Alaska State Archives

Overview

The Alaska State Archives is the official repository for permanently valuable records of Alaska state government, operating within the Division of Libraries, Archives, and Museums under the Department of Education and Early Development. It preserves government records and makes them available to researchers, state agencies, and the public in a secure and professional manner.

History

The Alaska Legislature established the State Archives in 1970, and it opened to the public in 1972. Under an agreement with the National Archives, federal records were transferred into its custody at founding, including District (1884-1912) and Territorial (1912-1959) Governors' papers and District and Territorial court records. In 2014, following the closure of the National Archives' Anchorage branch, additional federal records were transferred to the State Archives, including further court records and the records of the Alaska Railroad Corporation (established 1914). As of 2016, the Archives held roughly 25,000 cubic feet of records, the largest archival collection in Alaska.

Collections, Holdings, and Publications

The Archives administers the Records & Information Management Service (RIMS), which consults with state agencies on records retention and disposition, and oversees storage contracts for more than 130,000 cubic feet of non-current state records. Its holdings include genealogical material such as birth, marriage, death, and probate records dating to the mid-1800s (over 1.1 million documents digitized in partnership with FamilySearch.org), roughly 40,000 digitized items of historic Alaska Governors' correspondence, and historic maps such as an 1867 survey of Sitka properties tied to the Treaty of Cession. The Archives is a contributing partner to Alaska's Digital Archives.

Access and Usage

The Alaska State Archives is located in the Andrew P. Kashevaroff (APK) Building in Juneau, alongside the Alaska State Library and Museum. It is open to researchers Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., by appointment.