REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH REPOSITORY NAME: Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center 625 C Street Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: 907-929-9235 Fax: 907-929-9233 Email: [email protected] Guide prepared by: Tony Sisto, Museum Volunteer, and Sara Piasecki, Archivist TITLE: George E. Allen Collection COLLECTION NUMBER: B1995.010 OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION Dates: circa 1940-1981 Extent: 12 boxes; 10 linear feet Language and Scripts: The collection is in English. Name of creator(s): George E. Allen, Clarissa P. Allen, Robert A. Hall, Steve McCutcheon, Phyllis McCutcheon, Robert Matsen, Cliff Collins, Sidney Hamilton, Howard Robinson Administrative/Biographical History: As related by his cousin, and from an obituary published in the Anchorage Daily News, George E. Allen was a landscape architect who came to Alaska aboard the S.S. Yukon in 1941 on a contract with the Civil Aeronautics Administration. He later continued employment in Alaska with the FAA until retirement. During the FAA years, he served as a building inspector for major housing projects at Kotzebue and Annette Island. Mr. Allen was very interested in photography. In 1956, Allen and his wife, Clarissa Peters, accompanied Alaska Territorial legislator and professional photographer, Steve McCutcheon and his wife on a canoe trip down the Yukon River. Several trays of slides of this trip are included in this collection. The Allens lived at 9th Avenue and Gambell Street in the Fairview neighborhood of Anchorage for many years. They had no children. Clarissa died in 1975. George died in February 1994. Scope and Content Description: The collection consists of 5596 color transparencies; 396 black-and-white prints and 18 color prints; 225 black-and-white negatives; 59 reels of moving image film; and 7 audio reels created or collected by George and Clarissa Allen. In addition, there are 11 handwritten letters between Allen family members as well as documents and ephemera relating to general photography. Most images depict various Alaska locations and scenery. A large number of slides show the Alaska Railroad in the 1940s (.1-340). Other large groups depict the Anchorage/Matanuska area; trips and scenes along the Alaska road system; travels along various sections of the Alaska Highway; several separate water trips aboard various ferries and, later, of the Alaska Marine Highway system; and a number of subjects dealing with various Alaska villages, both along the Yukon River and elsewhere, including Anaktuvuk Pass, Ketchikan, Kodiak, Kotzebue, McGrath, Metlakatla, Nome, Seldovia, Shaktoolik, St. Paul, and other villages in both the Arctic and Southeast Alaska. For more information, see Detailed Description of Collection. Arrangement: Arranged by format. All slides have been re-organized generally in date order, with extra dividers indicating location or subject matter. Subject matter organization in the first boxes in some cases includes a mixture of dates from the mid-1940s through the mid to late 1950s (e.g., ‘Matanuska Glacier’ contains similar pictures of the glacier for a 12-year period from 1945 through 1957). Beginning in early 1958, slides developed by Kodak began including date of development on the slide mounts. The remaining slides containing date- mount stamps have been organized mostly by these dates, with a few exceptions to include subject matter organization similar to the above example. In addition, slides taken during the Allen/McCutcheon Yukon River canoe trip are organized by location, as best as possible, to follow the trip from the Canadian border down the Yukon River to the sea. CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use. Physical Access: Original items in good condition. Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials. A light box may be used to view transparencies. Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use: The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners. Preferred Citation: George E. Allen Collection, Anchorage Museum, B1995.010 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Acquisition and Appraisal Information Donated by cousins Robert and Virginia Bursiel in May 1995. Processing Note Slides depicting trips and other interests from outside of Alaska or the United States have been deaccessioned. In addition, photographs of family and relations at homes in Alaska and elsewhere were deaccessioned, although a representative sample was kept to identify the photographer, his wife, and some of his family in the field with him on Alaska