African American history in Alaska
Alaska Constitutional Convention and statehood
Alaska state legislators and legislation
Anchorage Winter Olympics bids
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
Businesses, clubs, and organizations
Fishing, fisheries, and canneries
Fur trading, trapping, and farming
Geography and environmental studies
Non-English language collections
Senior Citizen issues and advocacy
Student newspapers, Anchorage Community College and University of Alaska Anchorage
Group portrait of uniformed ship's staff aboard the S.S. Denali in Alaska. 1934. Christine McClain papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Passenger ticket for the S.S. Chilcotin, 1956. Arabella and Raymond H. Taylor tourist scrapbook, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Menu from the M.S. Polar Star of Alaska Cruises, Inc. Eric and Anna Harding scrapbook, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Lounge of the S.S. Baranof of the Alaska Steamship Company, 1948. Unidentified Kenai Peninsula tourist photograph album, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Scrapbook page of a couple who traveled to Southeast Alaska aboard the S.S. Aleutian (Alaska Steamship Company), 1941. Mildred and Robert Mowrer scrapbook, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
This research guide includes collections that contain materials related to steamships and steamship companies. Follow the links below 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. Alaska's Digital Archives also contains many photographs of steamships, some of which are also in the collections below. You can find related materials by searching in the search box on top of the main page of Alaska's Digital Archives.
An online exhibit has been created with some of the steamship menus located in Archives and Special Collections. You can view the exhibit by clicking on the following link: http://consortiumlibrary.org/archives/omeka/exhibits/show/steamshipmenus/aboutsteamshipmenus
Kenneth D. Andress reminiscences; 1937-1943. HMC-0058. Andress worked in Alaska for the fishing and mining industries. His collection contains his recorded and written reminiscences. In two of the recordings, Andress discusses traveling aboard an Alaska Steamship Company vessel.
Alaska-Pacific Consolidated Mining Company records; 1885-1989. HMC-0023. This collection contains the records of the mining company that ran Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass and other gold mines in the Willow Creek Mining District. The collection includes Alaska Steamship Company shipping records and a subject file.
Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation records; 1935-1949. HMC-1174. While this collection contains records relating to the Matanuska-Palmer Colony, the collection includes Alaska Steamship Company freight rates and sailing schedules.
Alaska Steamship Company publicity materials; undated, 1936-1942. EPH-0037
Gene and Marie Anderson photographs; 1927. HMC-0904. The collection contains photographs of a couple who toured Western Canada and Alaska by steamship, railroad, and riverboat. Included in the collection are photographs of steamships.
Atwood family papers; 1906-2003. HMC-0989. The Atwood family papers contain the business, professional, civic, and personal papers of Bob, Evangeline, Elaine, and Marilyn Atwood, including their ownership and management of the Anchorage Times newspaper. The collection includes subject files and correspondence relating to the Alaska Steamship Company.
Baptist tour group member photograph album; 1952. HMC-0539. Photograph album of a woman who traveled around the western United States and Canada as part of a Baptist tour group. The group sailed aboard the M.S. Chilcotin, owned by Union Steamships, Ltd. The collection contains photographs taken onboard the Chilcotin.
Barnett and Stevens family papers; 1901-1928, 2014. HMC-1167-AHS. Harriet Barnett was a missionary who worked at the Jessie Lee Home in Unalaska and Nome. The collection contains Barnett’s letters and journals, in which she writes of her travels on steamships throughout Alaska.
William E. Beaty photograph album; 1935. HMC-1056-AHS. Beaty was a tourist who visited Alaska in 1935. His Alaskan travels took him from Seattle to Skagway aboard the S.S. Aleutian of the Alaska Steamship Company, and the S.S. Yukon from Seward to Seattle. The collection contains a passenger list for the S.S. Aleutian, Alaska Steamship Company newsletters, and menus.
Glenn H. Bowersox papers; 1930-2004; bulk 1930-1941. HMC-0731. The collection consists of the photographs and papers of Glenn H. Bowersox relating to his service as a radio operator on the USMS Boxer and USMS North Star in the 1930s. The collection includes eight Alaska Steamship Company menu covers illustrated with pastels by artist Josephine Crumrine.
