Alaska Film Archives

 [Adolph Murie collection - select films]
[Adolph Murie collection - select films]
These are films made by naturalist, author, and wildlife biologist Adolph Murie at Alaska's Mount McKinley (Denali) National Park. The scenes include Adolph's wife Louise, his son Jan, and his daughter Gail. They also include wildlife including bears, wolves, fox, dall sheep, caribou, and a variety of birds and waterfowl. According to notes accompanying the films, one scene shows a grizzly bear near a cabin in Toklat within the park. The following details are transcribed from original labels on film containers or from associated handwritten notes; items in brackets are the processor's notes. Weezer and Weazy are nicknames for Louise. Film 1368-106: “[On can]: 160; [On reel]: 1941 begin Gail and Wags at hdqts. McKinley Park; [On white card in can]: Gail and Wags at Igloo in winter, Weezer with Wags winter, playing with stick, Gail at Rising[?], glacier at Igloo in spring, Wags alone at Igloo, Fox pups (and black one) male female good, wolves wild fair, old squaw, wheatear, horned grebe, (film intact) 1940-41; [On pink note in can]: this reel has some wolf shots, mostly fox, sheep, caribou, cut pieces; [On yellow note in can]: Film 9 wolf, birds, fox, Dall sheep, Bears, caribou, brief footage showing 2 children 1 man, Mt. McKinley." Film 1367-17: “[On box]: #8 set #2, McKinley Park May 1949, Snowbirds at hdqts (good), Rabbit (good), Drawn, Splice; [On card in box]: wolf eating caribou on river bar, Wolf drinking, distant shot of wolf feeding on caribou, wolf walking away, grizzly at Toklat by cabin, grizzly in fall snow with grass (good), porcupine feeding in willow, porcupine in willow (good), silver fox, Gail (short shot), gulls in tree (out of focus), ptarmigan flocks flying (good), ptarmigan on ground white-good.” Film 1367-6: “[On box]: #59; finished July 3 '49, Gail and Jan Big Rock [or River?]; cock fowl hen fair, much blank, bear-sheep shaky, squirrel middens, wolf tracks around bridge, wolverine hairs, Checked; [On card in box]: Gail and Jan snowshoe and ski, Pile of sq middins, squirrel cuttings, wolverine tracks, wolf tracks around bridge (overexposed), wolf track (with trap), shaky scenes of sheep, grizzly following wounded sheep, blank film, rock ptarm (out of focus).” Film 1367-67: “[On box]: #15 set #2, bear and fox 66, jaeger poor, ptarmigan and Gail, Gail feeding Wags milk; [On white card in box]: 1940, Willow ptarmigan male in spring (bare ground), closeup of male Ptarm on log-Gail behind, Gail chasing ptarmigan, caribou herd running, Gail with young wolf pup, feeding wolf pup, Wolf pup nuzzling in grass, Gail swinging, Me and Gail and Jan at East Fork.” Film 1367-35: “[On box]: #1, Moose yearling, wolf on Polychrome Rd; [On card in box]: sheep (ewe and lamb) short, wolf on road, wolf defecating on road, wolf going over mt, calf moose (good), cow and calf moose, cow with two calves, moose feeding (out of focus), 2 calves and cow feeding (good shots).” Film 1367-61: “[On box]: #18, Weezy feeding wolf pup, caribou [illegible], silver fox, ptarmigan; [On card in box]: blue film, caribou running, caribou crossing stream, silver fox on snow, silver fox running, silver fox closeups, feeding wolf pup (Weazy), Rock Ptarmigan sitting (out of focus), more ptarmigan on snow, wolf pup.”
