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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: [Perspectives on natural resource development in Alaska 3]; The original Betamax videotape is labeled “Perspectives, how should land be used.” The video contains clips from interviews with a variety of individuals (including Vic Fischer and Joe Josephson) about the development of natural resources in Alaska.

: Piegans: Lord of the Plains; Earl Old Person, tribal chairman, narrates the history of the Blackfoot Indians and demonstrates how tribal elders are working to keep traditional culture alive. The film contains scenes of bison herds, drawings and sculptures, Montana landscapes, traditional dances, healing ceremonies, and other cultural activities. The film is copyright 1971 by University of Alaska and the National Endowment for the Humanities. It was produced by James R. Ludwig (Young Eagle), University of Alaska. It is narrated by James R. Ludwig and Earl Old Person, Chairman of the Blackfeet Tribe and president of the National Congress of American Indians. Sound is by Jack Stonnell. The film includes original recordings of traditional Blackfeet music. The program was filmed, written, and edited by James R. Ludwig, University of Alaska, with production assistants Bill Clark, Barbara Ester, W. Scott Parr, and Jack Stonnell. The film was administered by the University of Alaska and made possible through grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Grotto Foundation of St. Paul, Minnesota, and the University of Alaska. The producer acknowledged the assistance of: Bob Barber, National Bison Range, Moiese, Montana; Blackfeet Art Foundation, Browning, Montana; Rice and Omie Crawford, Heart Butte, Montana; Frank Darnell, University of Alaska; Bettye Fahrenkamp, Fairbanks North Star Borough; Alfred George, University of Alaska; Ramon Gonyea, Museum of the Plains Indian; Bill Haw, East Glacier Park, Montana; A.A. Heckman, Grotto Foundation, St. Paul, Minnesota; Richard Hedrich, National Endowment for the Humanities, Washington, D.C.; Louis W. Hill, Jr., St. Paul, Minnesota; Charles Keim, University of Alaska; Lester and Ruth Johnson, St. Mary, Montana; Linda J. Ludwig, Rochester, New York; Albert Racine St. Mary, Montana; Lynn Triplett, Browning, Montana; and Jane Williams, University of Alaska. The producer dedicated this film to the Blackfeet elders, including Louis and Maggie Plenty Treaty (Bear Child).

: [Pipeline camps and Yukon River bridge construction and Haul Road link-up]; Footage includes aerial and ground views of the pipeyard in Fairbanks, construction at the Delta Camp, aerial and ground views of constuction of the Yukon River Bridge, heavy equipment working on the pipeline pad, workers carrying cross-country skis, an aerial view of a camp, a view of offices and a manager talking about construction (sound is very poor), damaged buildings in a camp, a pipeyard in Valdez, a tanker deck, Ted Lehne, views of pipe trucks in a pipeyard with 80-foot sections of pipe, Alyeska offices on Ft. Wainwright, aerial and ground views of the final north-south link-up of the Haul Road, a sign post at the link-up site, and trucks hauling pipe.

: [Pipeline construction progress report]; This is a 1977 Alyeska Pipeline construction progress report. Footage includes construction at Atigun Pass, aerial bombers spreading coal dust to speed thawing, construction in Keystone Canyon, and construction in Thompson Pass.

: [Pipeline footage]; Information noted on the original film is given here in parentheses. All segments are silent. Footage includes a man and women being interviewed (segment titled "Muleskinner - Thunder"), a woman operating a radio (segment titled "Brown Muleskinner"), a truck on a road, a man and woman being interviewed, a woman working at a desk, truck views, a man and woman talking (segment titled "Phil and Annie cutaways"), a truck hauling pipeline sections on the Haul Road in winter (segment titled "Winter Shots - Pipe"), an ambulance driving through Fairbanks, a man in a hospital bed, interior hospital views, views of the new Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, men and a yellow vehicle (segment titled "Pipeline Report #4 outs"). Haul Road views, a Happy Valley sign, a construction camp, trucks on a road, snow on mountains and tundra, a wooden cross and a fence in a wooded area, a truck inspection by a NANA official, small pipes being unloaded, and a truck on a Yukon River bridge (no title).

: [Pipeline Report #5 A-roll]; This was filmed during the construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. Reporter Ted Lehne reports on the progress of the construction. Footage includes 48-inch pipe on rail cars, 80-foot lengths of pipe on trucks, Ted Lehne, Delta Camp, school children, work on vertical support members (VSM), aerial views of pipeline construction, and a pipeline camp.

: [Pipeline Report #5 B-roll]; Footage features the Haul Road, trucks, workers, pipeline construction, and pipeline camps. It also includes Interviews about pipeline construction progress and its impacts on Alaska communities.