Nancy E. Carlock scrapbook; 1967. HMC-0936. Scrapbook created by a woman who took a 13-day tour of Alaska and Canada aboard the S.S. Yukon. The collection contains trip documentation including an itinerary, a steamship passenger list, tickets, travel confirmation letters, and nine menus.
D.S. Clark photograph album; 1927. HMC-0614. The collection contains a photograph album of a tourist travelling by boat and train through Canada and Alaska. The collection includes photographs of the steamships Challamba, Aleutian, and Admiral Watson.
Cruise ship passenger photograph album; 1939. HMC-0800. The collection contains a photograph album of an unidentified passenger on a cruise to Southeast Alaska aboard the S.S. North Sea. The collection contains photographs of the steamship.
Homer E. Dalrymple photograph album; circa 1917-1925. HMC-0662. This photograph album contains images of Douglas, Alaska and tourists. Included in the album are photographs of the S.S. Northwestern docked in Cordova, as well as officers and passengers onboard the steamship.
Daughters of the Golden North photograph album; 1929. HMC-0483. The collection contains a photograph album of a trip taken by the Daughters of the Golden North to Alaska and Western Canada. During the trip, the women traveled by steamship aboard the S.S. Princess Adelaide. The collection includes photographs of the S.S. Princess Adelaide, S.S. Prince Rupert, as well as photographs of passengers and crew aboard the Princess Adelaide.
Eby, Shelland, and Stark tourist papers; 1939-1940. HMC-1183-AHS. Eva Eby, Hildred Shelland, and Charlotte Stark toured Alaska in 1940. Their collection includes Alaska Steamship Company pamphlets, tickets, a table seat ticket, passenger lists, and menu.
Tom Faraday scrapbook; 1939-1940. HMC-0611. The collection contains photographs, clippings and memorabilia of a junior ambassador to Alaska. Included in the collection is a menu from the Catala.
Marie “Sue” Feinler scrapbook; 1931 July. HMC-0508. Feinler took a cruise to Alaska aboard the S.S. Northwestern in 1931. The collection contains a scrapbook, which includes a map of the cruise route, a passenger list, menus, and daily itineraries produced by the ship’s crew.
Fred Wildon Fickett papers; 1858-1989. HMC-0108. Fred Fickett was a soldier and member of the army exploratory expedition to the Alaskan interior in 1885. While a majority of the collection relates to the expedition, Fickett’s journal describes his journey aboard steamships. The collection includes letters regarding the wreck of the steamship Eureka and payment to the Pacific Coast Steamship Company.
Anna and Eric Harding scrapbook; 1969. HMC-0749. The Hardings took a two week guided tour of Alaska in 1969. Included in their tour was a cruise aboard the M.S. Polar Star from Haines, Alaska to Vancouver via the Inside Passage. The collection contains photographic post cards of the M.S. Polar Star, Alaska Cruise Lines daily trip itineraries and a passenger list, as well as brochures and maps.
Richard Tighe Harris family papers; 1853-1969. HMC-0131. While this collection mostly contains materials relating to the Harris family, the collection contains photographs of steamships, steamship passengers, and an Alaska Steamship Company fire.
Ruth Huseman photograph album; 1937. HMC-0623. Ruth Huseman toured Western Canada and Southeast Alaska, which also included travel by steamship. The collection includes photographs of steamships.
Charles K. Hyde slides; 1990-1991. HMC-1100. The collection contains color slides, which document a study tour of Alaska mining sites by the Society for Industrial Archeology. While most of the slides depict mining operations and buildings, there are some of steamships.
Pat Jackson album; 1934. HMC-1029-AHS. Pat Jackson was a tourist aboard the S.S. Aleutian. The collection contains an Alaska Steamship Company map, menus, and photographs of the S.S. Aleutian and the S.S. Haleakala.
