, hunting, September 1933," and it contains footage of a family fishing, siphons and pipes on Davidson Ditch, a man with a pack and a gun, a man with a sheep's head, a man dragging a dead caribou, a caribou strapped to a car, and people posing near small game tacked to a shed. Reel 5 is labeled "Huffman's - Dog Derby March 1933," and it contains scenes of dog races and dog teams on the Chena River, downtown Fairbanks, Cushman Street bridge, the Samson's Machinery building, NC buildings, people on the river and bridge, and the church and hospital. Reel 6 contains scenes of people, cabins, a placer gold mining operation, and children playing on a cable spool. Reel 7 is labeled "Carnival, skiing, children, July 4, 1937," and it contains views of a ski jump, children with a dog, 4th of July children's races on Second Avenue, children swimming, and a dog pulling a child on a wagon. Reel 8 contains views of a child, a canoe, a baby in a crib, people boating on a lake, and a dog sled (very overexposed). Reel 9 is labeled "1950 Carnival Parade and ski jumps," and it contains views of the Ice Carnival parade on Cushman and Second Avenue, the carnival, and a ski jump. Reel 10 is labeled "March 1951 Donn skiing," and it contains views of crowds watching cross-country skiers at the Alaska Agricultural College & School of Mines (University of Alaska Fairbanks), and a downhill ski race. Reel 11 is labeled "Donn's wedding, June 195 [1?]," and it contains views of the Huber wedding. Reel 12 is labeled "Wendy and Chena and pups," and it contains footage of a woman as well as a child and puppies. Reel 13 is labeled "Waterskiing July 1955, Chena's pups," and it contains views of a family, people waterskiing on a lake, and puppies. Reel 14 is labeled "Super-XX Nov. 11, 1955," and it contains footage of a car, a family, a camper, travel, and sternwheelers in Whitehorse. Reel 15 is labeled "Children skiing winter 1934-1935," and contains footage of people skiing.
[Family and Alaska scenes]
[Family and Alaska scenes]
This film reel is made up of 13 smaller reels. Reel 1 is labeled "1933-1934 military unit [...] skiing, 2nd inspection [...], muskoxen," and it contains footage of a military ceremony, spring breakup, a car on railroad tracks, people at a train station, a family swimming and boating, and musk oxen. Reel 2 is labeled "Skiing military unit, skating, ice carnival, Kay in snow, Thelma and flag, 1934?," and it contains views of skiing, skating, hockey, sledding, a military unit skiing on the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus, and a woman with a flag. Reel 3 is labeled "Kay and Donn about 1934" and "Children playing in snow May 10, children on skis, Donn's first skis, Donn in daddy's rubbers, boys in car trunk," and it contains footage of children playing as described. Reel 4 is labeled "Children on skis, January - February 1936," and it contains views of children skiing, a child with a toy wheelbarrow, children posing for the camera, and a man in uniform. Reel 5 is labeled "Boys and Salcha," and it contains views of men with a tripod, the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus [?], a truck and trailer, boys with a dog, and a dog pulling boys on a sled. Reel 6 is labeled "Eagle Summit, boys on garage roof, Carnival 1937," and it contains views of a family at Eagle Summit, boys skiing, boys playing on a roof, a dog sled, and parade scenes. Reel 7 is labeled "Trip to Circle Hot Springs August 1937," and it contains views of a family on a ferry or raft, children swimming and playing, small boats, cabins, and skiing. Reel 8 is labeled "Children, Burt, dragline, 1939" and "Steese Highway," and it contains footage of children ice skating and playing as well as dragline and mining scenes. Reel 9 is labeled "Conveyor, dragline walking, crane, bomber, turners, Cub Scouts," and it contains views of mining operations, an airplane, the Cushman Street bridge in Fairbanks, children racing, a potato sack race, a wheelbarrow race, mining scenes, and swimming scenes. Reel 10 is labeled "B-17, Rotary Field, meet, egg hunt, March - July 1941," and it contains aerial views, a parachute drop, and children playing. Reel 11 is labeled "Skiing 1944, Kay 1945?" and contains views of skiing. Reel 12 is a film negative and is labeled "Trip over Alaska Railroad from College Station 1935." The film is very dark. Reel 13 is a film negative and is labeled "Mogull Supersensitive Panchromatic 1939, Plymouth Massachussetts, Washington D.C., South Bend, Dr. Wier, O'Della [...], Mt. Rushmore." It contains footage of people swimming and boating, etc. (film is very dark).
[Grafton Burke collection - film 3]
[Grafton Burke collection - film 3]
Motion picture films in this collection were made by Grafton Burke in and outside Alaska circa the early 1930s. Grafton and Clara Burke oversaw St. Stephen's Mission and hospital - later Hudson Stuck Memorial Hospital - at Fort Yukon, Alaska for three decades until Dr. Burke died in 1938.