William H. Case Alaska photographs, circa 1908

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Case, W. H. (William Howard), 1868-1920
Title
William H. Case Alaska photographs
Dates
circa 1908 (inclusive)
Quantity
94 photographic prints (1 box) ; sizes vary
Collection Number
PH0300
Summary
Photographs of Alaska, including Native Americans, canning and fish processing facilities, mines, and miscellaneous scenic views
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

Access to original photographs restricted. Copy prints are available for viewing. Permission of curator required for viewing original prints. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Request at UW

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

William Howard Case was born on April 19, 1868, in Marshalltown, Iowa, and lived most of his life in South Dakota and Oregon. He came to the Klondike during the 1898 Gold Rush and secured several claims in Atlin before opening the Case and Draper photography studio with Herbert Draper, in a tent in Skagway, Alaska. In 1901, they received a contract from the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad to photograph the scenery along the route of their railway and connecting steamboats. The partners later moved their business to a two-story building in Skagway on Broadway near 4th Avenue, where they also sold photographic supplies, Alaska Native handicrafts and game specimens. In 1907, the partnership dissolved. Draper kept the business in Skagway, now Draper & Co., while Case moved to Juneau and started a new photography studio there, taking pictures under the name WH Case. In Juneau, he had three children: Howard, Alice and Madge. He was active in the community as a Mason and a Shriner until he died there suddenly on July 16, 1920. His studio was reopened after his death by E. C. Adams.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

This is a collection of the photographs taken by W.H. Case after he dissolved his partnership with Draper and opened his own studio in Juneau in 1907. The collection consists mostly of images of Native American Tlingit and Haida villages in Southeast Alaska. The rest of the images depict canning and fish processing facilities, mines, and miscellaneous scenic views (glaciers, etc.) in Southeast Alaska, circa 1908.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format.

See Native American Microfiche NA2452-2477.

Restrictions on Use

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

Preferred Citation

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

Donor: Mary Ellen Hagewood (item 76)

Processing Note

Processed by Ellie McDonnell, 2012. Processing completed by Susan Fitch, 2012.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

 

Towns in AlaskaReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Copper City and Copper Mountain, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/1 1 circa 1908
1/1 2a circa 1908
1/1 2b
Postcard of water view of Copper Mountain and buildings below, Copper Mountain, Alaska (Case 390)
Cropped image of 2a.
circa 1908
1/1 3 circa 1908
Metlakatla, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/1 4 1908
1/1 5 1908
1/1 6 circa 1908
1/1 7
Scottish missionary Father William Duncan standing on stairs in the Metlakatla Christian mission in Metlakatla, Alaska (Case 332)
Caption on photograph: Rev Wm Duncan founder of the native mission, Metlakatla, Alaska.
circa 1908
Sulzer, Alaska and Jumbo Mine
Jumbo Mine (also known as the Sulzer Mine) was a copper mine located at the foot of Mount Jumbo near the town of Sulzer, on Prince of Wales Island. It was developed by William Sulzer's Alaska Industrial Company in 1902 and was one of Alaska's largest producers of copper during its operations from 1907 to 1918.
Box/Folder item
1/1 8a circa 1908
1/1 8b
Postcard of water view of Jumbo Mine near Sulzer, Alaska (Case 361)
Same image as 8a.
circa 1908
1/1 9a circa 1908
1/1 9b
Postcard of water view of buildings and dock in Sulzer, Alaska (Case 375)
Cropped image of 9a.
circa 1908
1/1 10a circa 1908
1/1 10b
Postcard of mill at Jumbo Mine near Sulzer, Alaska (Case 391)
Same image as 10a.
circa 1908
Tonka, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/1 11 - 12 1908
Wrangell, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/1 13
View of Wrangell village, port, and boats from water (Case 242)
1908
1/1 14
Bird's-eye view of Wrangell, Alaska (Case 243)
A similar photo by Case (Case 254) resides in the John N. Cobb Photograph Collection PH Coll 418.
June 9, 1908
1/1 15 1908
1/1 16 1908
1/1 17 1908
1/1 18 June 9, 1908

Native Villages in AlaskaReturn to Top

Villages are identified here with commonly-used spellings. Photographer's spelling variations appear innotes and captions.

