Matanuska in focus: New digital archive tells the story of early Mat-Su life

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then Richard Estelle is the story master helping tell the Matanuska Valley’s history.

Through the Mat-Su Valley Historical Photo Project, Estelle and the Palmer Museum of History and Art are digitizing thousands of archival images, turning fragile snapshots from the early days of the 20th century Matanuska Colony era into a searchable online repository that preserves the region's pioneering story.

Estelle, the Project Manager for the Palmer Museum of History and Art, has been hard at work bringing history to life through over 14,000 old photographs the museum has from time long gone by. Photographs that help bring stories of the past to life and provide a visual understanding of the people who called Palmer-then called Matanuska-home, how they lived and what they did.

It’s all a part of the Matanuska Valley Historical Photo Project, a project focused on connecting people with old photographs and images to help in that understanding.

The photo project has three major components: collecting and preserving old photo images, identifying and interpreting information contained within the images, and making the images and information available for the public.

During the collection and preservation phase, Estelle collects photos that have been donated. Some photos come from families outright, while others are found in long-forgotten shoeboxes and trunks, and some photographs come from local groups and agencies who have also used them to document their own functions and activities invaluable to the Palmer region.

Estelle says that once the museum acquires the photographs, his job is to upload them into his computer at a high resolution, which he says takes the least amount of his time. Countless historic photos are at risk of being lost forever due to improper storage, natural disasters, or simple neglect. To combat this loss, Estelle provides expert digitization services, handling each irreplaceable image with meticulous care to preserve the valuable history contained within. “That’s what I do-I sit down here in the basement, quietly minding my own business, trying to stay out of trouble while putting these pictures up for everyone to see,” he says humbly.

Once uploaded, he can then really see what’s going on, and the long-time resident says that he is often surprised by what he finds in the old photographs, such as a photograph taken in 1916 depicting a time when the railroad was being laid, Matanuska had three hotels within feet of each other. Or another image of people boarding a train in Anchorage to come out to Matanuska for a baseball game, noting the details of how people dressed in suits and the open air train cars on a presumably warm July day in 1917.

“It’s really cool. There’s pictures I’ve never seen and I’m suspecting a lot of other people have not seen them.”

Once uploaded, he begins the in-depth research needed to complete the story behind the photos. After cleaning, trimming, and editing the images—while preserving the originals—he meticulously crafts the captions and attributions. “That sometimes take a bit of time, depending on the image.”

Estelle notes that the collections still aren’t quite ready for viewing, as the task switches to adding the essential narratives and descriptions to the photos, which can take a significant amount of time. Some of the photos may already have valuable attached information, and may be connected to other images in the collection or important information that helps complete the stories of other events, places, or people.

So, why photos and why now? The photographs contain an enormous amount of information relative to their size, can be easily shared, and provide powerful comparisons of past to present. It also shows the depth of the Valley's history beyond a generation or two, and beyond the 90 years since the Matanuska Colony was first established.

“By preserving these images and stories that go along with them, we are preserving the history of our community,” says Palmer Museum Executive Director Dylainie Nathlich.

Meanwhile, the work at the museum continues, and Estelle says that if people out there have photographs that could be valuable and useful to the project, please consider adding your name to their list of collections.

To view the Matanuska Valley Historical Photo Project, please visit www.mvhphotoproject.org.

To learn more about what’s happening at the Palmer Museum of History and Art, please visit www.palmermuseum.org