Judge Anthony J. Dimond, Circa 1950. Anchorage Museum Archive.
Creating Alaska:
Origins of the 49th State
Continues through Jan. 3, 2010
As a companion to Life in Alaska Leading to Statehood, the museum offers an encore of 2005’s Creating Alaska: Origins of the 49th State. The exhibit was designed to honor the 50th anniversary of the Alaska Constitution.
The exhibit – which covers the entire south wall of the museum’s second floor – chronicles every major statehood landmark from Seward’s Folly (the purchase of Alaska in 1867) to the day Alaska’s star was added to Old Glory in 1959.
Steve and Phyllis McCutcheon standing in front of their store, March 4, 1953. Anchorage Museum McCutcheon Collection.
Life in Alaska Leading to Statehood
Continues through Jan. 3, 2010
The Anchorage Museum’s new exhibition, Life in Alaska Leading to Statehood, re-creates the decade through photographs and objects such as Anchorage High School yearbooks, statehood ballots, household goods, toys and advertisements.
In addition to its nostalgic appeal, the exhibit also contains information that may surprise even longtime Alaskans. “Not a lot of people know that John F. Kennedy was here,” Knapp said. On view is a photo that shows Kennedy with a donkey at the 1960 state fair in Palmer.
History buffs and those with curious minds will appreciate this exhibit’s insight, while baby boomers and their families will delight in this trip down memory lane.
An Expanded View:
Design for the Museum’s Future
Continues through Aug. 23
“An Expanded View: Design for the Museum’s Future” employs 3-D models, conceptual drawings, building material samples and photographs to demonstrate the breadth and scope of the project. The exhibit begins with historic photos of the original 1968 museum building and its subsequent expansions. Text and models relay the vision of architect David Chipperfield, while drawings illuminate design of the grounds by Charles Anderson Landscape Architecture and the Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center exhibit design by Ralph Appelbaum Associates. “An Expanded View” also features models of what’s still to come in 2010.
Alaska Scouts leaving Attu Island
and heading to scout the
Semichl Islands, May 27, 1943.
Photo Courtesy of Jim Reardon.
Castner’s Cutthroats:
Forgotten Warriors
Continues through Jan. 3, 2010
Second floor atrium
When Japan captured and occupied two Aleutian Islands, a group of Alaska military scouts sneaked onto those islands and gathered the intelligence necessary for the U.S. Army to regain control. The Alaska scouts were officially known as the First Combat Intelligence Platoon, but most knew the group by its nickname, Castner’s Cutthroats—a nod to the platoon’s commander, Col. Lawrence Castner, and his soldiers’ less than-spit-and-polish appearance.
The exhibit, a collaboration with the Alaska Veterans Memorial Museum, brings these heroes to the front lines of history through photographs, video, military and civilian objects, and oral histories.
Gold
Continues through Aug. 2
The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center will open its new wing with an outrageous traveling exhibit called Gold that is going to dazzle summer visitors with more than 300 gold objects. The exhibit, curated by the American Museum of Natural History, includes a gold-plated room. Doubloons from sunken Spanish galleons. Jewelry from Hellenistic Greece. Susan Sarandon’s Oscar. A scale that reveals visitors’ weight in gold, and much, much more.
The Anchorage Museum will add an Alaska-specific gold exhibit titled Pay Dirt! explaining why there is gold in Alaska, how gold has historically affected the state’s economy and what life was like during the Gold Rush.
Gold is a ticketed exhibition. Tickets are $12 adults, $7 members and $5 ages 3 to 17 in addition to museum admission. Gold is on view through Aug. 2, 2009.
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(detail) Ice fishing in the Bering Strait region, 1916, Anchorage Museum B70.28.190
Winter in the Great Land
Continues through Sept. 27
It’s been said the only two constants in life are death and taxes: In Alaska, there’s also winter. The photographs in this exhibit show how Alaskans have coped with winter from the 19th century into recent years. These images from the Anchorage Museum’s permanent collection depict various forms of recreation, as well as the serious business of staying alive in extreme conditions.
