Libraries, Archives, Museums: Fishing, fisheries, and canneries primary sources: University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives Historical Manuscript Collections

Fishing, fisheries, and canneries

This guide lists collections of primary source material related to fishing, fisheries, and canneries that are accessible to the public at archives, libraries, and museums in Alaska. The guide is divided into pages by institution, and you can navigate between pages using the menu on the left-hand side of the page. Click on the linked collection names for more detailed guides to the collections. Not all collections have detailed guides online, and it may be necessary to contact the institution that holds a collection for more information. This guide is not meant to be comprehensive, and there may be additional collections containing primary source material relating to fishing, fisheries, and canneries.

Selected items related to fishing, fisheries, and canneries from many of the institutions represented in this guide have been digitized and added to Alaska's Digital Archives. You can use the search box at the top right of the homepage to search for these materials.

If you represent an institution that has primary source material about these topics and would like to see your collections included in the guide, please contact the University of Alaska Anchorage Archives and Special Collections.

University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives Historical Manuscript Collections

The following collections are available at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Alaska and Polar Regions Collections and Archives. More detailed descriptions of the collections can be found by searching the StarArchives database.

Alaska Game Commission Records. 1926-1949.
USUAF12. Includes information on fish and game management procedures and fishing practices in the Territory of Alaska.
Alaska in Early Newspapers Scrapbook. 1884-1894 [bulk] (Alaska File Newsclippings).
USUAFV5-243. Includes clippings about the fishing industry in Alaska.
Alaska Map Collection. 1889-1928 (United States. National Marine Fisheries Service).
USUAFV6-842. Includes charts and maps showing locations of fish traps, hatcheries, and canneries.
Alaska Sportsman Collection. 1936-1946.
USUAF26. Includes drawings, photographs, and manuscripts from a magazine about fishing and other outdoor activities.
Alaska Transparencies Collection. Unknown date.
USUAFV6-317. The Alaska Transparencies Collection consists of 139 color slides of various Alaskan subjects. They include images of fish species and Alaska Native fishing techniques and technology, fish camps, fish processing and preservation.
Beaver, Alaska, Photograph Collection. circa 1920 – 2003.
USUAFV6-990. Includes photographs of fishing.
Bowkett, Gerald E. Papers. 1959-1988.
USUAFV3-181. The Gerald E. Bowkett Papers consist of correspondence, newspaper clippings, pamphlets, reports, and photographs concerning major political and economic issues that faced Alaska in the 1960s and 1970s including fisheries.
Browne, Clara Papers. n.d.
USUAF529. This collection contains a typescript of Browne's unpublished autobiography, Rainbow on my Wing. The story includes memories of her childhood, including life at her parents' cannery at Copper Mountain.
Brunstad, Karl Papers. 1947-1976.
USUAF65. These papers reflect Mr. Brunstad's interest in fisheries of Alaska and especially salmon in the Kodiak area. The collection contains a file of correspondence on fisheries, news clippings, pamphlets, charts, sketches and a term paper.
Cannery Ledger. 1902-1904.
USUAFV6-1007. The Cannery Ledger is an indexed ledger of data from Pacific Northwest canneries that includes information from several Alaska canneries. It also contains clippings, correspondence and memos, 1902-1904.
Cole, Claude Photograph Album. 1920s-1930s (Waugaman-Cole Album).
USUAFV4-45. Included in the collection are scenes of canneries, fishing, and building of weirs.
Dassow, John and Ethel. Alaska Transparencies Collection. circa 1940s- [1943-1954] 1972.
USUAFV6-249. Slides taken by a chemist at the Fishery Products Laboratory in Ketchikan, Alaska, many of which reflect John's interest in fishery activities and his field trips around Alaska. There are also a few prints, a photocopy of an original report, and a published report, all relating to Alaskan fisheries.
Davis, Rufus Judson Photographs. 1910-1923 (Flora E. Davis Photograph Collection).
USUAFV6-380. The Rufus Judson Davis Photographs consist of 67 images of the Southeast Alaskan fishing industry and of fish processing facilities in Ketchikan, Alaska.
Gabrielson, Janice Collection. circa 1934-1945.
USUAFV4-172. Contains Photographs of the cannery in Metlakatla, including scenes of salmon processing and of cannery workers.
Gilbert, Charles Henry, Yukon Diaries. 1920 (Gilbert, C. H.).
USUAFV3-60. The collection consists of Charles Henry Gilbert's journals of a trip during the summer of 1920 to research salmon populations along the Yukon River.
Glover, W.A. Photograph Collection. circa 1970-1975.
USUAFV6-647. The collection contains 12 photographs of fishwheels under construction and in use at Tanana. A letter and 2 drawings from Rev. Tim Sniffen of Saint James Mission, Tanana, provide some detail about fishwheels.
Hubbell & Waller Records. 1908-1976.
USUAFV5-205. Records of an engineering firm that acted as a consultant for salmon canneries, including engineering drawings of canneries and surveys of proposed cannery locations.
Interior Village Association Records. 1975-1984.
USUAFV6-11. Includes files on fisheries.
Ketchikan-Wrangell Photograph Album. circa 1919.
USUAFV6-522. The album includes photographs of fish traps and the fishing industry in Southeast Alaska.
Liston, Mary Photographs. circa 1915-circa 1925.
USUAFV6-681. Includes photographs of fishing.
Nanson, Lyall Photograph Collection. circa 1999.
USUAFV6-716. This collection contains photographs of six paintings of Southeast Alaska canneries as they may have appeared between 1890 and 1900. An index provided by the artist gives a brief history of the canneries depicted.
Nichols Family Collection. 1905-, 1974 (Amelie Elkinton Collection).
USUAFV5-14. Includes photographs and correspondence pertaining to the False Pass Salmon Cannery.
Salmon Industry Photograph Collection. circa 1920s.
USUAFV4-47. The collection includes Alaskan fish canneries (including the Snug Harbor Cannery) , landscapes and ships. Many of the people seem to be employees of the canneries -- fish processors, cooks and bakers -- at work and at play.
Southeast Alaska Canneries Photograph Collection. 1920s-1930s (Southeastern Alaskan Cannery).
USUAFV5-118. The collection contains photographic images of canneries that operated in Southeast Alaska during the 1920s and 1930s.
U.S. Department of the Interior. Fish and Wildlife Service, Record Group 22, Alaska Fisheries. 1893-1956.
USUAFV6-845. Records include reports, surveys, correspondence, statistics, hearing transcripts, notes, legislative files and related materials dealing with Alaskan fisheries, with an emphasis on salmon fisheries, from 1893 - 1956.

Credits

This guide is supported in whole or in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the Alaska State Library.