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14560--14562]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14560--14562]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14560 is labeled, "4th Julys, games, wedding, birds," and contains scenes of men with an octopus, a procession of people coming out of a church and going back into church, row boat arriving at a dock, waves crashing against the shore, ship, whale spout, construction of a large dam at unknown location, football game at unknown location, man with film camera, sled with barrels, people carrying an umiak or boat and lifting it onto a truck, and a road made of planks on the tundra. AAF-14561 is labeled, "Surf," and contains images of a shore and waves, rowboats coming ashore, a ship in the bay (possibly a military ship), supplies being offloaded onto the shore, a boat named "Veca," rowboats along the shore, man climbing a mast, and flowers. AAF-14562 is labeled, "Good scenes," and contains scenes in the Pribilofs and outside Alaska including men and a green truck, seals, men with crates, birds, flowers, travel outside Alaska, car on a snowy road, snowy mountains, people sledding, woman and flowering shrub, garden and flowers, train, large dam, train, United States flag, and a priest leading a procession., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14558--14559]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14558--14559]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14558 is labeled, "Natives 1," and "St. George, Road Building, P. Manderville[?]," and contains images of men carrying wooden planks, men on shore and near a house, man killing fox [approximately 55 seconds of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], a small boat arriving and men pulling the boat ashore, crates on a truck, a boat leaving and arriving, men with a wooden beam, old church being disassembled, bulldozer, men moving rocks, and man climbing cliff. AAF-14559 is labeled, "Natives 2," and contains images of men with ropes climbing over a cliff to retrieve eggs, men hauling water, a white building and woman holding pitcher, men with a boat or umiak, people harvesting blocks of ice, wedding scenes, men in small boats, a religious procession, truck pulling boat, men portaging boat, boat rowing toward another boat, man high up on pole, man snipping fur from fox tail [approximately 41 seconds of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], child, and men with wheelbarrows near shore., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate. Some scenes have been removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content. Where removed, the omission is noted by a title screen. Contact film archivist for more information.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14553--14554]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14553--14554]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14553 is unlabeled, and contains images of ships on the water, a community along the shoreline (possibly Ketchikan), totem pole, sunsets, views from boat on water, people disembarking ship and crawling into rowboats that are towed to shore at one of the Pribilof Islands, storm waves as seen from shore, people at dock, people in row boats waving, stormy waves crashing beach, woman walking near home and posing on steps, woman walking along boardwalk, buildings in community, boys swimming [portions intentionally blurred for online display], children participating in foot races, gunny sack races, racing with a pole etc., boys bobbing for apples, girls eating donuts off of string, pie-eating contest, baseball game with teams wearing uniforms, men herding seals and tossing seal hides into truck [approximately five minutes of this material removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content], men offloading supplies from ship, men gathering chunks of ice, power shovel filling dump truck with soil, men excavating hillside, men with shovels working in stream, people herding reindeer, men rowing boat to dock, and cliffs and surf. AAF-14554 is labeled, "Funter bay," and contains scenes of foxes on a rocky beach, numerous foxes in winter, and seals on beach., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate. Some scenes have been removed from online display due to culturally sensitive content. Where removed, the omission is noted by a title screen. Contact film archivist for more information.