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O.D. Goetze Photographs and Other Material, 1898-1913

Overview of the Collection

Photographer
Goetze, O.D. (Otto Daniel)
Title
O.D. Goetze Photographs and Other Material
Dates
1898-1913 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 boxes, ( 1 linear foot)
Collection Number
1995.38
Summary
Photographs depicting mining operations, Native Alaskans and other scenes in Alaska between 1898 and 1908; regrading operations and the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle in 1909; the St. Louis, Missouri World's Fair in 1904 and depictions of other western U.S. towns. Also includes publications about Alaska, papers and ephemera.
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Biographical Note

Otto D. Goetze was born in Missouri in 1871 to a German immigrant family of twelve children. Goetze left Missouri as a young man, moving to Walla Walla, Washington, then to Oregon and later to Seattle. Goetze went to Alaska around 1898 as the Gold Rush began and established a photography studio in Nome. Though he returned to the mainland at least once during this time-- to photograph the St. Louis World's Fair in 1904--Goetze remained in Alaska photographing Gold Rush activity and Alaska natives until approximately 1908.

Goetze then moved back to Seattle, where he was proprietor of the Alaska Photo Studio from 1909 to 1912. Goetze got married in 1911 and had a daughter, Dorothy, in 1912. In 1914, the family moved to a farm in Cedar Valley. Goetze sold the farm in the 1930s as a consequence of financial difficulties related to the Depression; afterwards Goetze may have moved to Monroe, Washington.

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Content Description

The collection consists of 92 black and white photographic prints, 319 photographic postcards, a photograph album, a few publications and some papers.

The photographs consist largely of images taken in Alaska between approximately 1899 and 1908. The majority of these were taken in Nome and depict miners, mining operations and native Inupiaq and Indian people, as well as dog teams, Nome streets and steamships in Nome Harbor. Other Alaska images depict native totem poles and scenes in Wrangell and in Fort Davis, the U.S. Army outpost near Nome. A smaller number of photographs depict the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle; others document the 1909 regrading of 3rd Avenue in Seattle, including images of the old Washington Hotel.

The album includes similar images of Alaska and Seattle, as well as photographs of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair and images of towns in California, Missouri, Utah, Texas and Colorado.

The majority of the photographic postcards consists of images taken at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, including images of A.Y.P.E. buildings, grounds, parades, events and native peoples on exhibit.

The collection includes two illustrated books by Goetze about his Alaska experience, a book about the Klondike by photographer Frank La Roche, a book about Alaska published in anticipation of the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, and Alaska Steamship menus.

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Use of the Collection

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in MOHAI's online collections.

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The 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

O.D. Goetze Photographs and Other Material, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

  • Series: Photographs, circa 1898-1913
    • Subseries: Alaska, 1898-1909
    • Subseries: Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, 1909
    • Subseries: Regrade of 3rd Avenue, Seattle, Washington, 1909
    • Subseries: Miscellaneous Seattle and other towns, circa 1909-1913
  • Series: Photo Album
  • Series: Photographic postcards
    • Subseries: Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, 1909
    • Subseries: Seattle, 1909-1910 and undated
    • Subseries: Miscellaneous, 1898-1908 and undated
  • Series: Other material, 1897-1909 and undated

Location of Collection

3a.2.4-5

Acquisition Information

Donated by Dorothy Ellis, O.D. Goetze's daughter, in 1995

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Detailed Description of the Collection

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Subject Terms

  • Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909: Seattle, Wash.)
  • Eskimos--Alaska--Photographs
  • Gold miners--Alaska--Nome--Photographs
  • Indians of North America--Alaska--Photographs

Geographical Names

  • Nome (Alaska)
  • Seattle (Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph albums
  • Photographic postcards
  • Photographic prints
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