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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.

511 to 540 of 997 Objects
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 2]
[Golden Days, Valdez, log home construction, Dawson City 2]
AAF-10410 is made up of several smaller reels of film. Handwritten notes on original film boxes are as follows: “Building of our log home.” “Building our house, log work, flying over Fairbanks, flying towards Mt. Mckinley.” “Dollie hauling toboggan downhill to our house.” “Old sternwheels, Dawson City, looking over Klondike.” “Porcupine River August 1978.” “Chitina Jon salmon dipping fireweed, 74 parade.” This film contains footage of land being cleared and a log home being built overlooking Fairbanks, aerial views of an airplane crash, aerial views of Fairbanks, a family dog pulling a toboggan, the Dawson City sternwheeler boneyard, river travel and fishing, and a family posing near a glacier.
[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.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 2]
AAF-16391 is a super-8mm film containing footage of a container ship or barge in a bay and men using the ship’s crane to offload a container onto the shore. The last few seconds of the film show a grabber dredge, a stream sluice, and a man working with a high pressure hose.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 3]
AAF-16392 is a super-8mm film labeled “Bird Island – Clean up at Plt Creek.” The film begins with daytime scenes of small motor boats traveling over open water. A whale surfaces a few times in front of the boats followed by scenes of a rookery. The sun sets behind a rock outcropping as birds fly by. A bulldozer moves mud and snow from a roadway or ditch. A man fishes for salmon from a motor boat, then two men show off their catch. This is followed by scenes of draglines and a large sluicebox and men working and cleaning the sluicebox with shovels.
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
[Goodnews Bay Mining Company and Platinum area scenes 4]
AAF-16393 is a super-8mm film containing scenes of a bucket dredge in a frozen pond, a dragline moving water and mud from the pond, snow surrounding homes, snow piled almost to the top of the roofs, a bucket dredge working in an icy pond with mountains in the distance, a town as seen from a hill above, and more scenes of mining equipment in operation. A man works a dragline while a dog sits nearby. A group of adults gather around people who are processing salmon, and a man holds up a large salmon. The film ends with a shot of the Platinum Post Office and structures along a river or inlet with mountains in the distance.
[Governor and Mrs. Hammond at the Governor's Mansion]
[Governor and Mrs. Hammond at the Governor's Mansion]
Footage includes Governor Jay Hammond playing pool at the Governor's Mansion in Juneau with Frank Gold of Fairbanks. Additional footage includes Bella Hammond showing Frank artwork in the mansion.
[Governor Egan inauguration and speeches]
[Governor Egan inauguration and speeches]
This footage shows Lieutenant Governor Boucher and Governor Egan are sworn in followed by a portion of the Governor's inaugural address. Additional footage includes Governor Egan speaking before the Alaska Chamber of Commerce about the value of Prudhoe Bay oil, Governor Egan speaking about collective bargaining by public employees, Governor Egan swearing in Chief Justice of the Alaska Supreme Court Rabinowitz, Governor Egan speaking about suing the Federal Government over land withdrawals, and Governor Egan speaking before the Alaska Visitors Association about bringing Alaska Natives into the visitors industry.
[Grafton Burke collection - film 1]
[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]
[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]
[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]
[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]
[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."
[Grafton Burke collection - film 6]
[Grafton Burke collection - film 6]
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-23406 is labeled, "Dr. Burke in London."
[Grafton Burke collection - film 7]
[Grafton Burke collection - film 7]
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-23407 is labeled, "Dr. Burke - Hotel Irving Gramercy Park - Croquet - Enroute Cragsmoor."
[Grafton Burke collection - film 8]
[Grafton Burke collection - film 8]
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-23408 is labeled, “Shipboard scenes, Statue of Liberty.”
[Grafton Burke collection - film 9]
[Grafton Burke collection - film 9]
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-23409 is labeled, "My sons bbing - Burke fam."
