U.S. National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

2013
World War II in Alaska

“Headquarters, camouflage Umnak” by Ogden Pleissner. (Anchorage Museum of History and Art)

Front Cover: American and Canadian soldiers made an amphibious landing on the island of Kiska, August 

16, 1943. The Japanese, however, had already evacuated the island three weeks earlier under the cover 

of fog. Shown are the Infantrymen of the 13th Canadian Infantry Brigade Group disembarking from a 

landing craft during operation COTTAGE, the invasion of Kiska. (Library and Archives Canada, accession 

number 1967-052 NPC, item Z-1995-31)

Back Cover: Photograph by Sam Maloof, Master Sergeant with the 65th Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion 

stationed on Kiska, 1943. (NPS Sam Maloof WWII in Alaska Photograph Collection courtesy of Beverly Maloof.)

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

2nd printing with revisions 2013
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

1

Introduction

This resource guide is designed to aid students and teachers in researching Alaska’s World 

War II history. Alaska’s role as battlefield, lend-lease transfer station, and North Pacific stronghold 

was often overlooked by historians in the post-war decades, but in recent years awareness has 

been growing of Alaska’s wartime past. This renewed interest generates exciting educational 

opportunities for students and teachers researching this chapter in the history of our state. Few 

people know that the only World War II battle fought on U.S. soil took place in Alaska or that 

Japanese forces occupied two Aleutian Islands for more than a year. Still fewer know of the 

Russian pilots who trained in Fairbanks, the workers who risked their lives building the Alaska 

Highway, or the Alaska Scouts who patrolled the Bering Sea coast. The lives of Alaskans were 

forever changed by the experience of war, and the history of that dramatic era is still being written. 

A map of important World War II sites, followed by a summary of Alaska’s World War II 

experience is included. Information about National Historic Landmarks and Monuments related 

to World War II in Alaska is also included. The selected bibliography that follows is divided into 

twelve parts to aid student researchers in selecting topics: 

• War Comes to Alaska

• Aleutian Campaign

• Alaska Highway and Canol Pipeline

• Wartime Construction

• Native Defenders

• Warplanes and Seacraft

• Aleut Evacuation

• Canadian Participation

• Japanese-American Internment

• Lend-Lease Program

• Japanese Naval Power 

• Branches and Units

This bibliography includes books, journals, and videotapes that can be found in Alaska’s 

libraries or obtained through interlibrary loan. The articles cited were selected for their relevance to 

a specific theme and can be found (with some exceptions) in Alaskan periodicals. The bibliography 

is not meant to be comprehensive, but is instead intended as a gateway to further research. 

Information regarding Alaska’s libraries and museums follows, with descriptions 

of collections relevant to Alaska’s World War II history and a list of on-line resources. The 

individual museums and libraries are organized by city. The resource guide concludes with an 

introduction to the National History Day program and History Day in Alaska.

This resource guide was first published by the National Park Service, Alaska Support Office in cooperation with 

History Day in Alaska in 1999. With the passage of time new sources have become available and old ones have 

ceased to exist. This updates the original publication to reflect those changes.
World War II in Alaska

2

Map adapted from Debra Dubac, Alaska at War 1941-1945
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

In 1931, Japan launched attacks in eastern China in an effort to seize 

control of China’s eastern province, Manchuria. U.S. suspicion and 

mistrust of Japan intensified when Japanese military forces attacked 

a U.S. oil tanker convoy and the USS Panay, a U.S. Naval gunboat 

escorting the convoy, on the Yangtze River in 1937. Three people were 

killed in the attack and 11 seriously injured when Japanese planes fired 

on life boats and survivors on shore.

With increasing hostilities in China the U.S. Government became 

concerned about the possibility of attack from across the Pacific. In 

1935, Brigadier General William Mitchell urged Congress to adopt a 

strong northern air defense, declaring, “I believe in the future he who 

holds Alaska will hold the world.” In 1939 Congress established a 

Panama-Hawaii-Alaska defense triangle to protect America’s vulnerable 

western coast. Alaska, the largest and least fortified of the three, soon 

saw the construction of naval bases at Sitka, Dutch Harbor, and Kodiak.

Six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese bombed 

the U.S. Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Fort 

Mears, near Unalaska Island and occupied the Aleutian islands of 

Attu and Kiska. For many decades following the War, the prevailing 

understanding about the Japanese Aleutian operation was that it served 

as a mere diversionary measure from their Midway operation. Recent 

research, however, concludes that the Japanese had a broader and longer 

term strategy to establish and expand an eastern defensive perimeter. 

In response, U.S. military strategists knew that they could not risk 

leaving the Aleutians open as stepping stones for Japanese attacks 

on the United States mainland. In addition, the occupation was a 

significant propaganda victory for the Japanese—the affront could not 

go unanswered.

Because planes departing from Kodiak and Dutch Harbor did not 

have the nearly 1,400 mile range to engage the Japanese at Attu and 

Kiska, U.S. forces built bases on other Aleutian islands as refueling 

and maintenance stops, allowing them to strike further west. Pilots and 

ground troops soon realized they were facing a second enemy, Mother 

Nature. Weather along the Aleutian chain is some of the worst in the 

world, with dense fogs, violent seas, and fierce wind storms called 

williwaws. Aircraft lacking accurate navigational devices or consistent 

radio contact crashed into mountains, each other, the sea—simply 

finding the enemy was a life-and-death struggle. For soldiers in the 

Aleutians, contact with the enemy was infrequent and fleeting, but the 

weather was a perpetual adversary.

Aleutian Campaign

Japanese Aggression 

in China

War Comes to Alaska

U.S. Northern 

Defense

3

Summary of World War II in Alaska
World War II in Alaska

When the Alaska National Guard was called to active duty in September 

1941, Governor Gruening received permission to reorganize and 

establish the Alaska Territorial Guard. Many Alaska Natives joined 

units of the Alaska Territorial Guard to patrol Alaska’s coasts and lead 

reconnaissance missions in combat zones.

