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Alaska Highway construction archival collections

Archives & Special Collections has many archival collections that relate to the construction of the Alaska Highway. In alphabetical order by creator. Follow the links to a more complete listing of the collection contents.

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You may be able to find additional resources on this topic by searching the guides to all of our collections on our website, or using the search box below.

 

Man with bulldozer

Little Brother (Bob Engles), brokendown. Image of man standing beside a bulldozer, during the construction of the Alaska Highway. Lyle Sherman Leseberg photograph albums, Alaska Historical Society collections, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

A construction worker poses next to a cable excavator and a dump truck with driver

A construction worker poses next to a cable excavator and a dump truck with driver. Thomas Saplak photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

View of buildings in Alaska Highway Camp 9

View of buildings in Alaska Highway Camp 9 in 1943, during the highway's construction. Millard Preston photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Heavy Duty Grader on Section of ALCAN Highway

Heavy Duty Grader on Section of ALCAN Highway Skirting a Mountain Lake. Albert Weir photographs, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

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1930s collections

1964 Alaska earthquake 

1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill

Advocacy

African American history in Alaska

Alaska before 1900

Alaska Constitutional Convention and statehood

Alaska Highway construction

Alaska Native collections

Alaska state legislators and legislation 

Alaskan leadership 

Anchorage charter commissions

Anchorage history 

Anchorage Winter Olympics bids

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Anthropology

Archives in Alaska

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge

Arctic research

Aviation

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Businesses, clubs, and organizations

Canol Pipeline 

Capital move 

Christianity in Alaska

Cold War era (1945-1992) 

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Fur Rendezvous

Fur trading, trapping, and farming

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Geography and environmental studies

Geology related

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Hatcher Pass area 

Hope and Sunrise, Alaska 

Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race

International 

Jesse Lee Home

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Law 

LGBT related collections

Mapping and surveying 

Matanuska Colony 

Medicine and health 

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Nursing 

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Permanent Fund Dividend

Petroleum and natural gas

Poetry

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Senior Citizen issues and advocacy

Seward, Alaska

Skiing and mountaineering

Steamships 

Student newspapers, Anchorage Community College and University of Alaska Anchorage

Tourism in Alaska

United States. Air Force

United States. Coast Guard 

Women’s organizations and women’s issues

World War II in Alaska 

Alaska Highway construction collections

The Alaska Highway runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to Delta Junction, Alaska, where it joins the Richardson Highway before reaching Fairbanks. The original military highway was built by the U. S. Army and civilian contractors in 1942 to 1943.The following collections deal primarily with the early construction of both the Alaska Highway. The archives also holds collections related to early travelers and tourists on the Alaska Highway, which was opened to civilian traffic in 1947. Follow the links to collection descriptions and inventories. You can keyword search all of our collection descriptions and inventories by using the search box available on each of the pages below.

For collections at archives, libraries, and museums across Alaska related to construction of the Alaska Highway, please visit the guide to Alaska Highway construction primary sources on Alaska's Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED)

Please note: if you're seeking information about an individual who worked on the Alaska Highway construction, you might want to read our blog entry about that topic before planning a visit. If you're in search of military records about the construction--personnel or otherwise--you'll probably want to start your research with the National Archives. Many of the other Alaska archives also hold records from individuals involved in the construction, so please be sure to search those as well.

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