Railroad, mushing and pioneer aviators websites updated

July 24, 2015

Photo courtesy of William and Shirley English. Bill English, the first Athabascan pilot in Alaska, with his C-140 float plane around 1948. Bill had a long career as a commercial pilot both in Alaska and abroad.

Three "Project Jukebox" collections about Alaska railroads, mushing and aviators have been updated and new material added.

The updated projects are some of the most popular of the more than 50 "jukeboxes" at the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library. A new film and three new interviews and have been added to the existing 12 interviews on the "Railroads of Alaska Project Jukebox."

"Dog Mushing in Alaska Project Jukebox" has three new interviews, one that focuses on sled dog kennels in Alaska’s Denali National Park and one about being on the trail and reporting the Yukon Quest and Iditarod.

The "Pioneer Aviators Jukebox" has four new interviews in addition to the original 14.

The project was funded by a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Alaska State Library.

Project Jukebox is the digital branch of the Oral History Program at UAF. It is an on online resource that integrates oral history recordings with associated photographs, maps, films and text, and links to other library sources such as the catalog.

The "Railroads of Alaska Project Jukebox" has 37 historic films and provides links to 3,848 images in Alaska’s Digital Archive; in addition, the Rasmuson Library has 1,787 titles relating to railways in Alaska. The "Dog Mushing in Alaska Project Jukebox" has 15 historic film items and provides links to 1,571 images in Alaska’s Digital Archive, while the library has 761 titles related to dog mushing. The "Pioneer Aviators Jukebox" provides links to 651 images in Alaska’s Digital Archive, 82 recordings in the oral history collection and 82 film clips; the library holds 5,769 titles related to aviation.