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14555--14557]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14555--14557]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14555 is labeled, "Seattle Trip etc.," and contains images of clouds, many people in a small boat, a shoreline with small white buildings, a sailboat, rigging on a boat, ice coating the boat rigging, sunsets, flag blowing in breeze, Juneau shoreline, Ketchikan Cold Storage building, a drawbridge at an unknown location, many people in small boats, man raising a U.S. flag, birds, cattle, and a woman picking flowers. AAF-14556 is labeled, "St. Paul," that contains scenes of ships (possibly military ships), a procession led by men carrying a United States flag and religious banners, many people in small boats and standing on shore, small children standing and waving, girl's and women's foot races, men participating in a pie-eating contest and tug-of-war match, baseball game, ship at sea, men unloading barrels on shore, a cliff and birds, and a landscape. AAF-14557 is labeled, "St. George misc.," that contains scenes of a man smoking, boys participating in a gunny sack race and pie-eating contest, people coming out of a church (possibly a wedding party), a procession led by men carrying a United States flag and religious banners, seals, a landscape and hills, reindeer, and birds on a rock., Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14548--14552]
[McMillin Pribilof films AAF-14548--14552]
Films were shot by L.C. McMillin on the Pribilof Islands of Alaska during the late 1930s and early 1940s prior to World War II. At the time, McMillin was employed as an agent by the United States government to manage the islands and its peoples, and to oversee fur seal harvests. McMillin’s first and middle names were Lee Carroll or possibly Lee Clarence. AAF-14548 is unlabeled, and contains images of seals entering the water as waves crash along a rocky coastline. AAF-14549 is labeled, "White People, etc." and contains scenes of a man and woman picking flowers, a truck driving along a wooden track or road, people posing at a house and boarding a ship, a woman and man exploring a grassy island, men with fur seals, men digging, men possibly gathering eggs from a cliff, men with cameras standing near a windy beach, people posing for camera, man walking near boats, people in a horse costume, men with cameras filming fur fox, man and women walking along a rocky beach, and a group of people with flowers. AAF-14550 is labeled, "Seals," and contains images of large groups of fur seals on rocks and beaches in the Pribilof Islands. AAF-14551 is unlabeled, and contains scenes of rocky shorelines, birds including murres and puffins nesting on rocky cliffs, eggs in a basket, men in small boat, seals, auklets and other birds, small bird and chick, cormorants, and a fox. AAF-14552 is labeled, "Our Friends," and contains scenes of Pribilof fur seals with the following title screens:"Sleek fat bulls arrive first," "Selecting the Harem Sites," "After the Harems are formed," "A single family," "Boy! Do I itch," "A fight over the Ladies," "Seals resting after a hard season," "Pups playing in the surf," "Final Fall coat for the pup," and "Taking to the water through the surf. Following the title screen "Pribilof Bird Life" are scenes of puffins and auklets, men holding birds and eggs, people gathering eggs from rocky beach, and boat full of eggs. Following the title screen "Blue Foxes," are scenes of fur foxes in summer and winter. Following the title screen "Stellar Sea Lions," are scenes of seals on a rocky beach, reindeer, people herding reindeer, reindeer in winter, and reindeer in corral. Following the title screen "Working Cargo During June," are scenes of men working to row a boat away from a rocky shoreline and toward a larger vessel further away, and rowboat returning to shore. Following the title screen "Winter - Snow and ice scenes in March," are images of a snowy landscape, icy waters lapping against the shoreline, men digging away drifted snow, men dragging large rowboat to water, and men rowing to and from steamboat. Following the title screen, "Pribilof snow plows," are images of a line of men digging large drifts of snow while another man watches. Following the title screen, "Native Church service," are scenes of a procession of people led by men carrying an American flag and banners and a priest, and an unidentified church building. Following the title screen, "Flower scenes on the Pribilofs" are images of wildflowers, and women on beach picking flowers. Following the title screen "St. Paul Island sunset on Big Lake," are scenic views of the water and sky. Film ends with the title screen "A Bering Sea sunset.", Titles and title screens included here are part of the original film, and may include words, phrases, and attitudes that would now be deemed insensitive, inappropriate or factually inaccurate.
