Hello Readers,
Summertime in Alaska, the days are long and the fun (and work) reach new proportions! In between fishing, camping, picnics and just stargazing I have been working on new book projects and the first is available now, the first two volumes of what will be an ongoing series continuing my researching and writing about Alaska’s history.
Alaskan History Anthology: Volume One and Volume Two, capture the first two years of Alaskan History Magazine with “True Stories and Historic Photographs of the North.”
Volume One is a revised edition of the original anthology which featured the stories and photographs which ran in the magazine from the inaugural issue in May-June, 2019 through the Nov-Dec, 2019 issue. The full texts of every article are highlighted by historic photos from the magazine, and Volume Two picks up with the Jan-Feb, 2020 issue and features articles which ran through the Nov-Dec, 2020 issue. A third anthology, based on the articles from the 2021 magazine issues, will be released early next year. After that the books will take their content from my weekly newsletter and posts at my websites.
Books at Shopify
Northern Light Media has a Shopify storefront for books and back issues of Alaskan History Magazine, both single issues and a complete 14-issue set, and all of the prices include first class postage. Convenient for ordering multiple books and/or issues.
Book Excerpts
Free book excerpts are posted to the newsletter site and emailed to both free and paid subscribers almost every week, not only Northern Light Media titles, but books in the public domain and from other sources. Titles online now include The Land of Nome, The Beautiful Matanuska Valley, A Brief History of the Yukon Quest, Selecting Families (from the 1935 Matanuska Colony), A Dog Puncher on the Yukon, A Woman Who Went to Alaska, Long Hard Trails and Sled Dog Tales, The Tanana Valley Railroad, The History of Seward, and The Land of Tomorrow. If you missed one they’re all still free to read at the newsletter site:
Vintage Postcards Department
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~ A free subscription - the version you’re reading now.
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From the Archives: The 1909 A-Y-P EXPO
The Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition opened on June 1, 1909, on the largely undeveloped grounds of the University of Washington. As visitors passed through the fair they marveled at exhibits such as the desk where Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence, an operational lighthouse, model locomotives, and a large exhibit documenting the history of photography. A popular display at the Alaska building was the more than $1 million in gold nuggets, dust, and ingots inside a heavily fortified case which was lowered through the floor to an underground vault at the end of each day. Alaskan wildlife was on display, along with a fish-canning exhibit, and timber, whaling, and mining displays.
Additional Links:
• University of Washington Libraries Digital Collections 660 Expo photographs
• Seattle Municipal Archives An extensive collection of A-Y-P images and archives
• Glimpses of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition from the Library of Congress
• Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition Digital Collection from the Seattle Public Library Articles, brochures, catalogs, directories, guides, reports, and other materials.
• AYPE.com An evolving, non-commercial project online since 1997.
• Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition at Wikipedia
• Pamphlet and Textual Ephemera Collection, items form the Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition – University of Washington Digital Collections
“In my later years, I have looked in the mirror each day and found a happy person staring back. Occasionally I wonder why I can be so happy. The answer is that every day of my life I’ve worked only for myself and for the joy that comes from writing and creating.” — Ray Bradbury
Thanks for reading, see you next week!
Helen Hegener, publisher