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Historic records about the creation of Alaska’s flag in 1927 have been digitized and placed online for educational use in the classroom and by all Alaskans.
In 1927 Alaska’s Territorial Dept. of the American Legion sponsored a contest for school children in grades seven through twelve to submit a design for Alaska’s flag. After nearly 700 submissions, the flag design submitted by Benny Benson of Seward was selected. Benson was awarded $1000, a pocket watch, and a trip to Washington DC.
The Alaska State Archives has digitized 40 pages of historic records from the Territorial Governor’s files about the flag’s creation and Benson’s proposed trip to Washington DC. These records are available online via the following links.
Many of us in the Division of Libraries, Archives and Museums work on various projects to make researching Alaska's history easier. Occasionally, one of us is publicly recognized for their work and we like to spread the word.
The February 2018 issue (p. 22) of Alaska Magazine cites Sandy Johnston of the Alaska Historical Collections as the driving force behind an index to the "End of the Trail" column in Alaska Magazine and it's predescesor, the Alaska Sportsman. Starting last spring Sandy looked through every issue of the magazine back to September 1960 and created a digital index of EVERY name listed in the "End of the Trail" section, noting the individual's first and last name, the issue in which their name was published, and the page number. Sandy typed 15,752 entries and has kept it updated since.
It is a great resource that you can view athttp://library.alaska.gov/hist/publications.html. Thank you Sandy!
Our web team was browsing use statistics for calendar 2017 and decided to share the most popular file downloads from each section:
Library
Archives
Museums
Did you know that, on average, the population in America reads at a 7th-8th grade reading level? Plain language, or clear communication, can make your content understandable to more people. Not only does it benefit people with lower literacy, but it also benefits those who speak English as a second language, mobile device users in a busy environment, and people with a cognitive disability.
Solutions for general audience:
To learn more about using plain language in your website or documents:
Thanks to Division webmaster and publication specialist Amy Carney for this tip.
Alaska State Writer Laureate Ernestine Hayes has launched a series of writing workshops, Container of Stories, that will reach communities across the state. In these workshops, participants will be encouraged to tell the story of someone whose voice would not otherwise be heard, and will also be encouraged to tell their own stories. The two-day workshops invite participants at every level of writing experience. In addition to the writing workshop project, Hayes is also available for public readings, craft talks, and on-site visits. Interested communities are asked to fill out a request form available online. Organizers are asked to arrange lodging, workshop space, and local promotion and registration. Limited financial support may be gained by applying for a Workshop Grant or Community Arts Development Grant from the Alaska State Council on the Arts. Ernestine Hayes will contribute Writer Laureate funds provided by the Alaska Humanities Forum and the Alaska State Council on the Arts to support travel costs.
To learn more, please visit https://www.akhf.org/state-writer-laureate.
A January 24, 2018 article in the web version of the Peninsula Clarion allowed library director Rachel Nash to highlight some of the positives happening at the Soldotna Public Library, including:
For more read:
Library checks out 2017 trends. Sorenson, Kat, Peninsula Clarion, January 24, 2018
The video abovesequence contains excerpts from AAF-1091 from the Machetanz collection held by theAlaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF). It was featured in a January 26, 2018 post titledIt’s Archival Film Friday! Snowy travel in Alaska, 1950s from the unit's blog. See the full UAF blog post for additional information and links to other cool resources.
From the website:
The William A. Gladstone Afro-American Military Collection (ca. 500 items) spans the years 1773 to 1987, with the bulk of the material dating from the Civil War period, 1861-1865. The collection consists of correspondence, pay vouchers, orders, muster rolls, enlistment and discharge papers, receipts, contracts, affidavits, tax records, miscellaneous military documents, and printed matter. Most items document African Americans in military service, especially the United States Corps d'Afrique and the United States Colored Troops, which were organized during the Civil War. Also included are many documents concerning slavery and various other Civil War documents that mention African Americans. The Revolutionary War items are primarily pay vouchers to Connecticut blacks who served in the Continental Army. World War I is represented by the papers of Lieutenant Edward L. Goodlett of the 370th Infantry, 93rd Division. Printed matter includes nineteenth-century speeches and writings on slavery, government orders, broadsides, and twentieth-century booklets and journal articles for scholars or collectors.
