Beverly B. Dobbs Alaska photograph album, circa 1903-1907

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Dobbs, B. B. (Beverly Bennett)
Title
Beverly B. Dobbs Alaska photograph album
Dates
circa 1903-1907 (inclusive)
Quantity
82 photographs in 1 album (1 box) ; 11" x 15"
Collection Number
PH0788
Summary
Photographs of Alaska natives, mining operations in Alaska and other Alaska subjects
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Entire collection can be viewed on the Libraries’ Digital Collections website. Permission of Visual Materials Curator is required to view originals. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

The son of a farmer, Beverly Bennett Dobbs was born in 1868 near Marshall, Missouri. At age 8, he moved with his parents to Lincoln, Neb., where he learned photography. In 1888, Dobbs moved to Bellingham, Wash., and operated a photography studio for 12 years, including a partnership in 1890-1891 with F.F. Fleming under the name Dobbs & Fleming. He married Dorothy Sturgeon of Bellingham in 1896, then moved to Nome, Alaska, in search of gold in 1900. Dobbs continued to earn his living as a photographer, and by 1903, he had formed a partnership with the photographer A.B. Kinne from San Francisco. The Dobbs & Kinne studio in Nome offered photography services and photo supplies. Dobbs photographed scenes in Nome and the Seward Peninsula and made portraits of Eskimo people (Eskimos). He was awarded a gold medal at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (St. Louis World’s Fair) in 1904 for his Eskimo photographs.

By about 1909, Dobbs had started Dobbs Alaska Moving Picture Co., making him one of the first to use motion picture film north of the Arctic Circle. He made a name for himself as a filmmaker with Atop of the World in Motion (also called Top of the World in Motion ), a collection of his motion picture travelogues detailing the Alaska gold rush. By 1911, it is probable that Dobbs was focusing only on his moving picture business; he no longer had his photography supply store, and had sold his photography negatives to the Lomen Brothers, who later issued some of his work under their name. By 1914, Dobbs had returned to Seattle and was managing the Dobbs Totem Film Company. He is listed as the cinematographer for A Romance of Seattle , a film shot in and around Seattle in 1919. In his later years he specialized in developing motion picture films in his studio at his home. During the 1930s, Dobbs photographed the fish processing operations at Pacific American Fisheries (PAF) in the Fairhaven area of Bellingham. He died at age 69 in 1937.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection consists of one photograph album with red leather cover containing photographs taken in Alaska by B.B. Dobbs. The album includes images of Alaska Natives, both studio portraits and images of Eskimos in their daily lives, showing men fishing, with dog and reindeer sleds, and with reindeer carcasses; images of mining, showing mining operations at various locations, mining camps and landscapes, and gold bars in a bank; and views of Nome and other Alaska locations.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View the digital version of the collection

Restrictions on Use

Restrictions may exist on reproduction, quotation, or publication. Contact Special Collections, University of Washington Libraries for details.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Source: Old Butte Antiques, 2006.