outings. Negatives digitized and moved to freezer in 2017. Separated Materials Motion picture film removed to separate shelving. RELATED MATERIALS Steve McCutcheon Collection, B1990.014 SUBJECTS Allen, George E., 1913-1994 Allen, Clarissa Peters, d. 1975 McCutcheon, Steve, 1911-1998 Alaska Railroad United States. Civil Aeronautics Administration United States. Federal Aviation Agency United States. Federal Aviation Administration Frontier and pioneer life—Alaska Recreation—Alaska Agriculture—Alaska Gold mines and mining—Alaska Totem poles—Alaska Alaska Highway Anaktuvuk Pass (Alaska) Anchorage (Alaska) Beaver (Alaska) Circle (Alaska) Cordova (Alaska) Curry (Alaska) Denali National Park and Preserve (Alaska) Eagle (Alaska) Native Village of Eagle Eklutna (Alaska) Elim (Alaska) Fairbanks (Alaska) Fort Yukon (Alaska) Galena (Alaska) Glenn Highway (Alaska) Gulkana (Alaska) Haines (Alaska) Holikachuk (Alaska) Holy Cross (Alaska) Hope (Alaska) Iliamna Lake (Alaska) Inside Passage Juneau (Alaska) Kaltag (Alaska) Kennicott (Alaska) Ketchikan (Alaska) Kodiak (Alaska) Kokrines (Alaska) Kotzebue (Alaska) Matanuska River Valley (Alaska) Metlakatla (Alaska) McCarthy (Alaska) McGrath (Alaska) Nenana (Alaska) Ninilchik (Alaska) Nome (Alaska) Native Village of Paimiut Palmer (Alaska) Petersburg (Alaska) Pribilof Islands (Alaska) Rampart (Alaska) Richardson Highway (Alaska) Saint Lawrence Island (Alaska) Saint Paul Island (Alaska) Seldovia (Alaska) Seward (Alaska) Seward Highway (Alaska) Sitka (Alaska) Skagway (Alaska) Solomon (Alaska) Tanana (Alaska) Tunnel (Alaska) Unalakleet (Alaska) Valdez (Alaska) Whittier (Alaska) Yakutat (Alaska) Yukon River (Yukon and Alaska) Dawson (Yukon) Detailed Description of the Collection 35mm slides B1/B1 Glass- and metal-mounted slides .1 – 405.1. Fishhook ski slopes [ski area at Hatcher Pass, two people visible, flags in foreground. Ski area operated in the 1930s and 1940s] .2 – 405.3. Chickaloon autumn [scenic with snow-covered mountains and fall foliage] .3 – 405.4. Mabel Mine [gold mine complex in winter, Willow Creek area, worked intermittently 1931-1947] .4 – 293.1. Chickaloon autumn [fall scenic overlooking valley] .5 – 293-2. Lucky Shot schuss, 8-57 [skier near Lucky Shot Mine in Hatcher Pass] .6 – 293-3. Cemetery wonderland [gravestones and spirit house in hoar frost, Anchorage. Cf. .2196] .7 – 293-4. Grandview in May [winter scenic] .8 – 293-6. Mount Susitna in spring [scenic view across Cook Inlet] .9 – 293-5. Alaskan fence [wooden fence in winter] .10 – McKinley Park, Aug. 1, 1947 [exterior of hotel, Clarissa posed at right, soldiers in uniform near entrance] .11 – McKinley Park, Aug. 1, 1947 [Clarissa in foreground, hotel in distance] .12 – McKinley Park, Aug. 1, 1947 [Clarissa in foreground, hotel in distance] .13 – 8-57 [scenic of glacier, moraine at left, fireweed in foreground] .14 – [autumn scenic of lake, fall foliage, termination dust on mountains] .15 – 96 [man with dogsled loading firewood, village buildings in right distance, mountains in background. Cf. .17. At AFN 2018, identified as Buckland area. At AFN 2018, identified as Baldwin Peninsula] .16 – 94. 8-57 [fish wheel on river] .17 – 95 [village in winter, fishing net on rack in foreground. Cf. .15, .26] .18 – [log cabin in field of fireweed, mountains in background] .19 – 8-57 [scenic of river with fireweed on banks, mountains in background] .20 – [men fishing from boat in open water along shoreline in winter, low hills in background, Buckland River?] .21 – 98. 8-57 [close-up of glacier surface] .22 – [summer scenic of lake] .23 – 236. 8-57 [Alaska Railroad train crossing wooden trestle bridge in winter, Loop District] .24 – 217 [probably Portage Glacier and Lake] .25 – 84. Ketchikan, Jan. 1955 [bird’s eye view of passengers on docks, Tongass Trading Co. at left] .26 – 216 [village cache in winter. Cf. .20] .27 – 8-57 [scenic of lake in summer] .28 – 1. Suzie [dog portrait] .29 – 2. Sky high [Clarissa posed next to road in mountainous area] .30 – 4. Tom cod fishing [Alaska Native woman wearing fur-trimmed print parka jigging for tomcod. At AFN 2017, location suggested as Shishmaref] .31 – 5. Dahl sheep [Dall sheep on rocky cliff] .32 – 7. Barbacued king salmon [close-up of fish being barbecued on wire mesh] .33 – [winter scenic with hoar-frosted trees and mountains] .34 – 234 [scenic of town on coast in winter. At AFN 2017, identified as Yakutat with Mount Saint Elias in background, Max Italio Drive in foreground, Swedish Covenant Church and Alaska Native Brotherhood Hall in center. Slide in mount backwards. Cf. .2052] .35 – 6. Wild calla lilies [wildflowers]