Container(s) Description Dates
Dry Pass
Box/Folder item
½ 19a circa 1908
½ 19b
Postcard of native graves and entrance to the Dry Pass, Alaska (Case 384)
Same image as 19a.
circa 1908
Howkan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
½ 20 circa 1908
½ 21
Haida totem poles at Howkan village, Long Island, Alaska (Case 169-N)
Caption on photo: Native town. How-kan, Alaska.
circa 1908
Klawock, Alaska
This town is currently known as Klawock. Klawak was a variation used circa 1890-1910, and no longer in use.
Box/Folder item
½ 22
View of native village of Klawock, Alaska, from water (Case 160-N)
Caption on photo: Native village, Kla-wak, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 23
View of water and islands at Klawock, Alaska (Case 541)
Caption on photo: View at Kla-wak, Alaska.
circa 1908
Klinkwan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
½ 24 circa 1908
½ 25a
Haida totems and church, Klinkwan, Alaska (Case 175-N)
Caption on photo: Native totems and church, Kling-wan Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 25b
Postcard of Haida totems and church, Klinkwan native village, Alaska (Case 383)
Same image as 25a.
Caption on photo: Old totems and church Kling-wan Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 26a
Haida bear totem and buildings at Klinkwan, Alaska (Case 170-N)
Caption on photo: Totem at Kling-wan, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 26b
Post-card of close-up of Haida bear totem at Klinkwan, Alaska (Case 380)
Cropped version of 26a.
Caption on photo: Bear totem Kling-wan, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 27
Close-up of Haida bear totem at Klinkwan, Alaska (Case 173-N)
Caption on photo: Bear totem Kling-wan, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 28a
View of Klinkwan native village from the water, Klakas Inlet, Alaska (Case 165-N)
Caption on photo: Kling-wan native village, Klakas Inlet, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 28b
Postcard of view of Klinkwan native village from the water, Klakas Inlet, Alaska. (Case 382)
Same image as 28a.
Caption on photo: Native village, Kling-wan, Alaska.
circa 1908
Shakan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
½ 29a
Water view of Tlingit town Shakan, Alaska (Case 161-N)
Caption on photo: Native town Sha-kan, Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 29b
Postcard of water view of Tlingit town Shakan, Alaska. (Case 381)
Same image as 29a.
Caption on photo: Native town Sha-kan, Alaska.
circa 1908
Sukkwan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
½ 30a
Old Sukkwan native village and totem poles, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska (Case 168-N)
Caption on photo: Old Suk-kwan native village. Suk-Kwan Narrows, Alaska.
Circa 1908
½ 30b
Postcard of old Sukkwan village and totem poles, on the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, Alaska (Case 367)
Same image as 30a.
Caption on photo: Old Suck-kwan native village, west coast Prince of Wales Is. Alaska.
circa 1908
½ 31 circa 1908
Tuxekan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
½ 32a circa 1908
½ 32b
Postcard of boat, buildings, and totems at old Tuxekan native village, Alaska, from water (Case 379)
Same image as 32a.
circa 1908
½ 33a circa 1908
½ 33b
Postcard of view of old Tuxekan village from water (Case 366)
Same image as 33a.
circa 1908
½ 34a circa 1908
½ 34b
Postcard of grave of Skah-owa, the Fire-eating Medicine Man, at Tuxekan, Alaska (Case 364)
Same image as 34a.
circa 1908
½ 35, 36 circa 1908
½ 37 circa 1908

Canneries, Sawmills, and Smelting OperationsReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Fish Egg Island, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 38 circa 1908
1/3 39 circa 1908
1/3 40 circa 1908
Fish traps
Box/Folder item
1/3 41 circa 1908
1/3 42 circa 1908
1/3 43 circa 1908
Hadley, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 44 circa 1908
Hunter Bay, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 45 circa 1908
1/3 46 circa 1908
1/3 47a circa 1908
1/3 47b
Postcard of NWF Co. plant and ship, from water, Hunter Bay, Alaska (Case 387)
Same image as 47a.
circa 1908
1/3 48 circa 1908
1/3 49 circa 1908
1/3 50
An "iron chink" machine. N.W.F. Co. Cannery, Hunter Bay, Alaska. (Case 522)
An "iron chink" is a machine that cuts fish. Before this machine came into use, Chinese laborers were primarily responsible for this task in many canneries, so the machine was named using a pejorative word for Chinese people, "chink."
circa 1908
Kasaan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 51 1908
1/3 52 circa 1908
Ketchikan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 53 1908
1/3 54 1908
1/3 55 circa 1908
1/3 56 circa 1908
1/3 57 circa 1908
1/3 58 circa 1908
Klawock, Alaska
This town is currently known as Klawock. Klawak was a variation used circa 1890-1910, and no longer in use.
Box/Folder item
1/3 59 circa 1908
1/3 60
N.P.T. & P. Co. cannery buildings and dock in Klawak, Alaska (Case 524)
Caption on photo: N.P.T. Co. cannery, Klawak, Alaska.
circa 1908
Shakan, Alaska
Box/Folder item
1/3 61 circa 1908
1/3 62 circa 1908
1/3 63 circa 1908
1/3 64 circa 1908
1/3 65a circa 1908
1/3 65b
Postcard of Sha-Kan Salmon Co. gas boat towing a scow of salmon in Shakan, Alaska (Case 385)
Same image as 65a.
circa 1908

Hunting camp in Big John Bay, AlaskaReturn to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Box/Folder item
1/5 78 circa 1908

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photographic prints

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Visual Materials Collections (University of Washington)