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The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project

Author: Helen Hegener

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-08

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 9780984397785

In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 200 families from the Great Depression-stricken upper midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment. The 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, subtitled "The Remarkable History of a New Deal Experiment in Alaska," shares the enduring legacy of this all-but-forgotten chapter in American history, when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens, offering Depression-distraught farm families an opportunity to start over in a far-off land with government financing and support. The Matanuska Colony was not the only government rural rehabilitation project; it was in fact only one of a multitude of complex, ambitious and controversial programs initiated under Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal Federal Rural Development Program, and other resettlement projects included Dyess Colony, Arkansas; Arthurdale, West Virginia; the Phoenix Homesteads in Arizona; and similar colonies in over a dozen other states. Although fraught with inevitable bureaucratic entanglements, frustrating delays, and a variety of other distractions, the Matanuska Colony actually thrived for the most part, and nearly 200 families remained to raise their families and make their permanent homes in Alaska. Highways were built, the wide Matanuska and Knik Rivers were bridged, and the town of Palmer became the center of commerce and society in the Valley. By 1948, production from the Colony Project farms provided over half of the total Alaskan agricultural products sold. Today the Matanuska Valley draws worldwide attention for its colorful agricultural heritage and its uniquely orchestrated history. This book tells the story of that history.

A Mighty Nice Place

Author: Helen E. Hegener

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-10-26

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9781539698951

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In the spring of 1935 the U.S. government took a direct hand in the future of Alaska when it offered 203 Depression-distraught farm families in Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin an opportunity to begin again in a far-off land, with government financing and support. The Matanuska Colony Project was part of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal for America, an unprecedented series of economic programs designed to provide "Relief, Recovery, and Reform" to people reeling from the Great Depression. Nearly one hundred new communities were designed and developed by Roosevelt's planners, but the largest, most expensive, and most audacious of them all was the plan to build a government-sponsored farming community in Alaska's Matanuska Valley. "A Mighty Nice Place," The History of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, by Helen Hegener, explains how a few visionary men convinced the planners in Washington, D.C. to extend their community-building efforts north to Alaska, and tells the story of this important chapter in Alaska's history. The remarkable photos of official A.R.R.C. photographer Willis T. Geisman documented every aspect of the venture, and they tell the true stories, hundreds of moments in time captured and preserved, a monumental achievement, and now this book brings some of his most compelling images together with the detailed history of the Matanuska Colony Project and the unique times in which such a plan was possible.

The Matanuska Colony Barns

Author: Helen Hegener

Publisher: Northern Light Media

Published: 2013-05-10

Total Pages: 140

ISBN-13: 9780984397747

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In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 200 families from the Great Depression-stricken midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment, the Matanuska Colony Project. As part of each family's farmstead, a magnificent barn was raised, a sturdy square structure 32' by 32' and soaring 32' high. Today these Colony barns are an iconic reminder of what has been called the last great pioneering adventure in America. "Anyone who travels through the eastern part of Alaska's dramatically beautiful Matanuska Valley soon finds a Colony barn enhancing the landscape. These striking Valley landmarks are the enduring legacy of an all-but-forgotten chapter in American history, when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens, offering Depression-distraught farm families an opportunity to begin again in a far-off land with government financing and support. Central to every Colony farm was the barn, a core structure integral to the operation of these family farms." from the preface The Matanuska Colony Barns: The Enduring Legacy of the 1935 Matanuska Colony Project, by Helen Hegener, photographs by Eric Vercammen, Stewart Amgwert, Albert Marquez, Dave Rose, Joanie Juster, Ron Day and others. Foreword by Barbara Hecker. Introduction by James H. Fox. 140 pages, full color. ISBN 978-0-9843977-4-7. Includes Colonist families listing, maps, bibliography, resources, index.

