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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 30 of 34 Objects
[Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner aircraft]
[Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner aircraft]
The donor’s original number and title for AAF-20723 are: “RM 16. Alaska Airlines, Connie OTZ, Cooper Ldg, Sheep.” This film features an Alaska Airlines Lockheed Starliner with "Fly Alaska" on its side (N7316C) landing and taxiing on a snowy runway at Kotzebue in northwest Alaska, an Alaska Airlines ramp agent directing the aircraft on the ground, passengers walking toward and boarding the airplane, and views of sheep on a hill. Note that the Starliner developed out of the Lockheed Super Constellation with the Starliner having a redesigned wing and more powerful engines.
Alaska Division: Great Falls to Fairbanks
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]
[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 Review 03
Alaska Review 03
Hosts Ed Bennett and Eric Eckholm introduce the program. The first segment deals with small airplane safety issues in Alaska. Issues include the increased number of airplane crashes, safety concerns, pilot training, weather conditions and preparedness, and FAA regulations. Those interviewed include: pilot Jerry Olson; head of the Alaska office of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) Frank Malone; owner of Webber Air Service in Ketchikan Jack Swaim (misidentified in title screen); pilot Wes Lynch in Kivalina; air service owner Paul Haggland of Fairbanks; Alaska Governor and pilot Jay Hammond of Naknek and Juneau; Alaska Regional Director of the FAA Lyle Brown; and the unidentified witness of a small plane crash. The second segment examines oil tanker safety in Alaskan waters, including Prince William Sound. Footage includes the breakup and sinking of the oil tanker Argo Merchant in 1976, the Port of Long Beach in California, N.A.S.C.O shipyards in San Diego, Puget Sound in Washington, and the Port of Valdez and Valdez Narrows in Alaska. Issues discussed include oil tanker construction, navigation challenges at the Port of Valdez, and ways to minimize oil spill risks. Those interviewed include: Chuck Champion, Alaska's Pipeline Coordinator; Walt Parker, leader of the Alaska Governor's task force on tankers; Captain Roletti of the oil tanker Sea Tiger; Admiral Hayes, head of the Alaska Command of the U.S. Coast Guard; Dave Stevens, State of Washington tanker expert; Alaska State Senator Chancy Croft; Ernst Mueller, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation; A.B. Mookhoek, head of Exxon's Marine Oceans Operations and chairman of the Marine Subcommittee of Alyeska; Bill Morrice, Valdez Port Director; Captain Bill Fiskin, in charge of vessel loading; and Dr. Betty Willard of the President's Council on Environmental Quality. The third segment, reported by Janet Archibald, covers the struggle to keep the Anchorage Daily News in business. Those interviewed include: Kay Fanning, publisher of the Anchorage Daily News; Hugh Fleisher, co-chairman of the Committee for Two Newspapers; Robert Atwood, publisher of the Anchorage Daily Times; and Lee Jordan, publisher of the Chugiak-Eagle River Star. Program includes public service announcements (PSAs) about the Council on Aging, child abuse, and human development.
Alaska Review 17
Alaska Review 17
In the first segment, Mark O. Badger reports on airplane safety in Alaska and concerns over rising aviation accident rates. Those interviewed include: pilot Jack Swaim of Ketchikan; helicopter pilot Jim Isabelle of Teller; an unidentified pilot; Carl Jorwitz, tower chief at Anchorage International Airport; Martin Ondra, air traffic controller at Merrill Field; Joe Wilbur of Anchorage, owner of Wilbur Flight Operations and Wilbur Flight School; Sumner Putnam, commercial pilot; Captain Welch, Alaska jet pilot; Gene Morris, FAA accident prevention coordinator; and an unidentified private pilot. The program contains views of Anchorage International Airport and Merrill Field, Lake Hood, Wilbur Flight School, airplanes in flight near Valdez, a Juneau departure, a Sitka approach, a Ketchikan approach, and cockpits of various aircraft in flight. In the second segment, reporter Eric Eckholm examines the recently allowed use of cameras in Alaska courtrooms. Interviewees include: Art Snowden, court director; Joe Josephson, Anchorage lawyer; Rob Stapleton, Anchorage Daily News reporter; and Howard Weaver of the Alaska Advocate. The program contains views of courtrooms and pressrooms. The program also contains Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about alcohol awareness and the CARE program.