[Haines fishing]
[Haines fishing]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20045 numbered as Bacon 10-05 and titled “Haines, Fishing, People, Bears, Fish, Mining.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Carl Heinmiller repairs mask - He started the saving of the Tlingit culture - Carl was a WWII veteran - He came back and bought the houses for Chilkat at Haines - He bought two or three of the quarters that the army used and had them repaired - State ferry coming into Haines, pass by North Star landing at Skagway, the old pilings at the waterfront at Skagway; that is where the ships used to come in - It is all worn out now - This is where they used to have the dock.” Notes on the film box that pertain to this film are as follows: “Reel 5: Haines, fishing – people, bears, fish, mining scenes, scenery, leaving Haines for Skagway, Klukwan.”
[Haines rubber rafts]
[Haines rubber rafts]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20044 numbered as Bacon 10-04 and titled “Haines Rubber Raft.” Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about the group of films that includes this film is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: “Carl Heinmiller repairs mask - He started the saving of the Tlingit culture - Carl was a WWII veteran - He came back and bought the houses for Chilkat at Haines - He bought two or three of the quarters that the army used and had them repaired - State ferry coming into Haines, pass by North Star landing at Skagway, the old pilings at the waterfront at Skagway; that is where the ships used to come in - It is all worn out now - This is where they used to have the dock.” Notes on the film box that pertain to this film are as follows: “Reel 4: 1986 Rubber rafts in Haines.”
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 1]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 1]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,055 numbered as Bacon 12-2 and titled "Haines, Sue Silver Carver: 50 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance... Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 2]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,055 numbered as Bacon 12-2, and titled "Haines, Sue Silver Carver: 50 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Silver carver and more inside the Whale House..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 3]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 3]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,057 numbered as Bacon 12-4 and titled "Inside Whale House: Rev EF Orig-100 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 4]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 4]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20058 numbered as Bacon 12-6 and titled "Haines, Chilkat Indian Dancers: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-300 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance. Whale House clan at Klukwan inside Whale House..."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 5]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 5]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20059 numbered as Bacon 12-7 and titled "Haines fishing, Chilkat River, Joe Jurgelite Miner, Klukwon: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-250 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...fishing at Haines, people come there and fly fish. Chilkat River, Klukwan Village."
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 6]
[Haines, totem poles, etc. 6]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20060 numbered as Bacon 12-8 and titled "Miner Joe with gold, Fort Seward, Lynn Mountains, craft center: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-350 feet." Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "...Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch. Silver carver and more inside the Whale House. Miner gal with gold, air shots of Fort Seward in Haines, shots along the Lynn Canal, work in Indian Craft Center..."
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
[Hanes, totem poles, etc. 7]
The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20,061 numbered as Bacon 12-9, and it's titled "Haines, Indian craft center, Carl Heinmiller: ECN [Eastman Color Negative]-200 feet." See AAF-20,004 for an associated item originally labeled Bacon 12-5. Reed Bovee interviewed filmmaker Bill Bacon in 2010, and the following information about these films is based on Bovee's notes from that interview: "Box 12 - 9 Reels, 1 black & white picture - Picture in box of Carl Heinmiller dancing. Picture doing the bear dance. Whale House clan at Klukwan inside Whale House. Different upright poles; they had moved the old Whale House. They had four posts and one was a Strong Man Totem that describes a man pulling a killer whale apart and his father fell out of the whale. A Girl and Worm Totem pole; she was put into the totem pole to save until she became eligible for the chief to marry. She wanted to get out so a worm came along and ate all around the wood so she could escape. Potlatch trough was a huge log approximately 30 feet long. They dug all the wood out, carved it with head on the front, legs on the back and that is where they put all the food for a potlatch. Silver carver and more inside the Whale House. Miner gal with gold, air shots of Fort Seward in Haines, shots along the Lynn Canal, work in Indian Craft Center, fishing at Haines, people come there and fly fish. Chilkat River, Klukwan Village."