: [Pipeline Report: A or B roll]; Ted Lehne introduces the program, which is one of a series. Footage includes welders joining pipe into 80 foot sections, crews working on vertical support members (VSM), crews coating a pipe, pipeline medical personnel, Galbraith Clinic, a Fairbanks ambulance and downtown streets, Fairbanks Memorial Hospital rooms and aerial views, Jay Lewis speaking, and recording equipment at the KTVF recording studio.

: [Pipeline Reports #1 and #2]; Some segments of film contain sound, and others are silent. Specific information noted on the original film is given here in parentheses. The film includes aerial views of tundra and mountains, a reporter at a pipe yard talking about pipeline construction permits and cost estimates, a reporter and a map of Alaska, the Prudhoe Bay pipeline test facility, Prudhoe Bay scenes, the Valdez terminus, ships in a bay, work camps, a Valdez trailer park and campground, construction scenes, a reporter and a map, a man being interviewed about construction north of the Yukon River, another man being interviewed about construction activities south of the Yukon River, aerial views of the pipeline and construction camps, a Yukon River crossing and bridge construction, a reporter speaking about the impact of pipeline construction on Fairbanks and other communities (segment titled "Alaska Pipeline Report #1") (silent and sound), a reporter in a pipe yard introducing pipeline report topics, construction camp scenes, men playing basketball, workers being interviewed about pipeline work and camp life, liquor store scenes, a camp, a woman being interviewed about a camp recreation program and about life in a camp, a reporter at a telephone company talking about the impact of pipeline activity on the telephone system, housing and traffic, telephone operators, Fairbanks International Airport, pipe sections being loaded onto an airplane, airport scenes including tower activity and a ticket counter, a runway, a reporter talking about the deaths of road construction workers, a map, pipeline and Haul Road scenes, the tanker "Arco Fairbanks" being christened, and a reporter talking about changes in Alaska (segment titled "Alaska Pipeline Report #2") (silent and sound).

: [Pipeline, South Atigun Pass]; This film contains very grainy and static images of the Trans-Alaska pipeline, a washed out culvert along the road, and a distant shot of a vehicle traveling along the Haul Road.

: [President Eisenhower signing Alaska statehood documents]; Footage includes a gold miner panning for gold, the Alaska flag, the U.S. Capitol Building, and President Eisenhower signing the statehood proclamation. Others present at the ceremony include Richard Nixon, Ralph Rivers, Ernest Gruening, Bob Bartlett, and Mike Stepovich. Following the ceremony, pens are passed out, and the forty-nine star flag is unfurled.

: [Puppet demonstration]; AAF-13182 is a 1/2-inch open reel videotape labeled "0-560, Puppets, Mrs. Weimer July 20, 1971, this is only end of demonstration." It contains footage of a woman talking about a variety of puppets.

: Radar Observations of Sea Ice at Barrow, Alaska; In this film, title screens and diagrams explain how observations of sea ice were performed and how data were interpreted. The University of Alaska Sea Ice Radar System was a 3-CM, X-Band ship’s radar used to sense natural reflecting surfaces on the ice. It was mounted on a tower about 12 meters above sea level and typically operated at a scanning range of three nautical miles, or 5.5 kilometers. Data acquired by the radar system were recorded by a camera which photographed the radar display at 3-minute intervals, and the resulting film could then be shown as a time-lapse motion picture showing sea ice movement. The area under observation was the Chukchi Sea coast just north of Barrow. The time lapse radar images include dates during which observations were made. Conclusions and unusual events are noted in title screens. See also AAF-11495 and AAF-11497, which contain images related to this study.

: [Raft race, Pump Station 8 fire survivors, 1971 Miss Alaska, women's titles]; Footage includes rafts on the Tanana River during the Raft Race of 1971; survivors of the Pump Station 8 explosion and fire being interviewed in the hospital in 1977; winners of the 1971 Miss Fairbanks and Miss Alaska contest; and Nancy Mendenhall, Sandra Stringer, Bonnie McCorkendale (?), Rose Stanley, and Sonny Carpenter being asked about how they prefer to be addressed.

: [Ralph Seekins commercials]; Footage includes views of Seattle and the Space Needle, the salesman Stan Davis at Seekins Ford in Fairbanks showing a car to a customer, a parts department and shop, and Ralph Seekins recording a commercial in the Space Needle.

: [Red Olson taking first barrel of oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, views of Valdez]; This film contains views of Trans-Alaska Pipeline construction; brief scenes of the first barrel of oil from the Prudhoe Bay oil field being flown by helicopter to the S.S. Manhattan; scenes of Red and Randy Olson ceremonially transporting the first barrel of oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez by dogsled in early 1975; close-up views of the Olson sled, dogs, and gear; views of the Olsons passing through downtown Fairbanks with a dog team and barrel of oil; images of a plaque and statue in Valdez commemorating the efforts of workers who built the pipeline; views of a large temporary Atco camp in Valdez; aerial views of the pipeline pad, side booms, and vertical support members; and scenes of pipeline construction activities and pipe sections being welded together.