Alaska Review 18
Alaska Review 18
In the first segment, Mark O. Badger reports on the safety of air taxi operations across Alaska and the desire by many that the Federal Aviation Administration establish a more effective accident prevention program. Those interviewed include: Gene Morris, FAA accident prevention coordinator; Jim Dodson of the Air Carriers Association; Bill Bauman, air charter pilot; Jake Johnson, member of the Alaska Transportation Commission; and Dean Karrel of Alaska Travel Air. The program contains views of Alaska airports and airplane wreckage sites. The second segment, "The Homestead Initiative: Free Land?" is a repeat broadcast from another Alaska Review program (AAF-4959). The program also contains Public Service Announcements (PSAs) about forest fire prevention and carpooling.
Alaska Review 28
Alaska Review 28
The first segment, "Mayday," is a repeat broadcast from another Alaska Review program (AAF-4962). The second segment, "Sky Taxi Safety," is a repeat broadcast from another Alaska Review program (AAF-4963). The segment was originally titled "Sky Train Safety." The program also contains a Public Service Announcement (PSA) about forest fire prevention.
Alaska, The Great Land
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.
[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.
[Alaska travel, Healy, Valdez, Gulkana, Ski Boot Hill, travel outside 1]
[Alaska travel, Healy, Valdez, Gulkana, Ski Boot Hill, travel outside 1]
This film is made up of several smaller reels labeled: "Raft Race and Rodeo," "August 1967, Mom and Dad Arriving, Valdez Trip, Floods, [?] House," "Raft Race," "Raft Race," "Wisc Kids 1966," "Wisc Kids #2," "Ferry to Whittier 1972," and "Square Dance 1973." The film contains footage of a raft race on the Tanana River near Fairbanks, a rodeo, Wien airplanes at an airport, Valdez area waterfalls, a man and boy holding fish and standing near a camper, flooded homes in a neighborhood, North Star Borough School buses, family scenes outside Alaska, scenes viewed from the deck of a ferry, and people square-dancing.
[Anchorage, Seward, Hooper Bay, glaciers and skiing]
[Anchorage, Seward, Hooper Bay, glaciers and skiing]
AAF-11873 is made up of ten smaller reels that have been combined. Reel 1 is labeled “Turnagain School” and contains exterior views of the Turnagain School building (during the mid-1950s or 1970s?). Reel 2 is labeled “1954 Downtown NCG and Lib and [GA?] Hill School etc., airplane in [inlet?].” It contains views of Anchorage area buildings and an airplane in the water. Reel 3 is labeled “Misc. Anchorage signs” and contains views of signs (circa 1970s?). Reel 4 is labeled “Train to Seward thru loop” and contains views of a train and from a train (circa 1950s?). Reel 5 is labeled “Hooper Bay” and contains exterior views of a building and people exiting the building (circa mid 1970s?). Reel 6 is labeled “Columbia Glacier by Air 50s” and contains scenes of glaciers (circa 1950s?). Reel 7 is labeled “Flying” and contains aerial views of water (circa?). Reel 8 is labeled “Flying looks like King Salmon?” and contains aerial scenes of water (circa late 1950 or 1970s?). Reel 9 is labeled “[Global?] cup at Alyeska” and contains scenes of skiers in a competition (circa late 1950s or 1970s?). Reel 10 is labeled “Nat’l Ski Racer” and contains views of skiers with bib numbers – original film was processed in April 1963. Notes from the nephew of Wally Wellenstein in 2015: “Please remember that Uncle Wally put together several small spools of film to make the reels. We think that Wally was trying to tell a story for his family back in Minnesota, rather than relate in chronological order his adventures. Some of the scenes are out of order, date wise. The bulk of his movies were of his adventures in Alaska. He also spent time recording the life of his sister Joan’s family."
