REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Bruce Merrell, museum volunteer

TITLE: Joseph A. Gross Photographs

COLLECTION NUMBER: B1999.011

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1950-1953; 1961

Extent: 1 box, .4 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Joseph A. Gross

Administrative/Biographical History:
Joseph A. Gross was born February 18, 1918 near Napoleon, North Dakota. After working on
ranches around the Big Hole Basin in Montana he attended college, receiving degrees in
economics from the University of Montana and in education from Bridgewater State College,
Massachusetts. He taught school in Wise River and Wisdom, Montana, before moving to
Alaska in 1950. He taught in Copper Center and Woody Island near Kodiak in the early 1950s.

Gross worked for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service during the summers of 1951-53, first at
Karluk where he was a stream guard and later on the Kenai Peninsula.

In 1952 he moved to Anchorage and began teaching and serving as principal at the military
bases there. He also taught in Shelton, Washington, and Cohasset, Massachusetts. Joseph
Gross retired in 1977. He had four children, and died in Anchorage on December 31, 1991.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 196 photographic prints, most black & white, several of them color,
plus 11 negatives and one envelope with a recipe for bear meat. The images are mainly from
1950-53 when Joseph Gross worked in remote Alaskan communities including Woody Island,
Karluk, and Copper Center, plus views of Valdez, Chitina, and Kalgin Island. There are also

images at English Bay (Nanwalek) taken in 1961. Notable images are of Woody Island
students, beach seining activities at Karluk, several color images of Karluk village including a
religious procession, and dead bald eagles, presumably killed for bounty payment.

Arrangement: Arranged by location and chronologically.

CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Original items in good condition.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Anchorage
Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not necessarily hold
copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may
require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation:
Joseph A. Gross Photographs, Anchorage Museum, B1999.011

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information:
The collection was donated to the museum by Joseph Gross’s former wife, Nancy Gross, who
died in Anchorage on December 1, 2001.

SUBJECTS
Eagles
Salmon fishing—Alaska—Karluk
Woody Island (Alaska)
Kodiak (Alaska)
Karluk (Alaska)
Copper Center (Alaska)
Valdez (Alaska)
Chitina (Alaska)
English Bay (Alaska)
Native Village of Nanwalek (Alaska)

