James A. Alexander, better known as “Smokey”, was born February 11, 1918 in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from high school in 1936 in Great Falls, Montana and attended the University of Montana in Missoula (then called Montana State University), where he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon Fraternity in 1940. In the same year, Alexander became one of the seven original US Forest Service smokejumpers, and made the second jump in the history of the organization. In 1941, Alexander married Dorothy Taylor, and they had their daughter, Denise Lynn Alexander, in 1950. James A. Alexander died June 23, 2014 in Boise, Idaho.
This collection consists of material collected by James A. Alexander pertinent to his days in the Alpha Chapter of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity at the University of Montana, then called Montana State University, in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and subsequent reunions between the members in the 1980s. Alexander’s fraternal diploma, membership card, photographs, and ephemera from the 1930s and 1940s are included. Correspondence, photos, bulletins, newsletters, and news articles related to later member reunions and activities in the 1980s and 1990s is more substantial. There is also some material related to Alexander's smokejumping career in the 1940s, including a parachute log, reports, and clippings.
This collection is arranged in two series:
Series I: Sigma Phi Epsilon, 1939-1997, 9 folders
Series II: Smokejumping, 1940-1994, 2 folders
Researchers must use collection in accordance with the policies of Archives and Special Collections, the Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, and the University of Montana-Missoula.
Researchers are responsible for using in accordance with 17 U.S.C. and any other applicable statutes. Copyright not transferred to the University of Montana.
James A. Alexander Papers, Archives and Special Collections, Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library, the University of Montana-Missoula.
This collection was held by the creator until his death in 2014, when it was aquired by his daughter Denise Bittner.
Portions of the collection were donated to the Archives in 2003, 2012, and 2016 by Alexander and Bittner.
Materials were arranged chronologically and by subject by the processor.
The
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Photographs, correspondence, ephemera, and other material related to Alexander's involvement with the Sigma Phi Epislon fraternity at the University of Montana, spanning his time as a student in the 1940s to his alumni activities in the 1980s and 1990s.
This series is arranged chronologically.
This series includes a parachute log and reports on aerial fire control for the U.S. Forest Service from Alexander's time as a smokejumper in the 1940s, as well as clippings related to his smokejumping activities.
This series is arranged chronologically.