The Alaska State Archives under AS 40.21.030 (2) is mandated with the preservation, arrangement, repair, rehabilitation, duplication, reproduction, description, and exhibition of permanent public records. Public access to the holdings of the State Archives is mission critical, currently the Archives holds approximately 26TB of digital materials. The materials range from digitized territorial records to born digital State of Alaska agency records. As collections are arranged, described and subsequently digitized they will be made available here.
The purpose of Alaska's Digital Archives is to provide a single easy to use location for institutions across this state to share their historical resources. The Alaska State Archives is a contributing partner with Alaska's Digital Archives.
1.1 million documents have been scanned by FamilySearch.org in partnership with the Alaska State Archives to make records available to the public. These records include birth, marriage, death, and probate records going back to the mid-1800s, a milestone resource for Alaskan genealogy research. An index of names connected to birth, marriage, and death records is available below, which links to online documents.
We have digitized records in Seattle, too.
Approximately 40,000 items of historic Alaskan Governors' correspondence have been digitized and are available by request. These letterpress books include letters sent by the governor between 1884 and 1919, and some correspondence received between 1906 and 1909.
Looking for the Governor's Letterpress books? Digital scans (PDFs) of these historic letterpress books are available by making an online request.
After the 1867 Alaskan Treaty of Cession was signed, a detailed map of Sitka was sketched and the individual properties numbered as part of Russia's transfer of Alaska to the United States. The original map is 8 feet long, and has been photographed and placed online. House Ex. Doc. No. 125 detailed the nature of each numbered property in Sitka, and an original handwritten copy is held by the State Archives. A historic ledger, a Record of Properties Transferred at Sitka beginning 1867, also details some of these properties in Sitka. These documents are available online via the links below courtesy of the Alaska State Archives.
The Alaska Railroad Commission Townsite Lot Sales Volumes detail the sale of lots with the establishment of townsites for Nenana, Wasilla, Talkeetna, Seward, and Matanuska. These records were created by the Alaska Engineering Commission, now the Alaska Railroad Corporation, during planning and construction of the Alaska Railroad from 1914-1923.
In 1981 the Department of Natural Resources wanted to develop an understanding of how the State of Alaska selected land under the Alaska Statehood Act. Intern Doug Schoenberg interviewing key members of State government who were responsible for lands selections from 1959-1976.
Alaska State Legislature House & Senate Committee audio, video, and documents are available from the State Legislature link below.
This digitized collection represents approximately 220 hours of all plenary sessions and most meetings of the Committee of the Whole during the Alaska Constitutional Convention held at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks from Nov. 8th, 1955 until Feb. 6th, 1956.
