Alaska Film Archives | Archive

About the Collection

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

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: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 1]; This film features Joanie Adler’s birthday with eight candles on the cake, Joe Crosson Jr. or Don Crosson at the party, Joanie Adler playing croquet with parents, Joanie Adler skiing with her parents and other children, Chena River break-up near the Cushman Street Bridge in Fairbanks, Chena River break-up with cars and trucks on streets (including Illinois Street), an overview of flooding as seen from a rooftop, coal bunkers in the background, Fairbanks Winter Carnival queen contestants, and an ice throne. Notes on the original film say “Terry Gordon, Baby ‘36, Xmas, Snow, Cabin, Flood, Carnival, Break-up ‘36, and Carnival ‘36.”

: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 2]; This is the 1936 Winter Carnival in Fairbanks.

: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 3]; This film contains footage of Joanie Adler with adults, Joanie riding a pony, Joanie at the zoo, Joanie riding a bike, an unidentified couple at a mining operation, Joanie Adler swimming, Joanie with her parents at a cabin, Joanie playing with Christmas toys, children in a parade in Fairbanks near the Cushman Street Bridge, aerial shots of mountains, break-up, a family camping and sawing wood, and more aerial shots of mountains.

: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 4]; This film shows people skiing behind a truck as seen from the truck.

: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 5]; This film includes scenes of the Dave and Mary Adler wedding party, Joanie Adler holding flowers and playing in a sprinkler, Joanie Adler's birthday party with seven or eight candles, Joanie Adler cooking in a kitchen with Joe Crosson, Jr., glacier and river scenery, Mrs. Adler carrying Joanie and Mr. Adler across a creek, Joanie Adler driving a small car built by Joe Crosson, Sr., Joe helping Don Crosson drive a car, Joanie Adler with puppies, Don Adler in uniform, people at an airport, Joanie and possibly Joe Crosson, Jr. gardening, dignitaries with Governor Ernest Gruening, a Grumman Goose airplane, Joanie Adler playing with dogs, and the Adler family canoeing. This film was labeled as follows: “Mary and Dave just got married; Little Joe and Joan cooking; Joan in car summer 1939..."

: [Adler-Tollefson Family films - 6]; This film contains scenes of men preparing gold for smelting into an ingot, caribou, and Joanie with Mrs. Adler.

: [Alaska 1931]; This film is labeled “Alaska 1931” and “Scenes taken for footage for Milford - Alaska 1931.” The footage contains scenic shots of various snowy mountains, glaciers, a small boat in icy waters, a man aboard a boat cranking a film camera, icy waters, a man with a camera, and more glaciers and snowy mountains.

: [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.

: [Alaska 1931 reel 4, glaciers and ships]; This film is labeled “Alaska 1931 Reel 4.” The film contains scenic shots of glaciers and mountains, a small boat moving in front of a glacier face, a calving glacier, icebergs, a small boat moving through icy waters, ice near a shoreline, a larger steamship moving through icy waters near a glacier face, and seals resting on icebergs in the distance.

: [Alaska 1935, Blackstone Bay, College Fiord, odds and ends]; This film is labeled “Alaska 1935” and “Blackstone Bay, College Fiord, Odds and Ends, Goats etc., Fish.” The film contains scenes of two men rowing a boat and anchoring it near a waterfall, a man holding a film camera, a man watching salmon swim upstream, numerous salmon in a shallow stream, two men paddling a boat in the distance as seen from a rock opening, a herd of mountain goats on a hillside near a shoreline, a calving glacier and icy waters, and birds flying near a waterfall.

: [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.

: The Alaska Coast, Seattle to Columbia Glacier; Footage features Alaska Steamship Lines ship "Yukon" cruising from Seattle to Columbia Glacier through the Inside Passage. It stops at Ketchikan, Juneau, and an unidentified town.

: [Alaska glaciers 1931 reel 3]; This film is labeled “Alaska 1931 Reel 3.” The footage contains scenes of glaciers calving into water, scenic shots of glaciers, a panoramic shot across the face of a glacier, snowy mountains, and ice fields.

: [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.