Detailed Description of the Collection

B1/F1 Woody Island, Kodiak—1950-51 school year

 1 —.14—[students and staff, picnic on beach]
 15 —[children and adults—Woody Island?]
 16 —same as image .15
 17 —[two unidentified men and Joseph Gross—Kodiak?]
 18 —[Joseph Gross—in front of fishing boat Tippy]
 19 —[man with cigar, standing on boat]
 20 —[Joseph Gross, standing on boat; same as image .167]
 21 —[Joseph Gross, standing in front of door labeled “WOMEN”]
 22 —[unidentified man in front of store with totem houseposts]
 23 —[Joseph Gross, standing in front of store with totem houseposts]
 24 —[Native children and adults—same as images .15 and .16]
 25 —[Kodiak waterfront, tank farm]
 26 —[Woody Island?]
 27 —[FAA housing, Woody Island?]
 28 —[Three Sisters, Kodiak Island]
 29 —.30—[beach views]
 31 —[Kodiak street scene, out of focus]
 32 —[beach view]
 33 —[view of islands from moving boat]
 34 —[beach view, boat passing]
 35 —[pier with fishing boat, skiff pulled up on beach]
 36 —.37—[Woody Island?]
 38 —[man and women, large truck, Woody Island?]
 39 —[Joseph Gross, standing on dock, fishing boat below]
 40 —[people on dock above fishing boats, Kodiak]
 41 —[bearded man holding bunch of grass, standing on beach; color, processed June 9, 1952]
 41a —Fossil Beach / Kodiak 1950; [have negative] B1/F2 Karluk—1951 summer (stream guard)
 42 —[religious procession on hillside above village; color print processed June 9, 1952]
 43 —.44—[views of Karluk canneries on spit; color prints processed June 9, 1952]
 45 —.46—[dead marine mammal on beach]
 47 —[beach scene]
 48 —.51—[views of Karluk buildings on spit]
 52 —[Karluk, Ascension of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Chapel 1 ]
 53 —[Joseph Gross, leaning on driftwood or rock]
 54 —[steamship at pier]
 55 —[view of village]
 56 —[beach scene]
 57 —.60—[seine boats brailing salmon]
 61 —Karluk [fisherman using fish peugh to offload salmon from small seiner to adjacent dory] 1 For more on the history of this, “the oldest extant Russian Orthodox church in Alaska,” see Alison K. Hoagland, Buildings of Alaska, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), p. 289.
 62 —.63—[Karluk spit]
 64 —[beach seining]
 65 —[unidentified steamship]
 66 —[beach seining]
 67 —[Karluk spit, church visible at lower right]
 68 —[beach seining]
 69 —[winter, Karluk?]
 70 —[Karluk spit, showing pedestrian bridge]
 71 —[seiners brailing, one boat named Peggy L]
 72 —[Karluk]
 73 —[Karluk? From fish trap?]
 74 —[beach, many fishing boats lying offshore]
 75 —[Karluk spit]
 76 —[seiners next to shore]
 77 —[fishing boats near shore]
 78 —Don Hutchings, Pete, Bill, Native kid / 7/13/51, 3:00pm / Karluk, Alaska [faded Polaroid image, Joseph Gross kneeling in center] B1/F3 Copper Center, Valdez, Chitina—1951-52 school year
79 —[snowy road with sign hanging above, “Copper Center Roadhouse,” building in distance; color print processed June 9, 1952]
 80 —[buildings, Copper Center?]
 81 —.82—[snowy scenes through auto windshield—Thompson Pass?]
83 —2/’52, Copper Center, Mr. [illegible—man and woman sitting on couch]
 84 —Near Valdez / Feb 1952 [Keystone Canyon?]
 85 —Near Valdez / Feb 1952 [Alaska Road Commission buildings and trucks]
 86 —[road and tripod power poles—Thompson Pass?]
 87 —[men and boys with fuel drums, winter]
88 —Copper Center School / 1949 & 50?
 89 —[men and boys with fuel drums, winter]
 90 —[small log cache, winter]
 91 —.92—[winter scenes; have negative for image .92]
 93 —11/1951 Valdez [Thompson?] Pass / Hank Lund
 94 —[Joseph Gross, standing in snow]
 95 —.96—[lake and hills]
 97 —Oct 1951 Copper Center Mrs. ______man and _______ (illegible); [woman and bicycle in front of tarpaper shack on skids]
 98 —[students and Joseph Gross in winter; have negative]
 99 —[Joseph Gross on mountain ridge; have negative]
 100 —[student in winter—with water buckets?; have negative]
 101 —[Joseph Gross and students with fuel drums; have negative]
 102 —[students—whole school?]
 103 —[building with sign: “Chitina Townsite / Lots sold on easy terms / For further information apply to “, and in foreground, large copper nugget? labeled “Weight 4000”]
 104 —[remnant of railroad track, on edge of lake at Chitina?]
 105 —[Joseph Gross standing in front of moose antler mount on building]
 106 —[Joseph Gross wearing hat and tie, winter]
 107 —[two-dog team and sled with Native driver, and Joseph Gross]
 108 —.109—[two-dog team and sled with Native driver]
 110 —[mountains viewed from airplane]
 111 —[open water on frozen river]
 112 —[frozen waterfall—Keystone Canyon?]
 113 —[man standing by truck loaded with fuel drums and propane tanks; light-damaged image]
 114 —[view from dock, looking into town of Valdez; light-damaged image]
