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Photographs of Alaska by Frank La Roche: Finding
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photCL 95
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Title: Photographs of Alaska by Frank La Roche
Dates (inclusive): approximately 1892
Collection Number: photCL 95
Creator:
La Roche, Frank, 1853-1934
Extent:
54 photographs in 1 box; prints 23 x 17 cm. (9 x 6.5 in.)
Repository:
The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.
Photo Archives
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, California 91108
Phone: (626) 405-2191
Email: reference@huntington.org
URL: http://www.huntington.org
Abstract: This collection consists of photographs of Alaska taken ca. 1892 by Frank La Roche, depicting Alaskan nature scenes, views
of town life
(mainly in Sitka and Wrangell), and some Alaskan Natives. This collection provides insight into the Alaskan environment just
before the Klondike Gold Rush.
Language: English.
Note:
Finding aid last updated on October 21, 2014.
Open to qualified researchers by prior application through the Reader Services Department. For more information, contact Reader
Services.
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material,
nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and
obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.
Photographs of Alaska by Frank La Roche. The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
This collection was purchased from Shorey's Bookstore (Seattle, Washington) on July 25, 1956.
Frank La Roche (1853-1936) was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At the age of seventeen, he was employed at a photographic
studio and learned the trade for two years.
In 1872, La Roche left for Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, to start a general commercial photography business. From 1876 to 1878,
La Roche had a variety of commissions, including
making negatives of the planet Mercury for the United States and French governments. His workmanship was recognized in the
form of six prizes at the Iowa State Fair in 1888.
In 1889, he traveled to Seattle, Washington, just after the Great Seattle Fire and opened a photo gallery. La Roche took trips
through Alaska and Canada, specializing in scenic
and industrial photography. Perhaps his most intensive project was photographing the Klondike Gold Rush, which lasted from
ca. 1897-1899. La Roche moved his studio to
Sedro-Wooley, Washington, in 1914. He retired in 1928, passing the business to his son. He died in Sedro-Wooley in 1936 at
the age of eighty-two.
This collection consists of photographs of Alaska taken ca. 1892 by Frank La Roche, depicting Alaskan nature scenes, views
of town life, and some Alaskan Natives.
This collection provides insight into the Alaskan environment just before the Klondike Gold Rush.
This collection is particularly strong in images of Muir Glacier and the cities of Sitka and Wrangell. In addition to images
of these places, the collection includes images of Alaskan
Natives; Alaskan Native totem poles; Killisnoo, Alaska; the Native American community of Kasaan, Alaska; the steamboat Star
Queen; various glaciers; and Treadmill Mill and Mine at Douglas Island.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the
Huntington Library's Online Catalog.
Church buildings -- Photographs.
Glaciers -- Photographs.
Indians of North America -- Alaska -- Photographs.
Steamboats -- Photographs.
Totem poles -- Photographs.
Douglas Island (Alaska -- Photographs.
Juneau (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Kasaan (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Killisnoo (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Metlakatla (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Sitka (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Wrangell (Alaska) -- Photographs.
Photographs.