: [Annabeth Hanlon collection 1]; Footage includes a walking dragline and gold dredge in Ester, travel to Circle City, Indians in Circle showing parkas and furs, the sternwheeler Yukon arriving and passengers disembarking, buildings and scenes around Circle Hot Springs Resort, Eagle Summit, a brief view of the Miller House owners, children clearing snow from a skating rink, and various skating activities including racing and figure skating. Notes accompanying the original film can and box say "mining at Ester, Cripple Creek dragline, dredge, Dorothy Erin (?) go to Circle, Circle Indians, boat at Yukon, birds on road, Indian cemetery, Circle Springs, Miller House, Eagle Summit, Ada Williams, 1937 - Megan Florence and I go to Circle, school festival 1944"

: [Annabeth Hanlon collection 2]; Footage includes people panning for gold, a B-17 flying overhead, men cutting firewood with a truck-mounted saw in downtown Fairbanks, downtown buildings, Wien Alaska Airlines operations at Weeks Field, an airplane taking off, Jim Dodson's airplane, hangars on the field, fire, children ice skating, dog sled races on the Chena Rive, men launching a small barge, travel in an outboard motor-powered riverboat, the tug M.S. Otter of Fairbanks pushing a barge, a grouse on the road, men working on a cabin, a small boat being launched in a lake, men cutting ice for drinking water with a hand saw, a car pulling a sled with blocks of ice, a fire in a Fairbanks Laundry building, and a formation of military airplanes. Notes accompanying the film say: view of McKinley, Deadwood and Dr. Schiable, around Fairbanks, sawing wood, around 2nd Ave., Wien Airways & Jim in planes, old Pan Am, Dorothy's house, skating in Main School yard, my 8th, dog team races at end of 2nd, K9 team won, youngster falling down, Albas trip, grouse, McKinley, ducks, Hanlon, building at lake, kids, lake boat, Albert Martin, Bob Harwood, geese, cutting ice, Bud Shaw, (?), fire at laundry, Russian DC-3, P-63 to Russia led by B-25.

: [Annabeth Hanlon collection 3]; Footage includes people working on an Aeronca light airplane, people mugging for the camera, people unloading mail from train, McKinley Park Hotel, Horseshoe Lake, puppies, a cache on stilts, a log cache, Mt. McKinley and scenery, feeding ground squirrels, a tent camp for tourists, a fox, Fanny Quigley at a cabin with a dog, Open North American Sled Dog Races in Fairbanks, an early Arctic Cat snowmachine, Dr. Roland Lombard loading sled dogs into a truck, and curling matches at the Fairbanks Curling Club. Notes accompanying the original film can and box say "McKinley, Fannie Quigley, 1964 dog races, curling."

: [Annabeth Hanlon collection 4]; This footage shows a Wien Stinson airplane landing on ice in Anaktuvuk[?], Eskimo men ice fishing, and a Wien airplane departing. Footage featuring Eskimo life in Barrow includes school children in a Barrow classroom, elders weaving baleen baskets, a dog sled, an early tracked vehicle made from a truck, a Wien airplane arriving, hunters pulling umiaks across the ice using sled dogs, a whaling festival, a woman demonstrating how she carries a baby on her back under a parka, a dog sled hauling freight, a sod house on the tundra, people trading fur and baleen baskets for goods in a store, village scenes, a woman making dolls, women setting nets along the shore and pulling in a catch of small fish, young boys with puppies, and hunters in umiaks taking seal and walrus. Notes on the original film and can say "Barrow 1 and 2."

