Category: Alaska’s Historic Canneries

Wed, November 02, 2016

One Alaskero in the Smiley Cannery Gang

[caption id="attachment_4727" align="alignright" width="300"] Ketchikan's Pacific American Fisheries crew in 1929. Photo courtesy Melissa Stouffer.[/caption] By: Anjuli Grantham Melissa Stouffer recently shared two photographs with the Alaska Historical Society, depicting her grandfather’s time in Alaska. Roman Andres was born in Abulug, Cagayan, Philippines ca 1908. He traveled around the Pacific for several years, likely working as a migrant laborer. During this time, he joined thousands of other Filipino manongs in Alaska. Manong, or uncle, is the term that describes this... (Read More)

Mon, October 03, 2016

Sitka’s Fishing History, on the Air

By: Kristy Griffin No connoisseur of Alaskan history can dispute the impact of the seafood industry on this state, but as the canneries and cold storage facilities that once adorned the landscape disappear from sight and memory, the struggle to keep knowledge of the past alive begins. In an era of constant connectivity, information saturation, and Pokémon Go, the connection between the birth and growth of Alaska’s seafood industry and the contemporary cultural, political, and economic climate in Alaska becomes... (Read More)

Sun, October 02, 2016

Fisheries History Abounds at Juneau Conference

This year's annual Alaska Historical Society and Museums Alaska conference in Juneau featured ample opportunities to share and learn about Alaska fisheries history. Historic Alaska Packers Association maps were on exhibit within the Father Andrew P. Kashevaroff building, in addition to a section within the brand new exhibits about the history of Alaska's seafood industry. The following a synopsis of several of the featured presentations and projects. Bob King and Katie Ringsmuth spoke about their Alaska Historic Canneries Initiative-sponsored project to... (Read More)

Thu, August 25, 2016

Waterfall Resort: A Glimpse of the Old Prince of Wales Island Cannery

Photos, text and audio production by Anjuli Grantham. The Waterfall Resort on Prince of Wales Island is a busy place in the summer. Dozens of guests at a time occupy the old cannery, turning a place that once produced canned salmon for the marketplace into a place that caters to sports fishermen eager to feed themselves. But if you venture to this historic cannery in the spring, you will only find a skeleton crew of carpenters and winter watchmen, engaged in... (Read More)

Sun, August 21, 2016

Fifteen Nations, Four Labels, and One Boat: A Letter from a Ugashik Cannery Worker in 1928

By: Anjuli Grantham [caption id="attachment_4603" align="alignleft" width="225"] The letter, part of Karen Hofstad's collection[/caption] Petersburg resident Karen Hofstad’s salmon can label and tin collection overwhelms. It is so good, it’s difficult to know where to begin once perusing commences. Should we start with the original, handmade tins from the early canneries along the Sacramento River or with the tins from the companies that consolidated to create the Alaska Packers Association in 1893? What about the pound tall labels, or the... (Read More)