[Harry Carter on Alaska Native Lands Claims history and issues]
[Harry Carter on Alaska Native Lands Claims history and issues]
AAF-13176 is a 1/2-inch open reel videotape labeled "Master Tape February 1972 Harry Carter AFN on Native Land Claims." Harry Carter, the executive director of the Alaska Federation of Natives, speaks about the history of land claims settlement, the AFN, land allocation, poverty, economic development, and other related issues.
[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.
[Haul Road, Fairbanks, Sam and Judy Little, John and Joan Wild]
[Haul Road, Fairbanks, Sam and Judy Little, John and Joan Wild]
This footage features scenes of people dancing at a bar as a band is playing, Haul Road scenes, a crane removing pipeline sections from a semi trailer, black smoke from a fire, a trucker (named "Billy Goat" according to notes accompanying the film) in the cab of a truck, men working on a truck and changing a tire, pipeline construction scenes, trucking and truckers, downtown Fairbanks, Haul Road views, a record cover for singer Sam Little, Sam playing guitar, Sam and his family (the woman is identified as Judy in notes accompanying the film), the family's trailer home, the family going car shopping at Aurora Motors in Fairbanks, a woman (identified as Joan in notes accompanying the film) being interviewed, a woman and child, Sam and Judy being interviewed, views of their home's interior, kids playing, a woman and man (identified in notes as John and Joan Wild) being interviewed and working at a cabin, man in a canoe, and a woman at a cabin.
[Haul Road scenes]
[Haul Road scenes]
Specific dates and other information noted on the original film are given here in parentheses. Footage includes a truck on the Haul Road in winter, men in an office, trucks on the Haul Road (segment titled "Kamikaze Trail outs, Great 80' pipe shots"), a truck parked at Sunset Strip (segment titled "Best Pipedriver"). a still image of a woman pouring coffee (segment titled "Sam and waitress"), a bumper sticker, hanging tire chains, a sign, the Tundra Inn, signs, a logo, a man, the Yukon Bridge in winter, a pump station and road (segment titled "Antigun"), a pass in the road (segment titled "Ice cut"), a trucker, still images of truckers (titled "Stutte," "Col. Custer," "Sourpuss hands," "Canadian," Kid Lyndoms," and "Riggles"), a worn tire, a mechanic, a Hilltop Roadhouse coffee cup, a man (segment titled "Hooking up brakes"), still images of truckers (segments titled "Squint," "Pudgy 1-2," "John Appleseed," "Lancaster," and "kid and Shader"), a buckle and ring, a still image of a woman (segment titled "Muleskinner"), still images of truckers (segments titled "wholesome," "Phil," and "Big Bust 1-2"), a logo, the Haul Road, a can of chewing tobacco, a boot kicking a tire, a logo, a steering wheel, a belt buckle, still images of truckers (segments titled "boots," and "Stutte buckle"), mechanics, truck chains, still images of truckers (segments titled "Burk," "Kid's buckle," and "Mr. Ardee"), logos, still images of women and men (segments titled "Fox cook 1-2," "John's buckle 1-2," and "John - several shots"), men changing a truck tire along the Haul Road, a sign, a truck, still images of a man in a truck (all titled "Sealang Hostler"), scenery and trucks along the Haul Road, camps, and signs (segment titled "Kamikaze live action).
[Haul Road truckers, Muleskinner's, interview scenes]
[Haul Road truckers, Muleskinner's, interview scenes]
This footage shows trucks hauling pipeline segments along the Haul Road in winter, men and boys carrying firewood and buckets of water, a woman working in a garden, a stream and homestead (in an area known as "Muleskinner's" according to a label on the film), flowers, a man and woman being interviewed, a woman cooking in a cabin, a woman serving chicken and biscuits to people seated at a table, men and a woman being interviewed, a child's drawings of a truck, men entering a cabin as children watch, the interior of a truck cab, a trucker driving a truck, and a man being interviewed at a cabin.