Lawrence J. Juipe letters; 1942. HMC-0889. Lawrence Juipe was a soldier stationed in Alaska during WWII, who traveled to Alaska by steamship. The collection contains letters written by Juipe on Alaska Steamship Company stationery. In his letters, Juipe writes about the ship and his traveling experience.
Robert C. Kallenberg papers; 1919-1972. HMC-1235. Robert Kallenberg was a commercial fisherman and educator. While a majority of the collection contains records relating to his professional career, there are also Alaska Steamship Company tickets and a freight bill.
Lake Clark area visitor photographs; circa 1911-1914. HMC-0636. The collection contains photographs taken by an unidentified visitor of Lake Clark and nearby Portage Creek and Bonanza Creek placer mining areas. The collection includes photographs of the S.S. Admiral Sampson and the wreck of the S.S. Olympia.
Ashley and Ruth Larkin scrapbooks; 1968, 1973. HMC-0820. Ashley and Ruth Larkin traveled to Alaska in 1968. Part of the trip included travel aboard the S.S. Princess Patricia. The collection includes steamship menus, passenger lists, brochures, and pamphlets.
Lois Little papers; 1931, 1935. HMC-0575. Lois Little took a trip to Alaska with her parents on the S.S. Dorothy Alexander from Seattle up the Inside Passage to Skagway. The collection contains Little’s travel diary, which includes activities aboard the ship. The collection also contains an Alaska Steamship Company map of Alaska, menus, a passenger list, passenger accommodation plan, and newsletter pages from the S.S. Dorothy Alexander.
Louise letters; 1928-1929. HMC-0851. Louise (last name unknown), traveled from New York City to Alaska and the Yukon Territory. While on the trip, Louise wrote letters to her friend, Hazel Benshoff. The collection includes the letters Louise wrote on Pacific Steamship Company and Alaska Steamship Company letterhead. The letters concern her trip, travel on the ships, and the wreck of the S.S. Aleutian.
Christine M. McClain papers; 1907-1992. HMC-0370. Christine McClain was an Anchorage-area freelance journalist. Her collection contains some photographs of the S.S. Denali, as well as the ship’s crew, the S.S. Victoria, the S.S. Northwestern, the S.S. North Coast, and the S.S. Alaska.
Dorothy McCurrach scrapbook; 1941. HMC-0557. McCurrach traveled to Alaska and western Canada aboard the S.S. Prince Rupert in June 1942. While in the cruise, she visited Seattle, Vancouver, Victoria, Juneau, Skagway, and Ketchikan. The collection consists of a scrapbook compiled by Dorothy McCurrach detailing her round trip cruise from Seattle to Skagway in June 1942. The scrapbook contains luggage identification tags, a passenger list, menus, daily itineraries, and the daily shipboard publication Cruise News.
McDonnell and Mullooly papers; 1912-1984. HMC-1190. Daniel McDonnell and M. James Mullooly were miners and prospectors in Alaska. While most of the collection contains materials relating to their life and mining in Alaska, there is a folder of Alaska Steamship Company menus.
Anne Moses scrapbook; 1936, 1942. HMC-0659. Anne Moses toured Alaska on the S.S. Yukon in 1936. The collection contains Alaska Steamship Company memorabilia, including a deck layout for the S.S. Yukon, a copy of the ship’s daily newsletter, The Yukon Trail, menus, a 1936 sailing’s schedule, a passenger list, a booklet entitled “My Alaska Cruise”, as well as a ticket envelope, passenger identification check, luggage tag, and luggage sticker.
Mildred and Robert Mowrer scrapbook; 1941. HMC-0935. The Mowrer’s toured the western U.S., Alaska, and the Yukon Territory in 1941. During their trip, they traveled on the S.S. Princess Alice and the S.S. Aleutian to and from Alaska. The collection contains a scrapbook with typed daily logs regarding their experiences, as well as an Alaska Steamship Company passenger list and maps, tourist booklets, brochure tickets, and photographs of the ships and activities.
New York tourist travel diary; 1931, 1935. HMC-0591. The collection contains a diary written by an unidentified women who took a sightseeing trip to Alaska in 1931. In the diary, she writes of her travels, including her time spent aboard the S.S. Alameda.