[Harry Leonard’s Wiseman films]
[Harry Leonard’s Wiseman films]
These films were made by prospector and miner Harry Leonard primarily during the 1930s and 1940s at Fairbanks, Alaska, and at or near Wiseman, Alaska, a small mining community along the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River in the Brooks Range about 270 miles north of Fairbanks. In 2019, the original films were preserved through funding from the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF); Reflex Technologies of Burbank, California, scanned the reels of original 8mm film and created digital DPX files, which were then output to new 16mm internegative and answer print film stocks by Video & Film Solutions of Rockville, Maryland. The original films, new internegative and answer print films, and digital files are all being preserved by the Alaska Film Archives at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Many of the following identifications are from film donor George Lounsbury. AAF-1865 scenes include a fire in a Fairbanks building, Harry Leonard’s wife Savannah Leonard standing near car, Harry Leonard approaching the camera, cabins and sled dogs, Savannah Leonard with a broom and with snowshoes at the Leonard home on Dunkel Street in Fairbanks, and Harry Leonard waving. A pilot starts a Stearman bi-plane airplane on skis, followed by aerial views of Wiseman and mountains. Images back at Fairbanks include fire at the Hotel Alaska. Koyukuk region images include a small dam, large pump and pipe, and Harry Leonard with hydraulic giant moving material at Archibald Gulch on Nolan Creek. AAF-1866 scenes include a dog team on the Chena River at Fairbanks, Soviet aviator Mavriky Slepnyov walking to camera with unidentified men, with Savannah Leonard, and with Harry Avakoff (in dark suit). Harry and Savannah Leonard and other men pose with airplanes at Weeks Field in Fairbanks, and then an airplane on skis takes off. In the Koyukuk region of Alaska, men at the Wiseman Roadhouse include (left to right) unidentified, Phil Sundquist, Ace Wilcox, Poss Postlethwaite, Albert Ness, Martin Slisco and unidentified. On the final pan of the men, Harry Leonard is the last man on the right. Next are images of Wild Lake, Phil Sundquist with rifle, and the Hope Family at camp, including Ludi Hope and her adopted son Henry, who was the son of Japanese whaler and miner James Minano. Following scenes of a lake are men including Ace Wilcox and Vern Watts at sluice box, Biner Wind’s mining camp, Biner Wind on the runners of a dog sled, Harry Leonard with dog in front of tent, Phil Sundquist sharpening a saw, spring breakup on the Koyukuk River, miners shoveling ore into sluice boxes at Biner Wind's mining operation on the Hammond River, Ike English by sluice box, and people gathered around an airplane at Wiseman. Next are scenes of Roshier H. Creecy panning a sample in a washtub over a campfire and standing by a cabin during the winter at Gold Creek. Roshier Creecy, born just after the Civil War ended, was one of the few known African Americans who made their living by prospecting and mining in Alaska in the early 1900s. Following this are scenes of Roshier Creecy pulling a sled over ice and then dogs pulling a sled on snow, Harry Leonard waving to camera, Roshier Creecy waving to camera, Wiseman as viewed from the hillside, a dog yard, a log church (possibly at Allakaket?), and aerial views during a winter flight in a biplane. Images at Fairbanks include the Chena River breaking up downtown, and airplanes at Weeks Field. After scenes of people posing for the camera, are images from the Wiseman area including Tishu Ulen and Joe Ulen and their family, self-tripping dam on Gold Creek, a snared black bear, moose, and Harry Leonard prospecting with pack dog. Next is a scene of people posing by an airplane on floats flown by Wiley Post with Will Rogers while it is parked on the Chena River at Fairbanks. This is followed by scenes of a grouse, mountains near Wiseman, hunters with caribou antlers and meat, and Harry Leonard with a sled hauling firewood in winter. AAF-1867 images from the Wiseman area include high water running over Harry Leonard's Gold Creek dam, mining camp with small sluice boxes and prospect boiler, man shoveling ore into sluice boxes, and Harry Leonard at hunting camp with three moose heads. Images at Fairbanks include people at Weeks Field getting into single engine Wien Alaska Airlines airplane piloted by Herman Lerdahl, Richard Wien as a boy running toward the camera, and a Mirow airplane on skis. Images outside of Alaska include a United Airlines Mainliner and travel to cities at several locations. Scenes of travel across the United States from Key West, Florida, to New York City and El Paso, Texas, were possibly filmed by a friend of Leonard’s borrowing his camera.
[Hetherington films, reel 2]
[Hetherington films, reel 2]
This film contains scenes of a large military parade in downtown Fairbanks, a sign for "US Navy Petroleum Exploration NPR4," military equipment on display near the Lacey Street Theatre area in downtown Fairbanks, a Cat train, military aircraft and pilots, sailors near an Interior dredge in operation, people standing around a burned airplane (with all the fabric burnt off), a blanket toss in Barrow, large equipment including barges and backhoes at work along the beach (construction of NARL?), Navy ships along the coast, Quonset huts, and another blanket toss in Barrow.
