Tag: Seldovia Museum
In Our Own Words
by Jan Yaeger
Seldovia Village Tribe Launches Community Oral History Project Preserving Seldovia’s Photos, Films and Memories
Do you know your family’s stories? Have you thought about how to pass them down to future generations? Do you have family photographs and slides that you wonder how to protect, or old VHS tapes or family films that you can’t watch anymore because they are deteriorating or you don’t have the equipment? The Seldovia Museum has an answer!
If you have a post office box in Seldovia, you may remember getting a survey in the mail about a year ago, asking about your potential interest in an oral history project the Seldovia Museum was hoping to do. We got a terrific response, showing strong support from the community of Seldovia, and we are thrilled to tell you that this project was awarded funding from the Institute for Museum & Library Services. The project, called “In Our Own Words”, is now underway!
There are several parts to this project. We are surveying recordings we already have, as well as gearing up to do new interviews and add material, such as historical photos and video, to our archives. But this is truly a community project: although our main goal is to record the many stories and images of Seldovia for the public, we also want to assist community members in preserving your own Seldovia-related stories, photos, videos, and audio recordings. We can Continue Reading
Seldovia Museum Mystery for February and January’s Reveal!
by Jan Yaeger
Maybe it’s the weirdly warm weather, or maybe it’s just that time of year, but around Seldovia, fisherfolk are starting to work on nets for the upcoming fishing season. So January turned out to be a great time to ask about fishing floats. Thanks to Rod Hilts and Rick Harkness, who gave great information about not only the wooden ‘corkline’ line floats pictured in our January Mystery, but about other types of floats as well.
Rick tells us wooden floats were made of Port Orford cedar, favored for its rot-resistance. The floats were given extra protection by hot-dipping them yearly in paraffin wax to seal them, which would help prevent softening and splitting as well as rot. Cotton nets were also subject to rot, and were dipped in ‘bluestone’ (copper sulfate) to deter bacterial and algal growth. Wooden floats were phased out in the late 1940s and early 1950s, and cotton gillnet is also a thing of the past. But Rick brought us a fabulous gift, donating an unused shackle of cotton gillnet as well as several spools of mending twine. They are a great addition to our Museum collection. Thanks, Rick!
If you have a mystery for us, please contact Jan at 435-3245!
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February’s Monthly Mystery at the Seldovia Museum is about… March. Specifically, March 27, 1964, and the Good Friday Earthquake that so dramatically changed the face of Seldovia. Next month brings the 50th anniversary of this event, and we are in search of the stories of those who experienced it. Were you here, or perhaps you remember hearing about that day from a friend or family member?!
The Seldovia Museum would like to mount a temporary exhibit in March and April that features the memories of those who experienced the earthquake, either here in Seldovia or elsewhere. Would you be willing to share your story with us? You can write it down, send an email, or come visit us and just talk. Or if you prefer, we’d be happy to come to you! Contact Jan at jyaeger@svt.org, or by phone at 435-3245, or stop in at the Museum office on the top floor of the ATC. Or you can come by the Museum Tuesdays and Thursdays between 1:00 pm and 5:00 pm – our doors are open!
Where were you during the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake?
Storyteller Jack Dalton is Coming to Seldovia!
by Jan Yaeger
Tuesday, Nov. 26, 7:00 pm
SVT Conference Center
The Seldovia Museum is thrilled to announce that award-winning Alaskan storyteller, author, playwright and actor Jack Dalton will be giving a free storytelling concert in Seldovia on Tuesday, November 26.
Jack is famous for his humorous and engaging stories that are appropriate for all ages.
He has traveled all over the world, sharing stories that are rooted in his Yup’ik heritage but appeal to people of every culture. Jack has been honored as one of Alaska’s “Top 40 under Forty”, and received the very first Expressive Arts grant awarded by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian.
Jack will perform for the students at Susan B. English School during the day, and then give a storytelling concert for the public at 7:00 pm at the SVT Conference Center (upper floor of the ATC building on the Bay side). Thanks to generous sponsorship from the Institute for Museum & Library Services, the Seldovia Museum is able to offer this fantastic evening for free. Refreshments will be provided as well.
Don’t Miss This Great Event!
Come enjoy an evening celebrating laughter,
life and our wonderful Alaska heritage!
For more information, contact Jan at jyaeger@svt.org or 435-3245.