Fred Odlin letters; 1934-1937. HMC-0644. Fred Odlin was a crewmember aboard the Alaska Steamship Company’s S.S. Curacao. The collection contains letters Odlin wrote to family while on the steamship. In the letters, Odlin writes about the weather, his duties, freight, and passengers.
Mary A. Offley papers; 1954. HMC-0865. Offley traveled on the S.S. Chilcotin of Union Steamships Limited. The collection includes a passenger list, travel brochures, stationary and letterhead, as wells baggage tags and tickets of the S.S. Chilcotin.
Raising the S.S. Princess Kathleen papers; 1952-1974. HMC-1187. The collection contains correspondence and news clippings regarding the sinking and raising of the S.S. Princess Kathleen.
Jerome Sheldon papers; 1922-1995. HMC-0220. Jerome Sheldon was a newspaperman and a free-lance writer. While most of his collection pertains to his career, there is a folder of Alaska Steamship Company menus from the S.S. Baranof.
Pacific Coast Steamship Company tourist diary; 1908. HMC-0721. The collection contains a souvenir diary of a tourist who visited Southeast Alaska and British Columbia on the S.S. Spokane.
Perkins family scrapbook; 1946-1948. HMC-0953. John and Nancy Perkins traveled to Nome to visit their father in 1947. The collection contains letters from the Alaska Steamship Company, travel itineraries, and a reservation instruction sheet, as well as photographs taken while on a steamship.
Peterson family photograph album; 1952-1956. HMC-0587. The collection contains the family photographs of a couple who lived in Ketchikan between 1952 and 1956. The collection includes photographs of various steamships, including the S.S. Baranof and S.S. Prince Rupert, and Alaska Steamship Company gangways and docks.
Ethel M. Shaw scrapbook; 1937. HMC-0514. Ethel Shaw toured the Western United States, Alaska, and Canada in 1937. During her trip, she traveled aboard the Canadian National Steamship Line’s S.S. Prince George and the S.S. Tutshi. The collection includes Canadian National Steamship Line timetables.
Sleeper family papers and photographs; circa 1922-1984. HMC-1092. The collection contains papers and photographs of David Allanbrook Sleeper and his family. Included in the collection are Alaska Steamship Company ephemera, postcards, notecards, and maps.
Geneva Starrett papers; 1938, 1955-1962. HMC-0711. Starrett came to Alaska on a trip in 1938. Her collection includes an expense log, as well as an Alaska Steamship Company passenger list, brochures, and photographs of fellow steamship passengers.
Gilbert Stevens photograph album; 1901-1903. HMC-0769. While the collection contains a photograph album of Gold Rush era photographs taken primarily in Nome, it also includes photographs taken aboard the steamships Jeanie and Senator in 1901.
Arabella and Raymond H. Taylor tourist scrapbook; 1956. HMC-0650. The Taylors traveled to Alaska on an American Agriculturist tour. On their tour, they traveled on the S.S. Chilcotin of Union Steamships Limited from Vancouver to Skagway. The scrapbook includes photos and memorabilia from their steamship trip.
Ethel Terry souvenir cruise diary; 1912. HMC-0638. Ethel Terry traveled on the steamship Spokane from Victoria, British Columbia to Alaska in August 1912. The diary contains information regarding the Pacific Coast Steamship Company, the Spokane, and Terry’s trip experiences.
Unidentified Kenai Peninsula tourist photograph album; 1948. HMC-0908. The collection contains a photograph album of a tourist and sportsman who traveled to the Kenai Peninsula. Included in the album are photographs of the Alaska Steamship Company docks in Seattle, the S.S. Baranof on its voyage from Seattle to Seward via the Inside Passage and Prince William Sound, as well as passengers, activities, and interior photographs of the S.S. Baranof.
James A. Yost photograph album; circa 1943-1944. HMC-0703. Yost was enlisted in the Navy during WWII and served on Attu Island. The collection contains photographs of steamships.
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