: [Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 9]; This video is composed of footage from four film reels. AAF-16334 is from a film likely shot by Lee family friend Fred Torsak. It is labeled “1936?, Weeks Field airplanes, Cushman Street Bridge, Dad, dog team, polar bear.” (a post office date stamp on the film box says July 26, 1937). The film contains footage of airplanes at Weeks Field in Fairbanks, a Pacific Alaska Airways hangar, Cushman Street in Fairbanks, the Samson’s hardware store building, Cushman Street bridge over the Chena River, a polar bear in a cage, and people riding in a dog sled. AAF-16335 is from a film likely shot by Lee family friend Fred Torsak. It is labeled, “Fairbanks Alaska, Gold Dredge mining.” (The post office date stamp on the film box is April 2, 1938). The film contains footage of a large placer mining site, hydraulic giants at work, a man with a camera filming the mining operations, an overburden being blasted or falling in large chunks, a mining camp, a man walking along the pipeline (Davidson ditch or siphon?), a dredge at work, and tailings piles. AAF-16336 is from a film likely shot by Lee family friend Fred Torsak. It is labeled “Gold mining with great cleanup gold.” (The post office date stamp on the film box is February 13, 1939). The film contains color footage of hydraulic giants and a bulldozer at work, a man in a large sluice box, a man holding a large pan full of gold, people working a smaller sluice box, and Main School in Fairbanks. AAF-16337 is from a film likely shot by Lee family friend Fred Torsak. It is labeled “Weeks Field, dog team, Main School.” (The post office date stamp on the film box is also February 13, 1939). The film contains color footage of a dog team next to an airplane, a woman taking photos of a dog team, an airplane flying overhead, Main school in Fairbanks, and the wooden Fairbanks Airplane Corporation hangar on Rickert's field situated across from Weeks Field on Cushman Street in Fairbanks.

: [Bristol Bay sailing fleet, Dickson crash and Woodley airways, Dickson family in Anchorage, Stinson tri-motor and Star Airlines]; Summary: Part 1 (AAF-1158) footage includes Palmer buildings, the Tusk in Merrill Pass, stone marten furs, loading meat in Woodley floatplane near Nome, a sunset, spawning salmon, an aerial view of a river, an unidentified town, sport fishermen with mosquito nets, Bristol Bay sailing fleet fishing for salmon, pulling nets, a cannery, Star Airlines Bellanca on floats, a sailing fleet under sail, a cormorant nest, an airplane shadow with a circular rainbow, a fishing fleet, unloading fish at a cannery, and cannery activity. Part 2 (AAF-1159) includes Star Airlines Bellanca airplane on floats at Lake Spenard, Dickson Airways Waco biplane nosed over in ice on Prince William Sound island, Bud Seltenreich and Art Woodley with Coast Guard rescuers, Art Woodley drinking coffee, the Coast Guard cutter Haida, Woodley airplane and Dickson Waco, Bud Seltenreich and Roy Dickson under a rock outcropping used for shelter, mountains and steaming inactive volcanoes, Aiachak crater and Katmai crater. Additional footage features magma in St. Augustine volcano following the March 26 1931 eruption, Mt Redoubt, Woodley Travelair suspended from an Alaska Railroad crane during the conversion to floats, Mt. McKinley, a forest fire, Sand Point seen from the air, Aleutian Islands, Dr. Walkowski and an injured worker being loaded into Woodley Travelair on July 14 1937, mountains, Woodley float planes, Art Woodley with an Eskimo man in a kayak, Roy Dickson and a salesman, a spring flood on the Yukon River with Woodley float plane tied to a house, an unidentified village seen from the air, a fishwheel, a Nome bicycle race, an egg race, high kick, a blanket toss, games, King Island Eskimo kayak and umiak races, and an aerial view of the Yukon River.

: [Church collection glacier and yacht]; Film contains views of a glacier in south or southeastern Alaska, the yacht "Westward," and barges.

: [Fairbanks ice carnivals and aviation]; This footage features the 1929 Fairbanks Ice Carnival Queen contest, a flight with Ed Young, a film shot by Dan Lhamon, Howard Hughes in Fairbanks in August 1938 during his 1938 Around the World Flight in a Lockheed Super Electra, a Pan American airplane, a Pacific Alaska Airways airplane, a Wien Alaska Airlines airplane, and the 1948 Ice Carnival sled dog races. According to George Lounsbury, approximately the first five minutes of footage is a Lounsbury family film, and it contains images of George's mother in the late 1920s. Scenes of Howard Hughes were from a film obtained from Earl Pilgrim. Scenes of Russian airplanes, Juneau, and Nome were films from Dan Lhamon and Rod Wolff. The remainder is film George Lounsbury received from his brother, but the origin is unknown, and the Lounsbury family does not appear in that part of the film.