Forty-two Aleuts living on the island of Attu and two Navy weather 

observers on Kiska were taken prisoner by the Japanese and sent to 

Japan where 17 died. In June and July 1942, the U.S. military evacuated 

881 Aleuts from nine villages located on several islands including the 

Pribilofs and Unalaska. They were taken by a military transport ship 

in cramped conditions to abandoned canneries and mining camps in 

Southeast Alaska. Nearly a hundred died in the horrible conditions 

of these camps. During their absence, the U.S. military burned many 

of their homes to keep the Japanese from using them, and removed 

religious icons from their churches.

Under an emergency measure in effect in the western United States, 

Alaskans of Japanese descent were shipped to internment camps in 

the Lower 48. The fear of sudden attack also led to censorship of the 

media, food rationing, and obligatory blackouts in coastal areas. 

The Lend-Lease Act was passed in 1941 as a means of providing 

military aide to allies. As part of the Lend-Lease program over 8,000 

U.S. aircraft were transferred to Russia via the Alaska-Siberia (ALSIB) 

route beginning in 1942. The ALSIB route consisted of a string of 

new airfields constructed in Alaska and Canada that allowed American 

pilots to leapfrog through the Canadian and Alaskan wilderness to Ladd 

Field in Fairbanks. At Ladd Field Russian pilots were waiting to fly the 

planes across the Bering Sea and Siberia to Russia’s Western Front with 

Germany.

Wartime construction brought major changes in transportation and 

communication with the outside world and within Alaska. Until 1942 

passengers and freight arrived in Alaska two ways—by boat or plane. 

One of the biggest feats of the war time construction program was the 

construction of the Alaska Canada Military Highway, a 1,420-mile 

wilderness highway which was completed in less than nine months. 

Other construction included telephone lines, oil pipelines, railways, and 

roughly 300 military installations throughout Alaska.

Japanese Internment

Lend-Lease Program

Wartime 

Construction

Aleut Evacuation

Native Defenders

4

Summary of World War II in Alaska
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

5

Alaska’s War Ends

Population Boom

National Landmarks

. 

Summary of World War II in Alaska

As a result of the War thousands of men and women moved to the 

sparsely populated territory, and many stayed. In 1940, just over 

72,000 people called Alaska home. By 1950, the population nearly 

doubled to 129,000. Anchorage saw its population balloon from 3,000 

to 47,000, while Fairbanks grew from 4,000 to nearly 20,000. While 

many military bases closed after the War some stayed open and even 

grew. The military population, which was about 500 in 1940 increased 

to about 22,000 in 1950. 

On May 11, 1943 U.S. forces landed on Attu and began an uphill battle 

to retake the island. After nineteen days of fighting, the beleaguered 

Japanese soldiers launched a final banzai charge in an attempt to break 

through the American line. When the battle ended, only 29 prisoners 

remained of a Japanese force of roughly 2,600. Three months later the 

drama at Attu was matched by an equally dramatic anticlimax. Foul 

weather had delayed Allied attempts to retake Kiska, and when U.S. 

and Canadian forces finally landed on August 15, they were stunned to 

find that the Japanese were gone—having evacuated under cover of fog 

three weeks before. As the guns fell silent in the Aleutians, many Army 

and Navy facilities were closed, though fighting in the Pacific and in 

Europe continued for another two years.

The Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, took 

steps to recognize the importance of Alaska’s role in World War II 

history by designating eight sites as National Historic Landmarks. 

These sites include former Army and Navy bases, Aleutian battlefields, 

airfields, and an area on Kiska Island once occupied by the Japanese. 

National Historic Landmark status recognizes these places as being 

among the nation’s most treasured resources deemed worthy of 

preservation.
World War II in Alaska

 

6

Alaska’s World War II National Historic Landmarks

Ulakta Head and Command Center, a feature within the Dutch Harbor NHL and the Aleutian World War II National 

Historic Area. (National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office)

The Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, designated the following 

NHL sites to commemorate the significant events and human drama of Alaska’s role in World 

War II:

• Adak Army Base and Naval Operating Base, Adak Island

• Attu Battlefield and Bases, Attu Island 

• Fort Glenn (Cape Field), Umnak Island

• Dutch Harbor Naval Operating Base and Fort Mears U.S. Army, 

near Unalaska Island

• Japanese Occupation Site, Kiska Island

• Kodiak Naval Operating Base and Forts Greely and Abercrombie, 

Kodiak Island

• Ladd Field (Fort Wainwright), Fairbanks

• Sitka Naval Operating Base and U.S. Army Coastal Defenses, Sitka
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

7

Part of the National Park Service’s role is to administer the NHL program. Available 

materials include a booklet entitled “WWII National Historic Landmarks: The Aleutian 

Campaign” and two lesson plans from the Teaching with Historic Places series entitled “Attu: 

North American Battleground of World War II” and “Ladd Field and the Lend-Lease Mission: 

Defending Alaska in WWII.” The NHL program implemented an American Battlefield 

Protection Program grant which culminated in “The Cultural Landscape of the World War II 

Battlefield of Kiska, Aleutian Islands” 2012 report. For copies of these materials please visit 

the National Park Service, Alaska Regional Office’s National Historic Landmarks web page at: 

http://www.nps.gov/akso/history/nhl-main.cfm. 

Aleutian World War II National Historic Area

Though visiting a real historic place is one of the best ways to gain valuable insights, 

several of Alaska’s WWII sites are difficult to access. One resource for learning more about 

events in the Aleutians during this period is through the Aleutian WWII National Historic Area 

(NHA). Designated by Congress in 1996, the NHA is owned by the Ounalashka Corporation 

with historic preservation technical assistance provided by the National Park Service-Alaska 

Regional Office. The NHA includes the historic footprint of Fort Schwatka, along with a Visitors 

Center located in the former WWII Aerology Building, at the Unalaska Airport on Amaknak 

Island. The purpose of the NHA includes educating the public about the history of the Aleut 

people, and the role of the Aleut people and the Aleutian Islands in the defense of the U.S. in 

World War II. More information can be found at the following NPS website: http://www.nps.

gov/aleu/index.htm

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument

In December 2008, President George H. Bush established, by Executive Order, the 

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument. The new monument was established to 

commemorate this “pivitol period in our Nation’s history” and elevated nine historic sites in 

Hawaii, California, and Alaska to monument status. The Alaska unit includes historic areas on 