[Hetherington films, reel 1]
[Hetherington films, reel 1]
This film contains scenes of military or government-supported activity in the Interior and on the North Slope of Alaska, perhaps related to exploration work. It includes scenes of early helicopters, large tent camps, men setting up towers and talking on radios, aerial views of tundra and mountains, and a cabin or building engulfed in flames as a crowd of men watches.
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 5]
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 5]
Notes with the film say “1949-50, Trapping, Copper River, Moving FE Dredge, Taken by Arne Larsen.” Writing inside the film can says “Moose Lake trapping, Hanegela[?] Valley, Living Seattle, Moving Dredge No. 2, Fairbanks Creek 1950” and “Trapping, Dredge No. 2 moving 1949-1950.” The film contains footage of snow-covered mountains, a red building with a “Strelna” sign, a small log cabin or cabins, a dog with puppies, beaver pelts stretched to dry, a man snow-shoeing as dogs follow, dogs pulling a sled up a steep hill as a man pushes, Pan American Airways and United Air Lines airplanes, bulldozers moving a dredge in winter, and a Goldstream mining office and buildings.
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 4]
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 4]
Notes with this film say “1946 DC3 PAA FAI-Norway at Weeks Field Oct, Winter in Fairbanks lots snow, Emil and Jergen, Canada? dam, PAA plane DC3, gold dredge, Fairbanks winter carnival parade, reindeer Ingrid and Norman, Norway ski jump Holmekolen, Seattle – New York Farm.” Writing inside the film can says “Lee Family going to old country, Fairbanks winter time, Vancouver Island, back to Fairbanks, Dredge No. 3 1946, Fairbanks Creek Dredge 2, Winter Carnival, Skibowel [Skibowl?] Seattle, Graham, Palsbo." The film contains footage of a Pan American World Airways Clipper DC-3 airplane, frost-covered trees and snow-covered homes in Fairbanks, a mammoth tusk leaning against a utility pole, scenes outside Alaska, a Pan American airplane, a dredge in operation, a downtown Fairbanks Winter Carnival parade, a Pioneers of Alaska float, a Fraternal Order of Eagles float, other parade marchers and floats, a captive reindeer, and ski-jumping and other scenes outside Alaska.
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 3]
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 3]
Notes with this film say “1943 – 1944, Anne Larsen film of Jergen and family, gold dredge hydraulic moving camp, Snoqualmie ski lodge, ski jumping, Oregon coast, cliff house coast calif?, GJOA expedition, SFO Jergen and Arne, Jerhen’s family? in Calif?” Writing inside the film can says “Chatnika, Kirkland[?], Vasapark[?], Billings, Dahls and Seattle and some snow” and “During the war and some from Alaska.” The film contains footage of small log cabins, a dredge in a dredge pond, mining camp buildings being moved, Snoqualmie Ski Lodge in Washington State, the Cliff House in San Francisco, a plaque in San Francisco commemorating Roald Amundsen’s 1903-1906 Gjoa expedition, the Roald Amundsen monument in San Francisco, and family gatherings and activities outside of Alaska.