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
[Eyth Family collection films 2]
This film contains scenes featuring people posing and getting into a small airplane, a small framed cabin, a log cabin, boats on a river, women and a cabin, cabins and caches along a river, a family at a cabin, many people in a boat, a moose in a river, and mountains as seen from a river.
[Eyth Family collection films 3]
[Eyth Family collection films 3]
This film contains aerial views of mountains as seen from a small airplane as well as scenes featuring men talking, homemade rafts on a river, moose, children playing in a river, mountains and a glacier, waterfalls, ice, and seals.
[Fairbanks International Airport construction]
[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.
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.
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
[Family activities, scenes inside and outside Alaska]
This film contains footage of two women standing outside of an Aeronca Sedan airplane in the snow, women washing a car, a wildfire, two women standing in front of a house with a small dog, a group of boys putting on heavy backpacks being handed to them out of the back of a truck, airplanes on floats on a lake, people water skiing on a lake, children playing next to a lake, a Christmas tree and Christmas presents, people opening Christmas presents, Spooks' Nook at Chitina, a waterfall, views of the mountains, children playing in the snow, a family gathering with a baby in a long (baptismal?) gown, children playing on a swings, a small child looking at a baby in a woman's arms, a Christmas tree, people opening Christmas presents, a child playing with a toy horse, a baby looking at toys, a parade outside Alaska with large floats, horse drawn carriages, motorcycles, old cars, a marching band, a person driving a tractor in a film superimposed over footage of a baby walking, footage of a family gathering, people posing for photographs superimposed over footage of a child walking on grass, men on horses herding cattle (likely not in Alaska), women standing in front of a car with a dog, children playing outdoors, people sitting on the grass, the sternwheeler Riverboat Nenana in Fairbanks, men in a boat on the water, and men next to a river and swimming in the river, a small child playing in the snow, and a family picnic outdoors.
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel]
[Family scenes, Alaska Highway travel]
Film contains footage of a little girl (aproximately 1 year old) at a birthday party with a cake and presents, a little girl playing with toys, a little boy's 3rd birthday party with children, cake, the child opening presents, a truck on a snowy road, scenic views of mountains and winter snowscape, a little girl about 2 years old, a man, woman, and child standing outside on the side of a road in winter, snowscapes viewed from a moving vehicle, snowy roadway viewed from a moving vehicle, winter landscapes, tall cabin at Whitehorse in Canada, sternwheeler riverboats on a shore at Whitehorse, cars racing around a snow track in the winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, ice skaters performing for a crowd outside in winter on the Chena River in Fairbanks, views of Fairbanks businesses along river, views of the outside of a building, a man standing with a dog, scenic views of the landscape, ships on the water, a church with a Nativity scene in front, a bridge (not in Alaska), a woman and man standing outside of a brick home (not in Alaska), Pan American airplane at an airport, the mountains filmed from an airplane in flight, a man and a boy standing in snow in front of a truck, military vehicles along a snowy road, views from a truck driving down the Alaska Highway, and a truck at Whitehorse in Canada with sternwheeler riverboats on the shore in the background.
[Fort Wainwright 1970s]
[Fort Wainwright 1970s]
This film contains scenes from the early 1970s of troops at Fort Wainwright boarding a C-130 aircraft, aerial views of the landscape, and scenes of soldiers with parachutes exiting the aircraft.
[Glaciers, Wonder Lake, Merrill and airplane]
[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]
[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]
[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]
[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]
[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.
[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 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.