Attu and Kiska, and the Atka Island crash site of a Consolidated B-24D Liberator bomber. All of 

the Alaska sites are on lands managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument interprets the stories of the Pacific 

War including events at Pearl Harbor, the internment of Japanese Americans, and the Aleutian 

Campaign. The National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service jointly developed a 

Foundation Statement for the Alaska Unit of the Monument. The document provides a vision 

for future decision making and the development of management and implementation plans that 

will define the Alaska Unit’s operations, resource protection, and visitor experience. Similar 

foundation documents are being produced for the Hawaii and California units. Combined, these 

documents will set the stage for future planning and development of the World War II Valor 

in the Pacific National Monument. The document can be viewed and downloaded by visiting 

alaskamaritime.fws.gov/pdf/valor.pdf.
World War II in Alaska

8

Buildings burn following the Japanese attack on the fort at Dutch Harbor, June 3, 1942. A second, more damaging 

attack came the next day, though the P-40 Aleutian Tigers scrambled to intercept the enemy from a secret base (Fort 

Glenn) on Umnak Island. (Archives and Manuscripts Department, University of Alaska Anchorage)

Selected Bibliography

War Comes to Alaska

Alaska at War. Aurora Films. [videorecording]. 60 min. 

Produced by Laurence Goldin. Written by Bradford 

Matsen and Laurence Goldin. Anchorage: Alaska 

Video Publishing for Alaska Historical Commission, 

1987, 1993, 2005.

Alaska Geographic. Fairbanks, vol. 22, no. 1. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1991.

——. World War II in Alaska, vol. 22, no. 4. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1995.

Antonson, Joan M. and William S. Hanable. Alaska’s 

Heritage. Alaska Historical Commission Studies 

in History, no. 133. Anchorage: Alaska Historical 

Society, 1985.

Chandonnet, Fern, ed. Alaska at War, 1941-1945: The 

Forgotten War Remembered. Papers from the 

Alaska at War Symposium, Anchorage, Alaska, 

November 11-13, 1993. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

Cohen, Stan. The Forgotten War: A Pictorial History of 

World War II in Alaska and Northwestern Canada. [4 

vol.]. Altona, Manitoba: D.W. Friesen and Sons, 1981.

Drawing the Lines of Battle: Military Art of World War 

II Alaska. Anchorage: Anchorage Museum of 

History and Art, 1989.

Garfield, Brian. The Thousand-Mile War: World War II 

in Alaska and the Aleutians. Fairbanks: University 

of Alaska Press, 1995.

“German Prisoners of War in Alaska: The POW Camp at 

Excursion Inlet.” Alaska Journal 14 (1984): 16-20.

Hays, Otis E., Jr. “The Silent Years in Alaska: The 

Military Blackout during World War II.” Alaska 

Journal 16 (1986): 140-147.

Lawler, Pat. “Buckner and his Boys Invade Alaska – 

Taking the Territory by Storm.” Alaska Journal 2 

(1981): 84-99.

Morison, Samuel Eliot. History of United States Naval 

Operations in World War II, vol. 7, Aleutians, 

Gilberts and Marshalls, June 1942-April 1944. 

Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1951.

Naske, Claus-M. and Herman Slotnik. Alaska: A 

History of the 49th State. Norman: University of 

Oklahoma Press, 1987.
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Aleutian Campaign

Alaska Geographic. The Aleutians, vol. 7, no. 3. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1980.

——. Kodiak, vol. 19, no. 3. Anchorage: Alaska 

Geographic Society, 1992.

——. Kodiak, Island of Change, vol. 4, no. 3. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1977.

——. Unalaska/Dutch Harbor, vol. 18, no. 4. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1991.

——. World War II in Alaska, vol. 22, no. 4. 

Anchorage: Alaska Geographic Society, 1995.

Aleutian Invasion: World War Two in the Aleutian 

Islands. Prepared by the students of Unalaska High 

School. Unalaska: Unalaska High School, 1981.

The Aleutians Campaign, June 1942-August 1943. 

Washington: Naval Historical Center, Department 

of the Navy, 1993.

They Bloody Aleutians. [videorecording]. 50 min. New 

York: A&E Television Network, 2001.

The Capture of Attu: Tales of World War II in Alaska, 

as Told by the Men who Fought There. Edmonds, 

Alberta: Alaska Northwest Publishing, 1984.

Denfeld, Colt D. The Defense of Dutch Harbor, Alaska 

from Military Construction to Base Cleanup. 

Anchorage: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, 1987.

Ellis, Dan. “Springfield Rifles and Forgotten Men.” 

Alaska Journal 10 (Autumn 1980): 54-59.

Lorell, John A. The Battle of the Komandorski Islands. 

Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1984.

Morgan, Lael. “An Artist’s War in the Aleutians.” 

Alaska Journal 10 (Summer 1980): 34-39.

Murray, Robert Haynes. The Only Way Home. 

Waycross: Brantley Printing Company, 1986.

Rearden, Jim. “Kiska: One Island’s Moment in 

History.” Alaska (September 1986): 18-21, 

49-51.

Rearden, Jim. Forgotten Warriors of the Aleutian 

Campaign. Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing 

Co., 2005.

Red, White, Black & Blue. [videorecording]. 86 min. 

Directed by Tom Putnam. Produced by Tom 

Putnam, Jeff Malmberg, Matt Redecki, and Michael 

Harbour. Arlington: PBS Home Video, 2007.

Report from the Aleutians. [videorecording]. 47 min. 

Directed by John Huston. Army Pictorial Service. 

Burbank: Viking Video Classics, 1986.

Report from the Aleutians: Hook Down, Wheels Down. 

[videorecording]. 117 min. U.S. Army Signal 

Corps, 2001.

Rourke, Norman E. War Comes to Alaska: The Dutch 

Harbor Attack, June 3-4, 1942. Shippenburg: Burd 

Street Press, 1997.

Spennemann, Dirk H.R. The Cultural Landscape of the 

World War II Battlefield of Kiska, Aleutian Islands. 

Anchorage: U.S. National Park Service, 2011.