The Matanuska Colony Album

Author: Helen Hegener

Publisher:

Published: 2014-07-18

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 9780984397792

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In 1935 the U.S. Government transported 203 families from the Great Depression-stricken upper midwest to a valley of unparalleled beauty in Alaska, where they were given the chance to begin new lives as part of a federally-funded social experiment. Willis T. Geisman was the official photographer for the project, and his compelling images of the families, workmen, officials, landscape and more are presented in this collection of his photographs. Willis Geisman traveled to Alaska with the advance guard of officials and workmen for the project, documenting as he went, and he lived among the Matanuska Colony families from May through October, 1935, chronicling their arrival, living in the tent cities built for them, and their farms slowly taking shape over the course of the summer. He photographed the men working to build a community in the Alaskan wilderness, the children playing, the wives going about their daily chores. A line of trucks full of transient workmen setting off for a day's work, a group of children gleefully picking wild raspberries, a proud farm wife showing off her stacked cans of salmon, a farmer harvesting hay behind a team of strong horses. These are the images Willis Geisman captured, and they tell the story of one of the most interesting chapters of Alaskan - and American - history, a time when the U.S. government took a direct hand in the lives of thousands of its citizens. Today the Matanuska Valley, with picturesque Colony farms dotting the landscape, draws worldwide attention for its colorful agricultural heritage and its uniquely orchestrated history. This book of Willis Geisman's enduring photographs tells the story of that history.

Cabin 135

Author: Katie Eberhart

Publisher: University of Alaska Press

Published: 2020-12-15

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 1602234205

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As a young adult, Katie Eberhart moved to Cabin 135, a house on a knoll in remote Alaska. Over the next decade, growing up and growing into her home, she found herself thinking through her ever-changing ideas about aging and place, a lot of which were wrapped up closely in her experience of living in the house itself. Cabin 135 provided shelter and security, and it also offered lessons on economic disruptions and how ideas of normalcy change. In these pages, we share Eberhart’s experience of digging into the past—figuratively and, in her garden, at an archaeology site, and in a national park, literally. Every layer peeled back, we find, reveals another story, another way of thinking about nature and the past—our own and that of others. In greenhouse and garden, yard, forest, and more distant places—a beach in southeast Alaska, the Arctic coast, Swiss Alps, Iceland, and even Biosphere-2 in Arizona—Eberhart engages with the world around her, and, through it, reflects on her own experiences and journey through life. Offering a journey of wonder and curiosity, through the author’s mind, a house’s structure, and other places, Cabin 135 is a deft combination of memoir and nature writing, rich with thought and full of appreciation for—and profound concerns about—the world and our place in it.

The Milepost

Author: Kris Valencia

Publisher: Morris Communications Company

Published: 2007-03

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781892154217

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Referred to by travellers as "the bible of North Country travel" since it was first published in 1949, The Milepost is an essential travel companion for anyone planning or taking a trip to Alaska, Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, northern Alberta or northern British Columbia.Travellers will find detailed mile-by-mile road logs and maps of all northern routes, including the famous Alaska Highway. The Milepost is updated annually by experienced field editors, providing accurate and up-to-date information on attractions, activities, food, gas, lodging and camping. Details are provided for every city and town along the way.Travel by air, ferry, cruise ship, bus and rail is also covered. Every edition of The Milepost includes Alaska State Ferry and B.C. Ferries schedules, important information on crossing the border, a calendar of events, a pull-out Plan-a-Trip map, litre-to-gallon conversions and dozens of other travel tips.Special features highlight side-trip destinations, gold rush and highway history, and places to eat and things to do.With its wealth of detail, The Milepost is a wonderful resource for anyone interested in the North, whether it is the trans-Alaska pipeline, bird watching, Native culture, or glaciers and wildlife viewing, to name just a few attractions. This classic travel guide is a must for every Northland traveller.

This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage

Author: Ann Patchett

Publisher: A&C Black

Published: 2013-11-07

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 1408842408

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'So compellingly personal you feel you're looking over her shoulder as she sits down to write' New York Times 'Electrically entertaining ... Funny, generous, spirited and kind' The Times This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is an irresistible blend of literature and memoir revealing the big experiences and little moments that shaped Ann Patchett as a daughter, wife, friend and writer. Here, Ann Patchett shares entertaining and moving stories about her tumultuous childhood, her painful early divorce, the excitement of selling her first book, driving a Winnebago from Montana to Yellowstone Park, her joyous discovery of opera, scaling a six-foot wall in order to join the Los Angeles Police Department, the gradual loss of her beloved grandmother, starting her own bookshop in Nashville, her love for her very special dog and, of course, her eventual happy marriage. This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage is a memoir both wide ranging and deeply personal, overflowing with close observation and emotional wisdom, told with wit, honesty and irresistible warmth.