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: Sara Piasecki, Photo Archivist

TITLE: John Mull III Alaskan Earthquake Reflections

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2012.036

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: 1964, 2012

Extent: 24 items

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): John P. Mull III

Administrative/Biographical History:
John P. Mull II was 17 years old and a junior at West Anchorage High School at the time of the
1964 Good Friday Earthquake. His father, John P. Mull, Jr., was Federal Bureau of
Investigation Special Agent in Charge for the State of Alaska at the time.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection consists of 23 35mm color slides and a fifteen-page typescript memoir illustrated
with five copy prints of photographs showing earthquake damage in Anchorage, Alaska. Mull
describes his experience of the earthquake and its aftermath, as well as the activities of the FBI
in Anchorage in the days immediately following the disaster. For more information on the
images, see Detailed Description of Collection.

Arrangement: Arranged by format.

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. A light box may be
used to view the transparencies.

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:
John Mull III Alaskan Earthquake Reflections, Anchorage Museum, B2012.036

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Manuscript donated by John P. Mull III in December 2012. In March 2013, the donor sent
digital copies of photographs, including two of a Japanese delegation that visited Anchorage in
the summer of 1964; these copies were not accessioned and were added to the collection for
reference only. Original 35mm slides were received in October 2013 and accessioned as an
addendum to collection.

RELATED MATERIALS
CIHS McCutcheon Collection, B1964.x.006
AHFAM Earthquake Photographs, B1969.011
Betty Bannon Collection, B1970.015
Zappa Earthquake Papers, B1972.060
Portage Earthquake Photographs, B1973.070
Patricia Mayo Earthquake Time Ticket, B1974.013
Kroninger Photograph Collection, B1976.118
Army Corps of Engineers 1964 Earthquake Photographs, B1977.118
Corps of Engineers 1964 Earthquake Photographs, B1979.038
Woodman Photograph Collection, B1980.027
McDermott Collection, B1987.083
Ron Aldrin Earthquake Slides, B1994.024
Sanborn Recording of 1964 Earthquake, B1997.023
Anchorage Chamber of Commerce Collection, B2002.002
Charles Koppel 1964 Earthquake Collection, B2002.008
Norman Campbell Photographs, B2005.041
Bronitsky Letter, B2006.021
4th and H St. Demolition Collection, B2007.002
Opal Myers 1964 Earthquake Collection, B2007.003
Christenson Slide collection, B2007.016
Bangkok Embassy Teletype Collection, B2009.044
Truth Coven Gray Earthquake Album, B2009.056

Kleihauer Slide Collection, B2010.004
Johnny Sartor Collection, B2010.020
Langford-Ose Photograph Collection, B2011.002
Kenneth C. Allen Earthquake Slides, B2012.027
Jean Kaufman Earthquake Photographs, B2012.032

SUBJECTS
Mull, John P., III
United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation—History
Alaska Earthquake, Alaska, 1964
Earthquakes--Alaska—Anchorage
Anchorage (Alaska)

Detailed Description of the Collection

Photographs illustrating manuscript
1.1 – The back of Hillside Apartments, p. 4
1.2 – James Painter’s home on the bluff in Turnagain, p. 9
1.3 – Salvage of Frazier apartment, p. 11
1.4 – Fake damage, p. 12
1.5 – Building prior to fake damage, p. 13

35mm slides
[Captions provided by donor]
2.1-2.2 - West Anchorage High School
2.3-2.4 - Hillside Apartments - The room with the windows hanging was the apartment of FBI
Special Agent James Frazier
2.5 - The J C Penney's Building
2.6-2.8 - Houses along W 9th Avenue across from the Tennis Courts at Delaney Park Strip. #7
shows a dump truck filling in a crack to allow the road to be reopened. #8 shows an impassable
part of the road yet to be worked on.
2.9 - FBI Special Agent Peyton stands in front of the seven story Four Seasons Apartment
building. The first residents were to move in the following day.
2.10-2.12 - Salvage operations along 4th Avenue.
2.13-2.14 - 4th Avenue Denali Theatre - Special Agent Peyton stands in front.
2.15 - Turnagain showing the high tide coming in to reclaim the land, homes and trees that slid
out on the mud flats. A most remarkable shot.
2.16 - Turnagain Homes - The trees show the topography of the ground that settled in all
directions.
2.17-2.18 - Home of the FBI's Chief Clerk. It shows the soil of the Turnagain area was a
mixture of hard clay and soft sand. During the shaking the hard clay remained rigid where the
soft sand was shaken away leaving the house vulnerable and exposed. The house appears to be
sound but after a week of continuous aftershocks the house too was lost over the edge
2.19-2.23 - Houses in Turnagain showing evidence that a bulldozer had been sent into the area
to make access roads so the residence could get back in and begin salvage operations. The
unknown man in photo 23 was a resident of the area.


Guide updated: October 8, 2013