The collection was purchased by the Library of Congress from Gladstone in 1995. It has been kept in the numerical order established by him, which is neither topical nor chronological. The Gladstone Collection of African American Photographs in the Library's Prints and Photographs Division complements and enhances this collection of manuscripts.
The online collection can be found at https://www.loc.gov/collections/gladstone-african-american-military-collection/about-this-collection/
We recently got the following message from the Zooniverse citizen science group:
We need your help on a new transcription project - Anti-Slavery Manuscripts at the Boston Public Library.In this project, we’re asking our volunteers to help transcribe Boston Public Library’s extensive collection of handwritten correspondence between anti-slavery activists in the 19th century into texts that can be more easily read and researched by students, teachers, historians, and big data applications.
Get involved right now at www.antislaverymanuscripts.org!
Thanks for your help! Sam & the Zooniverse Team
This looks to be a good way to do some hands on history. If your library or school participates, we'd love to know about your experience.
The US National Archives recently announced the digitization of thousands of photos of US Marine Corps activities in World War II and Korea:
Photographic Reference File, ca. 1940 - ca. 1958
This series consists of photographs relating to U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) activities, including those specific to World War II and Korea as well as more general subjects. The general subject section consists of images of USMC aircraft, the Marine Corps Band, artillery, atomic bomb testing in Nevada in 1952, communication equipment, commandants, the Cunningham Collection (early aviation photographs), insignia, medical evacuation (medevac), Marines on liberty, Medal of Honor recipients, enlistment posters, the surrender of Japan, and Japanese and Allied prisoners of war (POWs).
The World War II subjects include the Battles ofBataan,Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, CentralSolomons,Corregidor,Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima, Japan, Marshall Islands, Midway, New Britain, Okinawa, Philippines,Saipan,Tarawa,Tinian, and Wake Islands. There are also photographs of Navajo Indians and wounded soldiers.
The Korea section consists of photographs of various USMC campaigns in Korea, as well as views of aircraft, artillery, bunkers, cemeteries, close air supply and support, communications, engineering activities, captured weapons and equipment. In addition, there are views of Marines in combat, medical and surgical hospitals, Korean civilians, USMC personalities in Korea, North Korean and Communist Chinese POWs, operations in the Punch Bowl Area, Marines at recreation, religious services conducted in the field, Marines from the Republic of Korea, and other United Nations soldiers in Korea.
For more information and the photographs themselves, visit the collection's catalog page.
Our friends at the Government Publishing Office are offering a webinar on assisting our veterans through the VA Appeals process. From their announcement:
Register to attend the live training webinar, "VA Appeals – The Legacy And The New Process."
Date: Thursday, February 15, 2018
Time: 10:00 am - 11:00 am (AST) / 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm (EST)
Recording and closed captioning are available. All webinars are free of charge.
Speaker: Todd Winters, Management and Program Analyst, Department of Veteran Affairs, Veteran Benefits Administration, Appeals Management Office
Learning outcomes: This webinar will focus on Public Law 115-55, the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2017. The new law overhauls VA’s current (legacy) appeals process, and provides Veterans, their families, and their survivors with increased choice in handling disagreements with VA’s decisions. Additionally, participants will receive information on the legacy process.
Expected level of knowledge for participants: No prerequisite knowledge required.
Upon registering, a confirmation email from sqldba@icohere.com will be sent with instructions for joining the webinar. To ensure delivery of that email, configure your junk mail or spam filter(s) to permit messages from that address. If you do not receive it, please notify GPO. In order to attend or present at a GPO-hosted webinar, a WebEx plug-in must be installed. Download instructions.
The February 1, 2018issue of the Anchorage Daily News (ADN) carried a treat of a story on page A5. In an article titled "Alaska Airlines, Bill Gates team up with Code.org to teach how computers work", the ADN stated that Alaska Airlines will begin showing an in-flight video series on how computers work . The series is the result of a collaboration between Code.org, the Khan Academy and Bill Gates. It features clear explanations of technology from a diverse group of technology workers. It appears to be aimed at students but ought to be useful to people of all ages. We applaud Alaska Airline's commitment to mile high lifelong learning.
But there's no need to hop on a plane to start learning. Code.org has posted the entire series to their YouTube channel. You can also watch the series and check out other tutorials in the Computer Fundamentals section of our Digital Literacy Guide.
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