U.S. Office of Territories photograph collection, 1935.
Title:
U.S. Office of Territories photograph collection, 1935.
Corporate Author:
Physical Description:
35 photoprints : black and white.
General Note:
In the Alaska State Library, Historical Collections, P.O. Box 110571, Juneau, AK 99811-0571.
Abstract:
The photographs in this collection were obtained from the National Archives, Record Group No. 126 and National Archives' identification number is cross-referenced in the finding aid. The images were photographed by Willis T. Geisman, official photographer for the Alaska Rural Relief Corporation's Matanuska Valley Colony project in 1935. He produced four albums spanning April to October 1935. The albums were dispersed to several locations including the Alaska Historical Collections (PCA 270). "Geisman's work is of tremendous importance in its documentation of the Colony's history and its technical skill, artistic and documentary style."[Fox, James H., Palmer, AK]
Added Author:
Biographical/Historical Data:
The Matanuska Valley Colony, one of President Roosevelt's New Deal relief projects, was a cooperative agricultural colony created in Palmer, Territory of Alaska, around 1935. It was created by the Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation, an Alaskan corporation, with funding from the U.S. Federal Emergency Relief Administration through the U.S. Office of Territories. Two-hundred three families, mostly from Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota, were invited to join the Colony. They arrived in Palmer in the early summer of 1935. Although the failure rate was high, many of their descendants still live in the Mat-Su Valley today (2002). [Alaska Department of Community & Economic Development, Division of Community & Business Development].
Restrictions on Access:
Collection is open to research.
Variant Title:
Matanuska colony development and Alaska Rural Rehabilitation Corporation activity