: [Reindeer, Barrow, seal hunt, Nome]; This is a compilation of Eskimo activities from several Van Valin films, and it contains some brief scenes that are not present on other films in the series. Footage includes reindeer herding as well as life and activities in Nome. Summary: Footage includes a reindeer round-up, herders examining ear tags, reindeer being butchered, a man's hair being cut (koocheeruk) with a stone knife and wooden board, mail arriving from Kotzebue, snow house construction, dance movements, people going to church during Easter in Barrow, traditional sod houses during winter and summer, a skin tent, a King Eider duck, a man in a kayak, a village dance, boats with sails, seal hunting (patkotak), hauling a seal across an ice pack and pressure ridges, sled dogs hauling a bearded seal up on beach, Eskimos skinning a bearded seal (oogruk), seals being butchered and meat being transported by dog sled, a sled dog eating a dead dog, a midnight sun sequence, supplies hauled in an umiak, a blanket toss, a whaling festival and celebration (nalukutuq). Footage in Nome includes lightering people to shore, beach mining, racing dogs in Nome, Sinuk River, towing an umiak, salmon fishing, pipe smoke, drying salmon, and a kayak frame.

: [Richard and Janet Ward collection 1]; Footage includes a porcupine, Dick Ward with a chained sled dog, Dick Ward in a Pan American World Airways (PAA) uniform in Metlakatla, the PAA terminal building, a PAA Dc-4 or DC-6 passenger plane, Annette Island scenery (?), trucks and equipment at an asphalt plant, men paving a runway, cars and trailers at the Log Cabin Inn on the Glenn Highway, a gold dredge in operation, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, aerial views of mountains, cars and a semi truck on a muddy road, a glacier moraine, early tripod-style power poles or telegraph/telephone poles used by ACS, a river, a rainbow, power boats, a parade in downtown Anchorage, power boat races on Spenard Lake (?), a squirrel, a light airplane taxiing across railroad tracks, and a small boy. Footage from outside Alaska includes palm trees, scenery, neon lights, an orange grove, highway travel, and a variety of locations. Additional footage includes Alcan Highway scenes during winter, Whitehorse, U.S. Customs at the Alaska border, Macintosh Trading Post, Alcan Highway scenes during summer, sternwheelers and street scenes in Whitehorse, Peace River Bridge, and travel back to the U.S. Border. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes a college, road travel, a flock of sheep on a road, beach and city scenes, PAA and logging trucks, crew members, and (back in Alaska) scenes in Fairbanks following a large snowfall. Additional footage from outside Alaska includes neon lights, travel, a cactus, small children and adults, and a parade.

: [Richard and Janet Ward collection 2]; Footage includes a construction camp for the Anchorage International Airport, and airport construction scenes from both summer and winter. Additional footage includes winter travel, University of Alaska buildings in Fairbanks, a weasel tracked vehicle, airplanes that were damaged in the Easter 1949 wind storm at the Fairbanks airport, winter travel scenes, bison on a road, a muddy street in Fairbanks, the General Store in Fox, vapor trails, people skiing, travel on the Glenn Highway, ice going out on the Chena River during break-up, Copper Center Roadhouse, Keystone Canyon, people traveling by outboard-powered riverboat, a picnic, men working on a Caterpillar, a road construction camp, and 40 Mile Roadhouse. Additional footage includes a bear cub, salmon drying by a cabin, people traveling in umiaks, an unidentified village, a Cessna 195 light plane taking off, a gold dredge, a small outboard riverboat, caribou, black bears at a dump, summer scenes, ships at a dock in Seward or Whittier, Alaska Railroad travel, Alcan Highway travel, Seward, light planes, Winter Carnival activities, and people sport fishing.

: [Richard Hensel on impact of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to wildlife Part 1]; AAF-13172 is a 1/2-inch open reel videotape labeled "Richard Hensel, January 25, 1972 - Alaska Methodist University Pt. 1." A representative from the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife, Division of the Department of the Interior, speaks about the impact of Native land claims on Alaska wildlife refuges.

: [Richard Hensel on impact of Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to wildlife Part 2]; AAF-13173 is a 1/2-inch open reel videotape labeled "Richard Hensel, January 25, 1972, Concl. Alaska Methodist University Pt. 2." A representative from the Bureau of Sports Fisheries and Wildlife, Division of the Department of the Interior, continues to speak about the impact of Native land claims on Alaska wildlife refuges.

: [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.

: [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.

: Russian power progress; A group of American Senators travels to the Soviet Union to visit new hydroelectric facilities. They conclude that the Soviet Union will pass the United States in industrial output. According to the film, the only way to prevent this development is for the United States to commit to large scale hydroelectric projects such as the proposed Rampart Dam.