9

Spennemann, Clemens, and Kozlowski. “Scars on 

the Tundra: The Cultural Landscape of the Kiska 

Battlefield, Aleutians”. Alaska Park Science.

Anchorage: National Park Service. (June 2011). 

Online: http://www.nps.gov/akso/nature/science/

ak_park_science/PDF/2011Vol10-1/APS_Vol10-

1_0-48-complete-issue.pdf

Seiple, Samantha. Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story 

of Alaska’s WWII Invasion. New York: Scholastic 

Reference, 2011.

Webber, Bert. Aleutian Headache: Deadly World 

War II Battles on American Soil. Medford: Webb 

Research, 1993.

Alaska Highway and Canol Pipeline

The Alaska Highway, 1942-1992. [videorecording]. 58 

min. Written and produced by Tom Morgan for 

Alaska Public Television, KAKM TV. Anchorage: 

Alaska Public Television, 1992.

Brebner, Phyllis Lee. The Alaska Highway: A 

Personal and Historical Account of the Building of 

the Alaska Highway. Erin, Ontario: Boston Mills 

Press, 1985.

Coates, Kenneth. The Alaska Highway: Papers of the 

40th Anniversary Symposium. Vancouver, B.C.: 

University of British Columbia Press, 1985.

——. The Alaska Highway in World War II: The U.S. 

Army of Occupation in Canada’s Northwest. Tulsa: 

University of Oklahoma Press, 1992.

——. North to Alaska! Fifty Years on the World’s Most 

Remarkable Highway. Fairbanks: University of 

Alaska Press, 1991.

Coates, Kenneth and Judith Powell. “Whitehorse and 

the Building of the Alaska Highway, 1942-1946.” 

Alaska History 4 (Spring 1989): 1-26.

Cohen, Stan. ALCAN and CANOL: A Pictorial History 

of Two Great World War II Construction Projects. 

Missoula: Pictorial Histories Publishing, 1992.

Duesenberg, H. Milton. Alaska Highway Expeditionary 

Force: A Roadbuilder’s Story. Clear Lake: H&M 

Industries, 1994.

Gage, S.R. A Walk on the Canol Road: Exploring the 

First Major Northern Pipeline. Oakville, Ontario: 

Mosaic Press, 1990. 

Griggs, William E. The World War II Black Regiment 

that Built the Alaska Military Highway: A 

Photographic History. Jackson: University Press of 

Mississippi, 2002.

Hesketh, Bob, ed. Three Northern Wartime Projects: 

Alaska Highway, Northwest Staging Route, and 

Canol. Occasional Publication Series, no. 38. 

Edmonton, Alberta: Published jointly by Canadian 

Circumpolar Institute and Edmonton & District 

Historical Society, 1996.
World War II in Alaska

10

Black engineers build a trestle bridge during the construction of the Alaska Canada Military Highway. Black G.I.s 

made up roughly forty percent of the estimated 11,500 Army troops who in just nine months completed a wilderness 

highway linking Alaska with the contiguous United States. (Anchorage Museum of History and Art) 

Hollinger, Kristy. The Haines-Fairbanks Pipeline. Fort 

Colins, CO: CEMML, Colorado State University, 

2003.

Karamanski, Theodore J. “The Canol Project: A Poorly 

Planned Pipeline.” Alaska Journal 9 (Autumn 

1979): 17-22.

Krakauer, Jon. “Ice, Mosquitoes and Muskeg – 

Building the Road to Alaska.” Smithsonian (July 

1992): 102-112.

Morgan, Lael. “Forgotten Pioneers.” Alaska (February 

1992): 33-34.

——. “Writing Minorities Out of History: Black 

Builders of the Alcan Highway.” Alaska History 7 

(Fall 1992): 1-13.

Naske, Claus-M.. Paving Alaska’s Trails: The Work 

of the Alaska Road Commission. New York: 

University Press of America, 1986.

Rimley, David. Crooked Road: The Story of the 

Alaska Highway. New York: McGraw Hill Book 

Company, 1976.

Twichell, Heath. Northwest Epic: The Building of the 

Alaska Highway. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1992.

Wartime Construction

The Army’s Role in the Building of Alaska. Pamphlet 

360-5. United States Army, 1969.

Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II: History 

of the Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil 

Engineering Corps, 1940-1946. Washington: U.S. 

Government Printing Office, 1947.

Bush, James D., Jr. Narrative Report of Alaska 

Construction, 1941-1944. Anchorage: Alaska 

Defense Command, 1943.

Cook, Linda. Elmendorf Air Force Base, vol. 1, Historic 

Context of World War II Buildings and Structures. 

Anchorage: U.S. Department of the Interior, 

National Park Service, 1999.

Decker, Julie and Chris Chiei. Quonset Hut: Metal 

Living for a Modern Age. New York: Princeton 

Architectural Press, 2005.
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

11

Dod, Karl C. The Corps of Engineers: The War 

Against Japan. Washington D.C.: Center of 

Military History, 1987.

Fowle, Barry, ed. Builders and Fighters: U.S. Army 

Engineers in World War II. Fort Belvoire: U.S. 

Army Corps of Engineers, 1992.

Hesketh, Bob, ed. Three Northern Wartime Projects: 

Alaska Highway, Northwest Staging Route, and 

Canol. Occasional Publication Series, no. 38. 

Edmonton, Alberta: Published jointly by Canadian 

Circumpolar Institute and Edmonton & District 

Historical Society, 1996.

Native Defenders

Delkettie, Buck. “An Alaskan Scout Remembers.” 

In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, edited by Fern 

Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

Hendricks, Charles. “The Eskimos and the Defense 

of Alaska.” Pacific Historical Review 1 (1985): 

271-295.

Hudson, Ray. “Aleuts in Defense of the Homeland.” 

In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, edited by Fern 

Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

Marston, Marvin R. Men of the Tundra: Alaska 

Eskimos at War. New York: October House, 1969.

Morgan, Lael. “Minority Troops and the Alaskan 

Advantage during World War II.” In Alaska at 

War, 1941-1945, edited by Fern Chandonnet. 

Anchorage: Alaska at War Committee, 1995.

Rearden, Jim. Castner’s Cutthroats: Saga of the 

Alaska Scouts. [novel]. Prescott: Wolfe 

Publishing, 1990.

