Category: 49 History

Tue, February 11, 2014

Anchors of Anchorage: Dastardly Deed Strands Schooner COURTNEY FORD

By Pennelope GoforthKedge anchor with 5-foot shaft from theill-fated COURTNEY FORD now restingin front of Anchorage City Hall.Photograph by J Pennelope Goforth.The iron kedge anchor of the COURTNEY FORD now lies in state in a large flower pot at the entrance to city hall in downtown Anchorage, Alaska. It is one of several anchors placed around the city that are the subjects of this series. The significance of the tragic story of how the anchor came to rest in this... (Read More)

Sun, February 09, 2014

“Heritage of Alaska” TV series digitized by Alaska State Library

From the Alaska State Library comes news of “Heritage of Alaska,” a 1968 television and radio series, that is now digitized and available online at:http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm/ref/collection/cdmg21/id/15858Twenty-four of the original thirty-six episodes are held by ASL Historical Collections. Titles include “The Capital Move,” “Flying North,” and “The Story of Attu Baskets.”Presented by the National Bank of Alaska, “Heritage of Alaska” was created by Elmer Rasmuson and hosted by Rasmuson and Roger Laube. The series’ five-minute episodes highlighted various Alaskan subjects in history,... (Read More)

Wed, February 05, 2014

Herman Liebes and Sea Otters

by Richard Ravalli, William Jessup UniversityThis image of a sealskin coat with sea otter trim was included in an 1893-1894 season catalog of H. Liebes and Company. It depicts a time when the San Francisco-based furrier founded by German-Jewish immigrant Herman Liebes was expanding its influence in the Pacific fur trade. Conversely, it was also a time when sea otters were beginning to disappear from Pacific waters. Decades of hunting facilitated by American trade ships after the Alaska Purchase of... (Read More)

Tue, January 21, 2014

The Buildings of Sheldon Jackson College

by Rebecca Poulson The five buildings of the Sheldon Jackson College quadrangle were built in 1911. The school began in 1878 as a Presbyterian mission, and retained its Presbyterian affiliation even as it became an independent four-year college. We came close to losing these buildings, when the college closed in disarray in 2007. (For the story of how they were saved, check out: https://www.fineartscamp.org/historic-campus.html I love these handsome buildings, especially the light-filled spaces of the Richard H. Allen Memorial auditorium... (Read More)

Mon, January 13, 2014

The ‘Tom & Al’

By Rebecca Poulson A number of years ago, a photographer working with the E. W. Merrill collection at Sheldon Jackson College made photographic prints from some of the glass plate negatives; this summer, Sitkan Lynne Chassin donated this print, of the Tom & Al careened on the beach of Sitka Channel, to the Sitka Maritime Heritage Society. The Tom & Al on the beach at Sitka. (E. W. Merrill) The location is the beach of what is now Katlian Street... (Read More)