 115 —[Valdez street scene, viewed through car windshield; light-damaged image] B1/F4 U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service: Seward, Kenai Peninsula—Summer 1952, 1953
 116 —.119—[farm buildings, out of focus]
 120 —[German shepherd dog in front of house, out of focus]
 121 —6/8/53 Kaligon [Kalgin] Island—Packer Lake boat & gear _______ (illegible) [Joseph Gross and inflatable raft with motor]
 122 —[Joseph Gross, truck, Quonset hut]
 123 —[unidentified man by building]
 124 —[buildings]
 125 —[truck and building]
 126 —6/9/53 Anchorage warehouse put away gear after Kaligon [Kalgin] Island trip [hip boots and gear in front of building, Grumman Widgeon airplanes in background]
 127 —Widgeon at Packers Lake on Kaligon [Kalgin] Island, unloading gear [Grumman Widgeon airplane, double-exposure]
 128 —[view of gravel road, taken out truck window]
 129 —[view of lake, airplane taking off in distance]
 130 —[Quonset hut with arctic entry]
 131 —[lake and mountains]
 132 —6/9/53 Anchorage at FWS [Fish & Wildlife Service] warehouse & glass boat Wizard (trade name)
 133 —[fish weir on small creek]
 134 —Sept 1951 / Keni sheep on mt side B1/F5 English Bay (Nanwalek)—July 1961 [all images out of focus]
 135 —[shack; identified in 2014 as the Fish and Game building]
136 —[rock with carved letters: “R G M A G O ? 3 T B”; in 2014, identified as possibly cornerstone of Russian Orthodox Church?]
 137 —[shoreline from airplane; in 2014, identified as aerial view of Nanwalek]
 138 —[beach, driftwood; in 2014, identified as Nanwalek, point at left as Coal Point]
 139 —[beach, shack in distance; in 2014, identified as Nanwalek beach looking north]
 140 —[beach, shack in foreground; in 2014, identified as Nanwalek before the airport was built, house belonged to Joe Tanape]
 141 —[beach, trees; in 2014, identified as beach on south side of Nanwalek] B1/F6 Miscellaneous
 142 —Tanana C.A.A. [Civil Aeronautics Authority] Our house is the middle one on the right. Village & hospital are beyond.
 143 —[Standard Oil tanker Alaska Standard]
 144 —[view of beached barge and shoreline]
 145 —[view from boat]
 146 —[Joseph Gross rowing wooden skiff]
 147 —[man and woman on sidewalk—Kodiak?]
 148 —[group of children]
 149 —[Joseph Gross and tarpaper shack]
 150 —[residence and school?]
 151 —[man in suit, child with ball]
 152 —[mountains, view from airplane]
 153 —[girls with cow on beach—Woody Island?]
 154 —[two women]
 155 —[two girls and Joseph Gross]
 156 —[two boys]
 157 —[woman]
 158 —[boy and cow, building in background—Woody Island?]
 159 —[two boys]
 160 —[two girls—with Easter baskets?]
 161 —[two girls—with Easter baskets?]
 162 —[young man sitting on dorm room bed, airplane pictures and tennis racket on walls]
 163 —[young man on dorm room bed]
 164 —[girl]
 165 —[girl]
 166 —[Joseph Gross standing on beach—Woody Island?]
 167 —[Joseph Gross standing on boat; same as image .20]
 168 —[older girl]
 169 —171–[water and beach views; have negatives for images .169 and .170]
 172 —[group of children]
 173 —[three small children; date-stamped February 1951]
 174 —[group of boys, holding baskets?]
 175 —[group of students]
 176 —[two boys with baskets]
 177 —[three children with woman]
 178 —[group of children with baskets]
 179 —[children, snowball fight]
 180 —[children playing jump rope, school in background]
 181 —[boat porthole; have negative]
 182 —[cattle, trees]
 183 —[remains of ship on sandy beach]
 184 —Joseph A. Gross [standing in front of wall tent]
 185 —Joseph A. Gross
 186 —[boat wake, shore; in 2014, identified as area outside Seldovia]
 187 —[log bridge]
 188 —[boy with rifle and dead immature bald eagle] 2
 189 —[Joseph Gross with dead immature bald eagle]
 190 —[spawning salmon?]
 191 —[view from moving boat; in 2014, identified as area outside Seldovia]
 192 —[wall tent]
 193 —[child playing, man fishing in stream]
 194 —[man fishing in stream]
 195 —Joseph A. Gross [with large king salmon on commercial fishing boat]
 196 —[salmon in purse seine net]
 197 —[negative, no print: woman seated, head cropped out of frame]
 198 —[negative, no print: building exterior, dual exposure]
 199 —[recipe for bear meat, written on air mail envelope]: 100 lbs bear meat 8 lbs cloth [?] 4 lbs sugar 2 oz baking soda 2 oz saltpeter Salt meat in layers in keg [?] Let stand overnite Make solution of saltpeter salt & sugar in 1 gal of warm water let stand overnite Next day pour solution over meat—after a few days drain & ___ it take ___ blood replace fluid ___ Ready for use in 4 to 6 hrs [?] Guide updated: December 3, 2014 2 A bounty on bald eagles was paid by the Alaska territorial government from 1917 to 1952.