: 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.

: [Fort Yukon, people and activities]; This is a reel of 16mm film made up of seven smaller reels of film. Reel 1 is labeled “Rube & Bill Mason” and contains footage of a number of individuals carrying items out of a cabin and loading them onto a boat as well as a man and a woman carrying bags, boxes, and miscellaneous household items across the shore to the boat. Reel 2 is labeled “Emil Bergman & Mrs. Burk” and contains footage of two or three individuals looking at large ice floes and ice jams on a river. It also contains footage of a town and buildings with water in front of them (possibly flooding). Reel 3 is labeled “John Thomas 9” and contains footage of a large group of adults and children standing on the edge of a large river, scenic views of the river, and two women walking up to the river. It also shows ice flowing on the river, three children playing by the water, an Alaska Native woman with a small child on her back and two older children, ice floes in the river, two men looking at the river, a small girl looking at the camera, and a group of children playing. Reel 4 is labeled “John Thomas” and contains footage of a child paddling a canoe, children playing with the canoe in the water, children swimming in the water, children playing on the beach next to the water, a person in a bathing suit paddling a canoe, a person paddling the canoe standing up, and two men in another canoe. Reel 5 is labeled “Muskrat Hunting” and contains footage of a man leading a group of large sled dogs, dogs pulling a dogsled from the perspective of the sled driver, a man and a boy with guns evaluating the tundra closely and setting a trap, a man being pulled on a dogsled, a man standing with the sled dogs, a man and boy walking through the snow in the woods, a man and boy checking the traps, the boy showing the camera his catch, and a man and boy striking an animal (likely a muskrat) with a stick and holding it up by the tail. Reel 6 is labeled “1930-1940 Doctor Burke’s 4th of July” and “Dr. Burk’s Pictures 4th of July.” It contains footage of a man walking up a dock, two men paddling a canoe (possibly through flood waters), two men walking past a building, two men getting into a canoe and paddling a canoe, a large number of well-dressed children playing in a field with adults looking on, children engaged in wheelbarrow races, children engaged in three-legged races, and a large group of adults watching as other members engage in an unidentified game. Reel 7 is labeled “Steamboat” and contains footage of well-dressed women walking, priests and men in suits talking next to a body of water, people on a large riverboat with a sign that says “U.S. Mail,” well-dressed people on a beach in front of the riverboat, a number of people shaking hands with what appears to be the captain of the riverboat, people standing on the shore next to the riverboat and waving as the ship departs, and people milling around on the shore.

: Glacier priest; This is a series of highly dramatized reenactments from the life of Father Bernard Hubbard, a scientist and missionary. Occasionally, the reenactments don't jibe with the story. Scenes dramatized include: climbing the Taku Glacier, traveling by dogsled to the village of Holy Cross to combat an influenza epidemic (the musher is shown wearing short, Sami-style boots and three nuns are shown in their fur-hooded cloaks), Father Hubbard's run to an unnamed village when he was sick with the flu himself, Father Hubbard's ascent of Aniakchak Volcano (men dig through a layer of ash to find clean snow), exploring the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes (men cross rocky terrain with a wheeled dog sled, men in a forest of dead trees, men and a dog wear gas masks as they approach the volcano), his work among the King Island Eskimos (many shots of King Islanders including a Wolf? dance), and his promotion of Alaska as a place to settle in (children play on an old-fashioned merry-go-round, a man digs up large potatoes, and agriculture scenes which may have been shot in Matanuska Valley).

: [Grafton Burke collection - film 1]; 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. AAF-23401 is labeled, "Burkes Trip in 1932."

: [Grafton Burke collection - film 2]; 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. AAF-23402 is labeled, "...Trip 1930..."

: [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. AAF-23403 is labeled, "Burke in France."

: [Grafton Burke collection - film 4]; 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. AAF-23404 is labeled, "Burke's Yukon R. Shots – Mission."

: [Grafton Burke collection - film 5]; 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. AAF-23405 is labeled, "Burke - London - On board the boat."

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