History

Author Mary Ehrlander discusses her biography on the remarkable Irish-Athabascan and first known person to summit Mount Denali, Walter Harper.

Ray Troll joins us again with co-author Kirk Johnson to discuss the science side of their book, Cruising the Fossil Coast Line.

Curator Steve Henrikson helps us celebrate the moon landing anniversary with an interesting lecture on the landing and Alaska’s missing moon rocks.

Andrew T. Washburn discusses the history and importance of lighthouses in Alaska.

Photographer David Michael Kennedy takes us through his long and remarkable career. *WARNING: Some of the language in this video may be considered insensitive or disturbing by some viewers.

Artist and canoe carver Michael Beasley and curator Steve Henrikson take us on an exploration of traditional Tlingit, Haida, and Tsimshian canoe design and construction.

Author Kathleen Witkowska Tarr discusses her book We Are All Poets Here, as well as an interesting look into the life of Thomas Merton.

Ken Coates, co-author of The Sinking of the Princess Sophia: Taking the North Down with Her, discusses the book and looks back at the disaster. First published in 1990, the book is still the definitive history of the 1918 shipwreck that took the lives of all 353 people onboard.

Alaskan artist Ray Troll shares information about the fascinating creatures featured in Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline. From pachyrhinosaurus to Matanuska ammonites to ichthyosaurs, the fossil coastline is full of amazing animals large and small.

By 1974, Jay Hammond had put in 12 years as a state representative, senator, and senate president. Despite his ambivalence about being a politician, Hammond went on to be a two-term governor who oversaw the creation of the Alaska Permanent Fund, the dividend program and, to his chagrin, the repeal of the personal income tax.