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 2]
[Arnie M. Lee and Family collection - 2]
This film is labeled “Alaska Steamship, Alaska RR, Ice Carnival Chatanika 1942, Fisher[?], Eldorado and skiing in Fairbanks.” A note inside the film can says “AK Steamship Port of Seattle to Valdez?, Alaska Railroad - Nenana, Weeks Field Fairbanks, Mother and Dad skiing, Winter Carnival, dog racing, parade, Leonard Seppala, Second Avenue, mining - gold dredge, Dad Guri[?] Lealand, Fairbanks Creek.” Writing inside film can says “Drilling and hauling ice Chatanika Birch Lake, Alaska steamship from Seattle, ARR Seward to Fairbanks, skiing in Fairbanks, Carnival 1940, Fish Creek, Cleary Creek, Eldorado.” The film contains images of the Alaska Steamship Company dock in Seattle, the Seattle waterfront as seen from aboard a ship, a Port of Seattle sign, Alaska Pacific Salmon Company buildings, the Alaska Steamship Company dock in Juneau, the AJ Mine in Juneau, a small vehicle on railroad tracks in winter, snowy mountains, Alaska Railroad steam engine 614, scenic views from travel via the Alaska Railroad, the train station in Nenana, the Nenana Bridge, a couple skiing, a musher and dogs, Pollack Flying Service hangars in Fairbanks, ice hockey in downtown Fairbanks, a Pacific Alaska Airways Lockheed Electra airplane, crowds of people watching dog mushers on the Chena River, the 1940 Winter Carnival parade with floats, a dog yard, a sign for the 1940 Fairbanks Dog Derby, a welcome sign over downtown Fairbanks, Leonhard Seppala, a panorama of downtown Fairbanks in winter, Pollack Flying Service, men driving thaw points for a dredge mining operation, a mining camp, hydraulic giants being used to clear muck, men testing the ground with a drill rig, a mining camp, tailings piles, an old wooden mine shaft revealed as muck is cleared away by hydraulic giants, a dredge in operation, ice being removed from a dredge pond, a drilling rig in operation, small log cabins, a group skiing, a mining operation with buckets emptying onto a large pile of pay dirt, a sluice, a mining camp, a bulldozer, and a building at Chatanika Gold Camp(?).
[Adler-Tollefson Family films - 6]
[Adler-Tollefson Family films - 6]
This film contains scenes of men preparing gold for smelting into an ingot, caribou, and Joanie with Mrs. Adler.
[Adler-Tollefson Family films - 4]
[Adler-Tollefson Family films - 4]
This film shows people skiing behind a truck as seen from the truck.
[Lounsbury film collection 8]
[Lounsbury film collection 8]
Footage includes people on Fairbanks streets (including Joe Crosson with a bowtie), people on a bus, a bus trip on Steese Highway in the winter, children on a street, men outside of the F.E. Company building, a rotary snowplow in operation, Ice Carnival or Winter Carnival parade floats, winter bus travel, Fairbanks street scenes, a woman with puppies, men outside of a building, a woman with a baby, men with a dead wolf, men outside of Billy Root's Transportation Company in Chatanika (?), people standing next to a bus, men pushing a car at a gas station, cars and trucks along a road, men outside of the F.E. Company building, people posing on Fairbanks streets, trucks travelling along a road during winter, a crowd lining Cushman Street, sled dog teams, Leonhard Seppala, and a Caterpillar plowing a road.
[We Live in the Arctic - Reel 2]
[We Live in the Arctic - Reel 2]
Detailed summary information for this film was provided by the filmmakers, Bud and Connie Helmericks – see a film archivist for full information. According to these notes, films include scenes of an Inupiat family identified in notes as Nanny and George, son Apiak, and daughters Lydia and Martha; Nanny tending a fishnet set in the Arctic Ocean; Lydia (age 5) eating dried meat with an uluruk; Martha (age 17) holding a mirror and applying lipstick; a woman identified in the notes as Bessie with a homemade guitar made from a Prestone can; a whale boat in the Arctic Ocean; people identified in the notes as Oolak or Job (age 15), Little Jacob, Carrie with little Maugaulak or Mark, and Richard; Chandler Lake; a group of inland Inupiat or Nunamiut at Chandler Lake, including people identified in the notes as baby Franklin Roosevelt and his father, Simon Paneak; caribou skin tents covered with canvas; bear damage at a cabin; Connie picking berries; Bud and Connie hunting moose; Connie rendering tallow; Connie chinking a cabin with moss; Bud making a cabin window; Bud demonstrating winter wear; fishing through ice; Bud cutting ice blocks; and heating the airplane engine before take-off.