Salisbury, C.A. Soldiers of the Mists: Minutemen of 

the Alaska Frontier. Missoula: Pictorial Histories 

Publishing, 1992.

Wooley, Chris and Mike Martz. “The Tundra Army: 

Patriots of Arctic Alaska.” In Alaska at War, 1941-

1945, edited by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: 

Alaska at War Committee, 1995.

Warplanes and Seacraft

Amme, Carl H., ed. Aleutian Airdales: Stories of 

Navy Fliers in the North Pacific of WWII. Plains: 

Plainsman Publishing, 1987.

Blair, Clay. Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War 

Against Japan. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1975.

Freeman, Elmer. Those Navy Guys and their PBYs: 

The Aleutian Solution. Spokane: Kedging 

Publishing, 1992.

Carrigan, Paul E. The Flying Fighting Weathermen of 

Patrol Wing Four, 1941-1945, U.S. Navy: Kodiak, 

Dutch Harbor, Umnak, Cold Bay, Adak, Amchitka, 

Kiska, Shemya, Attu, and The Empire Express 

to Paramushiro: Memoirs of Paul E. Carrigan.

Forked River: Regal-Lith Printers, 2002.

Dickrell, Jeff. Center of the Storm: The Bombing of 

Dutch Harbor and the Experience of Patrol Wing 

Four in the Aleutians, Summer 1942. Missoula: 

Pictorial Histories Publishing Co., Inc., 2002

Mills, Stephen E. Arctic War Planes: Alaska Aviation 

of World War II: A Pictorial History of Bush 

Flying with the Military in the Defense of Alaska 

and America. New York: Bonanza Books, 1978.

Rearden, Jim. Koga’s Zero: The Fighter that Changed 

World War II. Missoula: Pictorial Histories 

Publishing, 1995.

——. Cracking the Zero Mystery: How the U.S. 

Learned to Beat Japan’s Vaunted World War II 

Fighter Plane. Harrisburg: Stackpole Books, 

1990.

Stevens, Peter F. Fatal Dive: Solving the World War II 

Mystery of the USS Grunion. Washington, D.C.: 

Regnery Publishing, 2012.

Aleut Evacuation

Aleut Story. [DVD]. 90 minutes. A Sprocketheads 

Production. Lincoln, NE: Aleutian-Pribilof 

Heritage, Inc., 2005.

Aleut Evacuation: The Untold Story. [videorecording]. 

60 min. Directed by Michael and Mary Jo Thill. 

Girdwood: Gaff Rigged Productions for the 

Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, 1992.

Breu, Mary. Last Letters from Attu: The True Story of 

Etta Jones, Alaska Pioneer and Japanese POW.

Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books, 2009.

Golodoff, Nick. Attu Boy. Anchorage: U.S. National 

Park Service, 2012.

Kirkland, John C. The Relocation and Internment of 

the Aleuts during World War II. 8 vol. Anchorage: 

Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, 1981.

Kohlhoff, Dean. “’It Only Makes My Heart 

Want to Cry’: How Aleuts Faced the Pain of 

Evacuation.” In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, edited 

by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

——. When the Wind was a River: Aleut Evacuation in 

World War II. Seattle: University of Washington 

Press in association with Aleutian/Pribilof Islands 

Association, 1995.

Mobley, Charles M. World War II Aleut Relocation 

Camps in Southeast Alaska. Anchorage: U.S. 

National Park Service, 2012.

Smith, Barbara Sweetland. Making it Right: 

Restitution for Churches Damaged and Lost during 

the Aleut Relocation in World War II. Anchorage: 

Aleutian/Pribilof Islands Association, 1993.
World War II in Alaska

12

Aleut villagers faced an uncertain future both when they left for and returned from camps in southeast Alaska. During 

the Aleutian Campaign, 881 Aleuts were evacuated from their homes and spent almost three years in makeshift 

“duration villages” without proper sanitation, heat, or medical attention. (Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association Inc.)

Canadian Participation

Adleman, R.H. and G. Walton. The Devil’s Brigade. 

Philadelphia: Chilton Books, 1966.

Bezeau, M.V. “Strategic Cooperation: The Canadian 

Commitment to the Defense of Alaska in the 

Second World War.” In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, 

edited by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at 

War Committee, 1995.

Coyle, Brendan. War On Our Doorstep: The Unknown 

Campaign on North America’s West Coast. Surrey, 

B.C.: Heritage House, 2002.

Dziuban, Stanley W. Military Relations between the 

United States and Canada, 1939-1945. United 

States Army in World War II, Special Studies. 

Washington: Department of the Army, 1959.

Neely, Alastair. “The First Special Service Force and 

Canadian Involvement at Kiska.” In Alaska at War, 

1941-1945, edited by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: 

Alaska at War Committee, 1995.

Perras, Galen R. “Canada’s Greenlight Force and the 

Invasion of Kiska, 1943.” In Alaska at War, 1941-

1945, edited by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: 

Alaska at War Committee, 1995.

Japanese-American Internment

Daniels, Roger, et al., ed. Japanese Americans from 

Relocation to Redress. Revised Edition. Seattle: 

University of Washington Press, 1986.
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Inouye, Ronald K. “For Immediate Sale: Tokyo 

Bathhouse – How World War II Affected Alaska’s 

Japanese Civilians.” In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, 

edited by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at 

War Committee, 1995.

——. “Harry Sotaro Kawabe: Issei Businessman of 

Seward and Seattle.” Alaska History 5 (Spring 

1990): 34-43. 

Kobayashi, Sylvia K. “I Remember What I Want to 

Forget.” In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, edited by 

Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

Naske, Claus-M. “The Relocation of Alaska’s Japanese 

Residents.” Pacific Northwest Quarterly 74 (July 

1983): 124-132.

Lend-Lease Program

Brandon, Dean R. “War Planes to Russia.” Alaska 

(May 1976): 14-17.

Denfeld, Colt D. Cold Bay in World War II: Fort 

Randall and Russian Naval Lend-lease. U.S. Army 

Corps of Engineers, Alaska District, 1988.