: Russian Power Progress; A group of American senators travel to the Soviet Union to visit new hydroelectric facilities. They conclude that the Soviet Union will pass the United States in industrial output. According to the film, the only way to prevent this development is for the United States to commit to large scale hydroelectric projects such as the proposed Rampart Dam.

: [Savoonga, Kenai, Homer, McNeil River]; Location identifications are from Victor Rovier's notes. According to original notes accompanying this film, the first five segments, all dated 1966, were likely filmed by Jack Fuller in Savoonga and include scenes of women skinning seals, travel by umiak, a walrus laying on ice, walruses scattering after gunfire, a baby walrus swimming in water, Native men in a shelter, men pulling an umiak across snow, men with harpoons and guns shooting a walrus at a breathing hole, piles of muktuk, men pulling up and cutting a whale, a boat and a whale, men carving a whale in water, walrus tusks and meat, people with dogsleds and snowmachines meeting a airplane, a blanket toss, men harpooning a walrus through a hole in ice, and distant views of an umiak at sea. According to original notes, the following three segments were filmed by Victor Rovier in June of 1966 and include views of Anchorage, an earthquake-caused slump in Turnagain Arm, a man (identified in notes as Wilcox) fishing at Alexander Creek, airboat travel up Alexander Creek, oil tanks and an oil platform, Kenai, and dock facilities. Remaining film segments are all titled "McNeil 1967" and include images of filmmaker Victor Rovier packing a tent, men (identified in notes as Hans and Rovier) loading an airplane, the airplane taking off, buildings in Homer, takeoff of an airplane and aerial views, the instrument panel of an airplane, mountains, Rovier talking to the pilot, Mt. Augustine, McNeil River from the air, Rovier carrying gear at a beach, Rovier setting up a tent and blowing up an air mattress, bears wrestling, a bear with a red tag, waterfowl (poor focus), bears walking, Hans giving Rovier a shave while Rovier holds a revolver, bears fishing in a river, Rovier fishing in McNeil River, men (identified in notes as Rovier and Dick) wading across McNeil River, Rovier at McNeil Falls, Homer spit, fjords and islands en route to Seldovia, and Rovier with a camera in Seldovia.

: [Saxman totem poles and carvers]; The filmmaker's original labeling scheme has AAF-20068 numbered as Bacon 14-03 and titled “Saxman Totem Poles, Rock Oyster, Nathan Jackson, Dave Jensen Carving.” 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: “Museum of all the old totem poles they could save before they deteriorated - The Rock Oyster Totem is a famous totem pole that shows a guy with his hand caught in the jaws of a giant oyster - Street scenes of Dolly’s at Creek Street - She was a prostitute that lived on Creek Street and there used to be a saying that this is where the men and the salmon come up river to spawn.” Notes on the film box are as follows: “Ketchikan Totem Museum, Nathan Jackson’s carving, trees, rainforest, pulp mill, totem poles, rock oyster totem” and “Reel 3: ECN, marked Original, Saxman totem poles, rock oyster, Nathan Jackson, Dave Jensen carving.”

: [Scenes from a rural Alaska classroom]; AAF-13166 is labeled "PIA" on the remains of a partial label on the videotape. It contains classroom scenes from a middle school or elementary school and features students reading and an instructor teaching students about photography and cameras.

: [Scenes from around Alaska]; This film contains images of a dead wolf, bulldozers, a man and woman and two boys, people sledding on a hillside, blowing snow along Steese Highway, Circle Hot Springs in winter, a mining operation, men working in sluice box as children play, fall landscape, caribou, winter landscape, summer landscape, Cat train moving over snowy ground, Ocean Van Line trailer, tractor trailers hauling supplies, a bulldozer plowing a path through trees, scenes in northern Alaska, a dog team, a dead seal, an Alaska Native family posing for the camera outside of a wall tent, a Cat train, an airport, tractor trailers, a bulldozer plowing snow, a Cat train, and men working to free a vehicle that has fallen though ice.

: [Senator Bob Bartlett talks with Alaska Governor William A. Egan about a State Department meeting on fisheries]; Senator Bob Bartlett introduces Alaska Governor William A. Egan, who speaks about a meeting he attended with officials at the State Department to discuss fisheries issues. Egan talks about concerns over foreign fishing, particularly off the coasts of Kodiak and the Alaska Peninsula. He mentions bottom-fisheries, King Crab-fisheries, and shrimp-fisheries. Bartlett and Egan discuss Japanese fishing vessels discovered fishing in the Shelikof Strait, which were seized by the State of Alaska. This seizure led to the meeting between Alaska and State Department officials to address concerns about foreign fishing fleets in Alaska waters. Bartlett tells of Egan's forceful nature in dealing with the State Department.

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