[We Live in the Arctic - Reel 1]
[We Live in the Arctic - Reel 1]
Detailed summary information for this film was provided by the filmmakers, Bud and Connie Helmericks – see a film archivist for full information. According to these notes, this film includes scenes of a Cessna 140 (the “Arctic Tern”) taking off from Tucson, Arizona; aerial views enroute to Alaska; Grand Prairie, Alberta; aerial views of Hughes, Alaska; Brooks Range mountains; landing at Takahula Lake; Connie and Bud at their log cabin at Takahula Lake; snowshoeing and seeing a “snow doughnut” that has rolled down from the mountain; Bud splitting wood and Connie collecting water; ice fishing on Takahula Lake while sunbathing; planting a garden; Connie climbing Takahula Peak; kayaking on the Alatna River; an airplane flight 300 miles north to the Arctic Ocean; cooking a meal of caribou and cornmeal along the Arctic Ocean; the village of Paulatuk in Canada; Royal Canadian Mounted Police at Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island; a power schooner (the “Tudlik”) traveling from Banks Land; Inuit hunters cooking caribou in northern Canada; Lakes Peter and Schrader in Alaska; and the filmmakers, Bud and Connie.
[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.
[Fort Chilkoot region]
[Fort Chilkoot region]
The first section includes intertitles is titled "Transportation in Alaska." Footage includes a car on a narrow road and being pulled through snow by horses, Native men in a small boat poling on a river, a boat identified as a "war canoe," men with horses in a pack-train, a man on snowshoes, sled dog teams pulling sleds, ocean travel on a ship in rough seas, a White Pass and Yukon Railroad rotary snowplow working and travel on the route, a flying boat, aerial views of the A-J mine in Juneau, a puppy pulling a child on a small sled followed by an intertitle of "the end". Additional footage includes a young boy and man walking a black bear on a chain, troops on snowshoes and skiis in parade grounds at Fort Chilkoot, a child playing in snow, a man shovelling snow, a child sledding, people riding in a dogsled and mushing through a town and woods, men with a horse drawn sled, children sledding and skiing, a young girl, people with a baby during baptism, family scenes with children inside a home, and couples including a military officer dancing and mugging for the camera.
[Dawson Cooper collection]
[Dawson Cooper collection]
This footage features the Ice Carnival puppy parade and regular parade in Fairbanks, people at a wedding in a private home, people hauling boxes on a dog cart, a fishwheel, interior river scenes, a town on a riverfront, Ft. Yukon scenes, river scenes, flower gardens, people in a house, sled dog races on Chena River, teams passing under a foot bridge on Noyes Slough, downhill skiing on Birch Hill, a parade in the summer, hockey at Griffin Park ice rink, the Ice Carnival throne, an unidentified woman, a stack of logs, a walking dragline, conveyor and mine scenes in Ester, columns of smoke from a forest fire, the KFAR transmitter building, people on a picnic, the midnight sun, a car on a narrow road, mining equipment, car travel filmed from inside the car, airplanes, placer gold mine operations, sluice box clean-up, a box with gold amalgam, a dredge operating, a flower garden, and tomato plants.
[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).
[Russ and Thelma Huber Film Collection, Trails to Highways, Diesel Trail to the Orient]
[Russ and Thelma Huber Film Collection, Trails to Highways, Diesel Trail to the Orient]
This film reel is made up of 3 smaller reels. Reels 1 and 2 are labeled "Trails to Highways Pt.1 and Pt.2," and they contain views of earth-moving and road construction equipment, an ox pulling a cart, road construction crews at work, and cars on the road. Reel 3 is labeled "Caterpillar Tractor Company presents 'The Diesel Trail to the Orient,'" and it contains views of a Pan American World Airways Flying Boat airplane, barges, earth-moving equipment, Hawaii [?], and a China Clipper airplane.