Guide to the Ladd Field National Historic Landmark 

and Ladd Air Force Base Cold War Historic 

District. Fairbanks, AK: U.S. Army Garrison Fort 

Wainwright, 2011.

13

Hays, Otis E., Jr. The Alaska-Siberia Connection: The 

World War II Air Route. Texas A&M University 

Military History Series, 48. College Station: Texas 

A&M University Press, 1996.

——. “White Star, Red Star.” Alaska Journal 12 

(1982): 9-17.

Lake, Gretchen. “Photo Essay: The Russians are 

Coming, the Russians are Coming, Fifty Years Ago, 

the Russians were Coming.” Alaska History 8 

(Spring 1993): 33-41.

Long, Everett A. and Ivan Y. Neganblya. Cobras Over 

the Tundra. Fairbanks: Arktika Publishing, 1992.

Moor, Jay H. World War II in Alaska: The Northwest 

Route: A Bibliography and Guide to Primary 

Sources. Alaska Historical Commission Studies 

in History, no. 175. Anchorage: Alaska Historical 

Commission, 1985.

Price, Kathy. The World War II Heritage of Ladd Field, 

Fairbank, Alaska. Fort Colins, CO: CEMML, 

Colorado State University, 2004.

Smith, Blake W. Warplanes to Alaska: The Story of a 

WWII Military Supply Lifeline to Alaska and Russia 

through the Canadian Wilderness. Surrey, B.C.: 

Hancock House, 1998.

Lend-Lease planes on the apron of Hangar 1, Ladd Field, Fairbanks, circa 1944, including A-20s and P-39s. (U.S. Army)
World War II in Alaska

“Among the Japanese placed guns on Kiska Island was this 125-mm (6-inch) pre-World War I British naval gun used 

by the Japanese to guard the entrance to Kiska Harbor.” Photo taken by NAS Adak, 7 September 1943. (NARA, 

Record Group 80-G-80384)

Japanese Naval Power

Agawa, Hiroyuki. The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto 

and the Imperial Navy. New York: Kodansha 

International, 1979.

Dull, Paul S. A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese 

Navy, 1941-1945. Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute 

Press, 1978. 

Francillon, Rene J. Japanese Navy Bombers of World 

War Two. Garden City: Doubleday, 1971.

Fuchida, Mitsuo and Okumiya Masatake. Midway: The 

Battle that Doomed Japan. Annapolis: U.S. Naval 

Institute Press, 1955.

The Japanese Navy in World War II. Annapolis: U.S. 

Naval Institute, 1969.

Lorelli, John A. The Battle of the Komandorski Islands. 

Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1984.

Marder, Arthur Jacob. Old Friends, New Enemies: 

The Royal Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy: 

Strategic Illusions, 1936-1941. New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1981.

Parshall, Jonathan and Anthony Tully. Shattered Sword: 

The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway. Dulles: 

Potomac Books, Inc., 2007.

Takahashi, Hisashi. “The Japanese Campaign in Alaska 

as Seen from a Strategic Perspective.” In Alaska 

at War, 1941-1945, edited by Fern Chandonnet. 

Anchorage: Alaska at War Committee, 1995.

Watts, Anthony J. Japanese Warships of World War II. 

Garden City: Doubleday, 1967.

14
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Branches and Units

Amme, Carl H., ed. Aleutian Airdales: Stories of 

Navy Fliers in the North Pacific of WWII. Plains: 

Plainsman Publishing, 1987.

Benedict, Bradley H. Ski Troops in the Mud, Kiska 

Island Recaptured: A Saga of the North Pacific 

Campaign in the Aleutian Islands in World War 

II with Special Emphasis on its Culmination Led 

by the Forerunners of the 10th Mountain Division. 

Littleton: H.B.&J.C. Benedict, 1990.

Cloe, John Haile. The Aleutian Warriors: A History of 

the 11th Air Force & Fleet Air Wing 4. Missoula: 

Anchorage Chapter – Air Force Association and 

Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, 1990.

Cloe, John Haile and Michael F. Monaghan. Top Cover 

for America: The Air Force in Alaska, 1920-

1983. Missoula: Anchorage Chapter – Air Force 

Association and Pictorial Histories Publishing 

Company, 1984.

Goldstein, Donald M. The Williwaw War: The 

Arkansas National Guard in the Aleutians in World 

War II. Fayetteville: University of Arkansas Press, 

1992.

Johnson, Robert Erwin. Bering Sea Escort: Life 

Aboard a Coast Guard Cutter in World War II. 

Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1992.

Leahy, Joseph M. “The Coast Guard at War in 

Alaska.” In Alaska at War, 1941-1945, edited 

by Fern Chandonnet. Anchorage: Alaska at War 

Committee, 1995.

Montgomery Watson, prepared for the U.S. Army Corps 

of Engineers, The Kodiak Coastal Defense System 

at Fort Greely during World War II, Anchorage, 

Alaska, 1999 (?).

Woodman, Lyman. Duty Station Northwest: The U.S. 

Army in Alaska and Western Canada, 1867-1987. Vol. 

2. Anchorage: Alaska Historical Society, 1997.

15

Attu, Aleutian Islands. Landing boats pouring soldiers and their equipment onto the beach at Massacre Bay. This is 

the Southern landing force. (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.)
World War II in Alaska

Museums and Libraries

ANCHORAGE:

Alaska Aviation Museum

4721 Aircraft Drive

Anchorage, AK 99502

Phone: (907) 248-5325

Website: http://www.alaskaairmuseum.org/

The Alaska Aviation Museum displays a wide variety 

of Japanese and American WWII memorabilia from 

the Aleutian Campaign. The collection also includes 

a Catalina PBY and the wreck of a P-40 Warhawk 

fighter, both used in the Aleutian Campaign.

Alaska Veterans Museum

333 W. 4th Avenue, Suite 227

Anchorage, AK 99501

Phone: 907-677-8802

Website: http://www.alaskaveterans.com/

Stories of Alaska’s servicemen and women are available 

through oral histories, documentaries, artifacts, military 

uniforms, weapons, photos, and models, including 

a 1/72 scale model of the USS Essex, complete with 

fighter planes.