Processing Note

Processed by Jody Hendrickson and Marion Brown, 2008

Related Materials

See also B. B. Dobbs Alaska-Yukon Pacific Exposition photographs (Photograph collection 755) and Beverly B. Dobbs photographs (Photograph collection 323) in the Special Collections Division, University of Washington Libraries.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Container(s) Description Dates
item
1 Eskimo man dressed in parka holding a stick. (156) 1903
2 Wegaruk and her child. (346) 1905
3 Eskimo woman Nowadlook in a hide dress 1907-1908
4 Eskimo woman. (128) 1903
5 Eskimo man. (119) 1903
6 Cross-eyed Eskimo in parka wearing beaded gloves 1903
7 Taluk and her baby circa 1903-1907
8 Five Eskimo with metal buckets on a street circa 1903-1907
9 Four Eskimo girls in hide dresses. (143) 1903
10 Eskimo man in parka. (129) 1903
11 Eskimo man holding a drum, woman and child in fur coats. (184) 1903
12 Eskimo woman (184) 1903
13 Eskimo child in a parka circa 1903-1907
14 Large group of Eskimo outside a building in Nome, Alaska during reception to Governor Hoggatt July 28, 1906
15 Eskimo man, woman and child with tools circa 1903-1907
16 Tents, canoes and logs on a beach. (806) 1906
17 Men and dogs outside Eskimo cache and igloo near Cape Douglas, Alaska circa 1903-1907
18 Eskimo woman ice fishing (648) 1906
19 Eskimo reindeer driver with sled and reindeer near Nome, Alaska circa 1903-1907
20 Eskimo children outside school in Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska circa 1903-1907
21 Clothes hanging from an upturned umiak circa 1903-1907
22 Man in a native whaling boat at the edge of the ice pack in the Bering Straits circa 1903-1907
23 Two Eskimo boys skinning reindeer near Penny River, Alaska. #953 circa 1903-1907
24 Two Eskimo men with a racks of reindeer killed for the Nome market near Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska circa 1903-1907
25 Reindeer herd near Cape Prince of Wales, Alaska circa 1903-1907
26 Line of Eskimo and reindeer hauling sleds of reindeer meat to Nome market circa 1903-1907
27 Two people and a dog sled team
"Milton Weil with his malamute chorus"
circa 1903-1907
28 Man in ice field at the edge of town circa 1903-1907
29 Men and dog sled team on East Front Street in Nome, Alaska January 1907
30 Destruction in Nome, Alaska caused by a storm
"Looking west from Snake River"
circa 1903-1907
31 Ship covered in snow and ice
"One of the Mosquito Fleet in winter quarters"
circa 1903-1907
32 View down a street in Nome, Alaska circa 1903-1907
33 Nome, Alaska viewed from the ice-covered Bering Sea circa 1903-1907
34 Sloop Greyhound smashed by the ice pack January 1907
35 Warped railroad tracks and dock caused by the ice pack January 1907
36 Nome, Alaska viewed from the ice-covered Bering Sea circa 1903-1907
37 Group of men, women and dogs around an ice hummock on the Bering Sea, one mile in front of Nome, Alaska. (708) February 25, 1906
38 Two-part panorama of Nome as viewed from the ice-covered Bering Sea 1907
39 Bob Griffis, U.S. Mail Carrier, and his dog sled team one mile in front of Nome, Alaska on the Bering Sea (627) circa 1903-1907
40 Rack of drying Tom Cod near Nome, Alaska. (453) circa 1903-1907
41 Two men and a dog sled team in snow circa 1903-1907
42 People looking out over the side of a ship circa 1903-1907
43 Large ship in an icy sea. (153) circa 1903-1907
44 Sesnon Lighterage Co. crane loading passengers for the S.S. St. Paul in Nome, Alaska circa 1903-1907
45 Passengers on a barge landing at Nome, Alaska from the S.S. Ohio. (844) June 9, 1906
46 Nome life saving crew making for the disabled sloop Greyhound. (839) circa 1903-1907
47 Parade reception for Governor Hoggatt July 1906
48 Reception to Captain Roald Amundsen and Lieutenant Hansen at the Golden Gate Hotel in Nome, Alaska September 1, 1906
49 Seward Peninsula Excursion Train at Dorothy Creek with people standing on flatbed cars (816) circa 1903-1907
50 Men working near a mining sluice. (894)
"Metson Bench-Berger & Anderson Layman"
circa 1903-1907
51 Men working near a mining sluice. (879)
"The Bessie Bench"
circa 1903-1907
52 Two men standing at the Sumit Bench at the head of Dexter Creek circa 1903-1907
53 Hydraulic Mining at Daniels Creek by Top Kok Ditch Co. circa 1903-1907
54 Completed portion of ditch on Nome River, Alaska by Seward Ditch Company. (337)
"C.L. Morris, Contractor"
circa 1903-1907
55 Little Creek viewed from Portland Bench. (798) circa 1903-1907
56 Two men looking into a creek. (435)
"Tundra Mining near Jess Creek, Alaska"
circa 1903-1907
57 Three men standing on the Berger & Sullivan Drill. The first drill operated at Bluff, Alaska. circa 1903-1907
58 Four plates of gold. (789)
"One days clean up at Discovery Little Creek"
circa 1903-1907
59 Man putting gold assay buttons in furnace at the Miners and Merchants Bank in Nome, Alaska. circa 1903-1907
60 View from above a snow-covered town. (534) circa 1903-1907
61 Looking down from No 6 Above Cleary Creek, Alaska. (532) circa 1903-1907
62 Lelands Camp near Pilgrim River and Salmon Lake circa 1903-1907
63 Birds-eye view of Cleary Creek, Alaska (520) circa 1903-1907
64 Blocks, buckets and bags of gold (794)
"$1,250,00 Gold Buillion at the Miners and Merchant's Bank in Nome, Alaska"
June 10, 1906
65 Three Friends Mining Company dredge on Solomon river, Alaska. circa 1903-1907
66 Field of Alaska cotton. (185) circa 1903-1907
67 Pressed northwestern and Alaskan wild flowers circa 1903-1907
68 Eskimo graves at St. Michael, Alaska. (654) circa 1903-1907
69 Interior of a Greek Church in Unalaska. (141) circa 1903-1907
70 Wreck of the ship Sadie at Cape York, Alaska (809) circa 1903-1907
71 Russian Fort St. Michael in Alaska, established 1849 (637) circa 1903-1907
72 Street in Teller, Alaska. (819) circa 1903-1907
73 Eskimo village at Cape Prince of Wales. (798) circa 1903-1907
74a Diomede Islands viewed from the water circa 1903-1907
74b Ice floes in the arctic viewed from the deck of the U.S. Revenue Cutter Thetis August 1906
75a Eskimo Village on Little Diomede Island viewed from the water circa 1906
75b Eskimo on board the U.S. Revenue Cutter Thetis at Point Barrow, Alaska circa 1906
76a U.S. Revenue Cutter Thetis fastened to an ice flow off the Seahorse Islands August 1906
76b Furling the sails on board the U.S. Revenue Cutter Thetis circa 1906
77 Three rows of stuffed Ptarmigan of north-western Alaska. (156) circa 1903-1907
78 View of the Bering Sea near Nome, Alaska after a storm. (836) circa 1903-1907

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Eskimo children--Alaska--Photographs
  • Eskimo women--Alaska--Photographs
  • Eskimos--Alaska--Photographs
  • Fishing--Alaska--Photographs
  • Gold mines and mining--Alaska--Photographs
  • Sled dogs--Alaska--Photographs
  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)

Personal Names

  • Dobbs, B. B. (Beverly Bennett) (photographer)

Geographical Names

  • Alaska--Gold discoveries
  • Alaska--Photographs
  • Nome (Alaska)--Gold discoveries
  • Nome (Alaska)--Photographs