[Alaska and travel]
[Alaska and travel]
This film reel is made up of 11 smaller reels. Reel 1 is labeled "1947 West Point and Kay, Bobbie and Ethel, Alcan Highway in mud and snow, Donn skiing and carnival, Mary, more skiing spring 1948," and it contains footage as described plus scenes of travel, a Whitehorse sign, kids playing football in the snow, hockey, skiing, a ski jump, dog mushing, the Fairbanks Winter Carnival, cars racing around a snowy track, and more skiing. Reel 2 is labeled "Trip To Alaska August 1947, Peekskill, Forest Glen, Jackson Lake, Xmas 1947 in Iowa, University of Iowa campus, Washington D.C., N.Y., Oregon," and it contains footage of road travel, scenery, small towns and cities, aerial views from an airplane, a dredge and mining views, a military formation, a football game, ice skating, and a city. A note inside the film can says "Washington D.C., New York, Hartsdale, Washington D.C., to California and Oregon, [?] and myself, February 1948, Alaska back to Peekskill, cadets and football, Forest Glen, Lilly, Jackson Lake Iowa, [?] and trip to Iowa for Xmas, farm, [?], University of Iowa campus." Reel 3 is labeled "Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier, start of plane trip to Alaska August 1947, Alaska map and California to Seattle," and it contains footage of a map of Alaska and aerial views. Reel 4 is labeled "Lilly and Keith, 1947, [?], Virginia, Lilly and I, Lilly at Skyline Drive, Keith's lacross games, [?] Island ferry and Lilly," and it contains views of people, a game, and New York. Reel 5 is labeled "Football May 8th UA at FHS, Whitehorse, Boats on Yukon, Spring 1949," and it contains scenes of a football game and sternwheelers in Whitehorse. Reel 6 is labeled "June 1949 Peekskill Graduation and West Point Parade," and it contains scenes of cadets. Reel 7 is labeled "Peekskill MA, waterskiing, Badlands, June to August 1949," and it contains scenes of cadets and waterskiing. Reel 8 is labeled "Cleary Hill Ski Meet March 1950, Keith's graduation Peekskill June 1950," and it contains footage of skiing and cadets. Reel 9 is labeled "Alcan, ferry, Yellowstone, east bear, elk, antelope, May 1949," and it contains footage of travel, the Alcan, a ferry, Yellowstone National Park, and a bear. Reel 10 is labeled "Peekskill and Keith June 1950, Garden of the Gods, Keith and I, bear and grouse, football, Huber's Ranch, June to August 1950, Peekskill to Alaska," and it contains views of cadets, travel, a bear, football, a Huber sign, and a house. Reel 11 is labeled "Rocky Mountain Sheep, Boulder Rodeo, Esther Braddock, July to October 1951," and it contains scenes of a rodeo.
[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.
[Annabeth Hanlon collection 4]
[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."
[Annabeth Hanlon collection 3]
[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 1]
[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"
[Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 6]
[Vince and Evelyn Guzzardi collection 6]
This film consists of one reel of 8mm film labeled “People and Parties.” It contains footage of various locations throughout Alaska, a sign for ‘Evelyn’s,” a dog; the Traveler’s Inn, a number of well-dressed women exiting a building and showing off their clothing to the camera, a number of scenic views of Alaska landscapes, people and couples dancing at an undisclosed location indoors, a gathering of people in a home, and a woman and a baby playing together.
[Rockney Family films part 3]
[Rockney Family films part 3]
Two smaller film reels were combined to make this item. Reel 1 is labeled “Whitehorse” and contains scenes of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory, sternwheeler riverboats and an airplane on floats on the Yukon River, Riverboat Aksala, railroad tracks, the church at Bennett Lake in Yukon Territory, glaciers, people with a wooden canoe and camping and fishing supplies, and people hiking with packs. Reel 2 is an edited film labeled “Pictorial of Alaska” which contains descriptive title screens and scenes of life in Alaska such as travel along a river, dog mushers and dogs, an airplane on skis landing and being met by horses pulling a sled, a woman and a girl with flowers, Winter Carnival scenes in Fairbanks, a dredge and hydraulic giant, a mining community, girls playing with a puppy in a yard, women and a man walking among flowers, Fairbanks homes, university graduation scenes in Fairbanks, a man with a small child, two small children (twins?) with toys in the snow, a family cross-country skiing, children playing on the Davidson Ditch pipeline, a family at a house, and a sunset over a cabin community.