The Anchorage Museum

625 C Street

Anchorage, AK 99501

Phone: (907) 929-9200

E-mail: museum@AnchorageMuseum.org 

Website: http://www.anchoragemuseum.org/

The Alaska Gallery of the Anchorage Museum of 

History and Art is home to three displays portraying 

WWII Alaska. These include the uniform and rifle 

of an Alaska Scout and details about the Alaskan 

Territorial Guard; a diorama of aircraft used during 

the Aleutian Campaign; and a vision of life inside a 

Quonset hut.

Consortium Library

University of Alaska Anchorage

3211 Providence Drive

Anchorage, AK 99508

Phone: (907) 786-1848

Website: http://consortiumlibrary.org/

Consortium Library contains an impressive collection 

of books relating to Alaska’s WWII history. Its 

Archives and Manuscripts Department frequently 

exhibits material drawn from extensive collections 

of photographs, personal records, and government 

documents relating to Alaska’s war experiences.

National Archives and Records Administration

Pacific Alaska Region

654 West Third Avenue

Anchorage, AK 99501-2145

Phone: (907) 261-7820

E-mail: alaska.archives@nara.gov

Website: http://www.archives.gov/anchorage/

The National Archives contain vast collections of 

U.S. government records and material entrusted to the 

National Archives by various agencies. All aspects of 

Alaska’s WWII experience are represented in military 

records, municipal records, census information, and 

historical photographs.

Z.J. Loussac Library

Anchorage Municipal Libraries

3600 Denali Street

Anchorage, AK 99503-6093

Phone: (907) 343-2975

Website: http://www.muni.org/departments/library/

pages/loussaclibrary.aspx

The Loussac Library’s Alaska collection contains 

the majority of the books and articles cited in this 

bibliography, and is also home to a microfiche collection 

of Alaska’s newspapers. It is one of the best places to 

find material on Alaska during WWII, either in person or 

by interlibrary loan.

FAIRBANKS:

Pioneer Air Museum

Interior and Arctic Alaska Aeronautical Foundation

Location: Alaskaland Park

2300 Airport Way

Fairbanks, Alaska 99701

Phone: (907) 451-0037

E-mail: curator@pioneerairmuseum.org

Website: http://www.pioneerairmuseum.org/

The Pioneer Air Museum has on display photographs, 

Russian uniforms, and other memorabilia related to the 

Lend-Lease Program, which ferried aircraft to the Soviet 

front via Alaska. The Museum is also home to a singleengine Norseman plane used during the War for cargo 

delivery and search-and-rescue missions.

16
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

Elmer E. Rasmuson Library

University of Alaska Fairbanks

310 Tanana Loop

Fairbanks, AK 99775-6800

Phone: (907) 474-7481

Website: http://library.uaf.edu/

Rasmuson Library includes an extensive Alaska 

collection containing many of the works cited in this 

bibliography. It is also home to the archives of the 

Alaska & Polar Regions Department, one of Alaska’s 

richest sources of historical materials related to WWII. 

JUNEAU:

Alaska State Library

Location: 8th floor, State Office Building

Juneau, AK 99811-0571

Phone: (907) 465-2920

Website: http://library.alaska.gov/

The Alaska State Library is an excellent place to begin 

searching for books and articles about WWII Alaska. In 

addition, the library’s historical collection contains oneof-a-kind material and rare books on the same theme.

KODIAK:

Baranov Museum/Kodiak Historical Society

101 Marine Way

Kodiak, AK 99615

Phone: (907) 486-5920

Fax: (907) 486-3166

Website: http://www.baranovmuseum.org/

The Baranov Museum houses both historical 

photographs and memoirs relating to the Aleutian 

Campaign and the role of the Kodiak Naval Operating 

Base in particular.

SITKA:

Sitka Historical Society and Museum

330 Harbor Drive

Sitka, AK 99835

Phone: (907) 747-6455

E-mail: curator@sitkahistory.org

Website: http://www.sitkahistory.org/

The Sitka Historical Society and Museum holds WWII 

collections consisting of three-dimensional objects such 

as uniforms, medals, and military equipment, as well as 

an extensive photograph collection.

UNALASKA:

Museum of the Aleutians

314 Salmon Way

P.O. Box 648

Unalaska, AK 99685-0648

Phone: (907) 581-5150

E-mail: mota@aleutians.org

Website: http://www.aleutians.org/

The Museum of the Aleutians collection includes 

weapons, historical photographs, uniforms, diaries, 

flightlogs, and Japanese flags from the Aleutian 

Campaign

17

Illustration of the Japanese 

bombing of Dutch Harbor, 

as part of the Historic 

American Building Survey 

documentation found on-line 

at http//www.loc.gov/librarydigital.html.
World War II in Alaska

Alaska Digital Archives - http://vilda.alaska.edu/index.php

This site presents a wealth of historical photographs, albums, oral histories, moving images, maps, documents, 

physical objects, and other materials from libraries, museums and archives throughout Alaska. This site has a large 

variety of digitized photos, interviews, documents, and films from World War II.

Alaska Library Web Pages - http://www.publiclibraries.com/alaska.htm

This site offers a list of links to library web pages throughout the state and to SLED, which provides access to 

library catalogs and related resources. Alaska Library Web Pages is maintained by the Alaska Library Association.

Alaska Library Directory - http://library.alaska.gov/forms/libraryDirectory.aspx

This site provides a list of basic user information for every library in Alaska. The site is maintained by the Alaska 

State Library.

Museums and Historical Societies in Alaska - http://museums.alaska.gov/list.html

Here you will find a complete list of Alaska’s museums and historical societies, each with user information and a 

description of facilities. The site is maintained by Alaska State Museums.

Statewide Library Electronic Doorway (SLED) - http://sled.alaska.edu/

SLED offers access to library catalogs and other resources of interest to Alaskans under the slogan “information 

resources for, about and by Alaskans.”

Online Resources

Sitka Naval Operating Base, Easter Service, 1943. (Sitka Historical Society and Museum)

18
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

The following sites contain information about WWII in Alaska. An Internet search under “World War II” will yield 

many others which examine the war as a global phenomenon or focus on specific events during the war years. 

