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: Maria and Gust Alexson Photographs

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2013.057

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: circa 1931?

Extent: 2 items

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Maria Kinnunen Alexson

Administrative/Biographical History:
Maria Kinnunen sailed from her home country of Finland to San Francisco in 1906, and met her
future husband, Gust Alexson, on the ship. Gust had been visiting relatives and was returning to
Alaska, where he had been engaged in gold mining at Nome. They married in 1909 in Nome,
and spent the next two decades running a boarding house in winter and prospecting for gold in
summer. In 1931, they returned to Finland for a visit and then relocated to Seattle upon their
return to the United States.

Scope and Content Description:
Two black-and-white photographs, one a photographic postcard showing Maria Alexson in a
fur parka, mittens, and boots, annotated in Finnish and English on the verso; and the other a
family group portrait, with three men, three women, and two children in sleds in front of two
houses, possibly in Finland, annotated in Finnish on recto.

Arrangement: Not applicable

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:
Maria and Gust Alexson Photographs, Anchorage Museum, B2013.057

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Donated by the families of Audrey Fredensburg and Dorothy Reif in July 1999. Transferred to
the archives in June 2013.

Separated Materials
Photos were donated along with 21 objects, which remained in Collections.

RELATED MATERIALS
1999.044.001-.021

SUBJECTS
Alexson, Maria Kinnunen
Alexson, Gustavo
Finnish Americans—Alaska

Guide written: June 11, 2013