[Mining activities, winter carnival parade]
[Mining activities, winter carnival parade]
This film contains footage of a moose in the woods, a large warehouse, Williams Equipment Company, people in the woods, a field, cars racing around a dirt track, mining activities including digging out dirt, a sluicebox, men operating mining equipment, scenic views of the landscape, a sunset, a fishwheel, a small boat on the river, scenic views of the river, several draglines in operation mining and dredging gravel out of a pit, men working on mining activities, the outside of a red house in the winter, a winter parade with floats, the Ladd Air Force Base marching band, SS Lathrop float, military men marching, fire trucks, marching bands, Santa Claus North Pole float, Uncle Panch KFAR-TV cart, dog mushing, airplanes in the sky including a T-33 Shooting Star and/or Northrop F-89 Scorpion, people dancing indoors, the Chicken Roadhouse and other buildings, a person walking in snow, people coming out of a cabin, a sign for Sadie and Gertie and Myrtle, people in parkas, a winter landscape, people playing with a dog outside in the snow, a winter parade with floats, women in white fur parkas with red hearts on sleeves, a military band, troops in arctic gear, white and black camouflaged tanks, Pioneers of Alaska float with "then and now" design, fire trucks including the College Community Fire Department trucks, Randy Acord flying over in a v-tailed Bonanza airplane with "KFAR" and "Acord" written on the wings and side of aircraft.
[Mining, Fairbanks parades]
[Mining, Fairbanks parades]
This film contains footage of a two little girls in dresses in front of a big piece of equipment, a man and woman holding babies, men camping out of the back of a truck, men spear fishing, piglets, a rosebush, two people playing with dogs, people gold panning, a woman with a large gold nugget, two people showing off fish they caught, people fishing in a river, overview of a mining camp or town, a man cutting firewood in front of a cabin with a double-bladed axe, a parade in winter with troops marching and an "iceworm" float, Fairview Hotel visible in background of the parade, people in parkas, a blanket toss, a man parachuting, cars racing around track, a large structure on fire, a man standing in front of a small airplane in a field next to a church, the Mines Building at the University of Alaska under construction, a Felix Pedro monument, scenic views of a small town in winter, a man chipping snow and ice off a roof, a parade in winter including large floats and horses and women marching, businesses along Cushman Street in Fairbanks, airplanes parked in a field, people wading in a river, people gold panning, a small airplane landing in a field, a winter celebration with a blanket toss and Alaska Native dancing and dog mushing, a banner for North American Grand Champion Sled Dog Derby, a man digging a small airplane out of snow, four men walking past Alaska Railroad cars, the Nenana Bridge over the Tanana River, and abuilding with "Nenana" on roof.
[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.
[Parachute jumps, cargo preparation, training]
[Parachute jumps, cargo preparation, training]
Film contains scenes of parachute jumps as viewed from air at an unknown location, parachute jumps as viewed from air over Fairbanks area, parachute jumps, interior views of the airplane, parachute cargo drops, landing at Ladd Field on Fort Wainwright, a forklift in operation, men bundling boxes of C-rations, PBY Catalina or similar airplane at Fort Wainwright, the parachuting of boxes and barrels, cargo being loaded onto a DC-3 airplane, men performing practice jumps from a tower onto a trampoline, a tower with sign "Exit and Shock Tower," a Boeing 707 commercial airplane flying overhead, parachute jumps as viewed from ground, men jumping into an area of scrubby spruce, a parachutist on the ground unhooking from chute, a man on the ground with a radio, men cutting spruce with chainsaws, men sharpening chainsaw, a Huey helicopter, men hiking into a forest, a sign on a tree that says "Pump Training - Mosquito Alley - Mendido and Prince[?]," a helicopter in a clearing, men at a shelter made from a tarp, Alaska Native men and other men practicing short jumps from a platform, men jumping from a zipline and rolling on the ground, men climbing knotted rope, men on monkey bars and a climbing tower, a man spraying grass and spruce with a water hose, a man with a pack on his pack creating spot burns, men carrying boxes with carrying poles, men with a helicopter and gear, men in a clearing packing gear, a helicopter taking off, a small fire for burning trash, men building shelters, a helicopter landing in a clearing, a parachute caught in a tree, men untangling and packing a chute, a helicopter with a sling full of gear landing in a cleaning, a sign that says "Line Construction - Instructors Tommy Albert and Bob Berry," and men clearing scrub spruce. According to Alaska Smokejumper Chris Swisher in 2014, a portion of this film contains scenes of Paracargo Kicker Training, in which a group of men, all from Stevens Village, Alaska, are practicing emergency aircraft exits. Marty Sharp was in charge of the Paracargo program and training at that time.
[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.