Aleutians Campaign, June 1942-August 1943: United States Navy Combat Narrative

http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/aleutians_campaign.htm

During WWII the U.S. Naval Historical Center began producing combat narratives of specific naval campaigns. This oncerestricted document is offered by the NHC not as an official history but as a view through the eyes of the Navy in 1943.

The Aleutians Home Page

http://www.hlswilliwaw.com/aleutians/

This website began as a site to promote the sharing of anecdotes, photos, and links related to the post-World War II Shemya. Its content 

quickly grew to include experiences of World War II veterans of Shemya and other Aleutian Islands.

Aleutian Islands: The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II

http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/aleut/aleut.htm

This site contains a detailed U.S. Army article on the Aleutian Campaign. Included also are maps, illustrations, and a list of 

suggested reading.

Aleutian World War II National Historic Area

http://www.nps.gov/aleu/index.htm

This is the National Park Service website for the Aleutian World War II National Historic Area. It provides information on the 

Aleutian Campaign, Aleut Evacuation, interviews with veterans, and other information of interest to the general public, teachers, 

and students.

Forgotten Decades, WWII Alaskans Finally Get Their Due

http://www.npr.org/2013/05/28/186485619/forgotten-for-decades-wwii-alaskans-finally-get-their-due

This is a National Public Radio segment on Marvin “Muktuk” Marston and the more than 6,300 Alaska Natives that volunteered 

for the Alaska Territorial Guard during World War II.

Kodiak Alaska Military History Museum

http://www.kadiak.org

This site includes a variety of documents relating to WWII in Kodiak, with both historic and more current day images. The 

Museum is housed in an historic Ammunition bunker at Miller Point, the former Fort Abercrombie, which today is a State Park in 

Kodiak.

LitSite Alaska

http://www.litsite.org/

LitSite Alaska, showcases a living archive of lesson plans used in Alaskan classrooms and an extensive collection of excellent 

peer work by Alaskan students. It is a production of the University of Alaska Anchorage and has a number of sources discussing 

World War II in Alaska.

National Museum of the Air Force

http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/

This site is maintained by the National Museum of the Air Force on Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. It offers a series of 

short narratives concerning all aspects of the War in the Pacific, including the Aleutian Campaign.

Photos from the Aleutian Campaign

http://eubank-web.com/Donald/Aleutian/index.html

This site includes an impressive collection of WWII photographs taken in Adak and other Aleutian sites. The photos belonged to 

Dr. Will R. Eubank, an aviation medical examiner in the Army Air Corps. Together they help to tell the story of Eubank’s twelve 

month tour during the Aleutian Campaign.

Sitka’s WWII Site

http://www.sitkaww2.com/

This site, designed by a student named Mathew Hunter, is an excellent source for researching Sitka Naval Operating Base 

and Sitka’s military history. In addition to an historical narrative the site offers historic photographs, maps, and present-day 

snapshots of Sitka’s military installations.

Internet Sites

19
World War II in Alaska

While this guide is intended primarily to assist teachers and students in finding information 

about the World War II in Alaska it also important to be able to identify types of sources and 

how to properly cite them in a bibliography or note. Below is some general guidance and some 

links to more specific guidance to help you in you research.

Types of Sources:

Primary Sources

A primary source is a piece of information about a historical event or period in which the 

creator of the source was an actual participant in or a contemporary of a historical moment. 

Examples include historic photos, diaries, government documents, artifacts, and other written 

and tangible items created during the historical period you are studying.

Secondary Sources

A secondary source is a source that was not created first-hand by someone who participated 

in the historical era. Examples of secondary sources inlude journal articles and books written 

about historic events by historians, using primary and secondary sources. A secondary source 

is a person’s interpretation of what a primary source means.

Tertiary Sources

Tertiary sources are based on a collection of primary and secondary sources and may or may 

not be written by an expert. Tertiary sources are only used as exploratory sources and should 

never appear in your bibliography. These include dictionaries, encyclopedias, fact books, and 

guide books and are intended to give you ideas about what to research. Wikipedia is popular 

tertiary source that should not appear in your bibliography.

Citing Sources:

A key part of any research project is citing your sources. For historians there are generally 

three accepted styles of citation: Turabian, MLA, and Chicago Style. If you are doing a 

National History Day project Turabian or MLA must be used to cite your sources, however 

it is recommended that you ask your teacher before deciding which style to use. Below are 

the citations for each of the respective guides written in their bibliographic formats. Note the 

subtle differences in each.

MLA. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 7th Edition. New York: Modern 

Language Association of America, 2009. Print.

Turabian, Kate L. 2013. A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations, 

Eighth Edition: Chicago Style for Students and Researchers. Chicago: University of Chicago 

Press.

University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Edition. Chicago: University 

Chicago Press, 2010.

Sources and Citation

20
A Resource Guide for Teachers and Students

National History Day

One opportunity to research an Alaska World War II history topic is through the National 

History Day (NHD) program. NHD is an innovative curriculum framework in which students 

in grades 6-12 learn history by selecting topics of interest and launching into a year-long 

research project. The purpose of National History Day is to improve the teaching and learning 

of history in middle and high schools.

Following the school year, students

• select a topic related to an annual History Day theme

• select an entry category: website; documentary; exhibit; research paper; or performance

• follow guidance for conducting historical research and create an original project

These projects are entered into competitions in the spring at local, state and national levels 

where they are evaluated by professional historians and educators. The program culminates 

with the national competition held each June at the University of Maryland at College Park.

The National Park Service is a partner of National History Day. In Alaska, the National Park 

Service, Alaska Regional Office partners with the Alaska Association for Historic Preservation 

to bring the History Day program to schools across the state . Teachers may contact the state 

coordinator to request History Day curriculum guides or ask questions about the program by 

visiting the History Day in Alaska website at http://www.alaskahistoryday.com/

21

Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski visiting with Alaska’s National History Day students on the Capitol Steps in Washington, D.C.
U.S. National Park Service

Alaska Regional Office

National Historic Landmarks Program

The Aleutian Campaign involved tens of thousands of U.S. land, sea, and air forces in defending 

Alaska from the enemy. Pictured are U.S. soldiers on Kiska with anti-aircraft gun emplacement, 

following Japanese evacuation of the island in 1943.