University Finns Museum
To House Vast Collections
Long range plans for the university of Alaska call for a
museum to house its impressive collection of archeological and
ethnological material as well as the other fine collections of ob
jects contributed by interested Alaskans since the school’s
founding in 1922.
Di. Charles E. Bunnell, in the early 1920’s, then oresident of
the Alaska Agricultural College and*
School of Mines, formulated the
plan for the museum in conjunction
with Otto William Geist. At that
time Geist was a mining short
course student at the college. He
had returned from a trip to St.
Lawrence Island with thousands of
Eskimo artifacts which Dr. Bunnell
saw on display in the J. R. Heck
man Store in Ketchikan. The display
in the store window extended one
quarter block and was four feet
wide.
Dr. BunneP and Geist agreed that
the latter should again go to the
St. Lawrence Island to obtain even
more materials.
Geist Offers Services
Dr. Bunnell provided some of his
own funds and Geist offered his
services free. Repeated trips of this
sort finally lead to a massive ex
cavation at Kukulik. a tremendous
mound on St. Lawrence Island and
the site of many centuries of now
buried habitations of the island’s
early residents.
The federal government provided
the funds for this work because it
was impressed with Geist’s work
and Dr. Bunnell’s interest
At one stage of the St. Lawrence
explorations, the University also
provided funds. Dr. Bunnell later
was repaid for his expenditures and
Geist received token payment for
his work.
For many years Dr. Ivar Skar
land, Head of the Anthropology De
partment, was curator of the mu
seum. He, too, obtained much mu
seum material in his travels about
Alaska and had worked with Geist
on St. Lawrence Island.
Many Contributions
When Geist began working in the
pleistocene fossil beds in the early
1930’s he contributed many of his
findings of these ice-age animals to
the museum as well as to the Frick
Laboratories of the American Mu
seum of Natural History. Many
other museums in the United States
and abroad also have some of his
material.
Over the years, Alaskan's recog
nizing the need to preserve her his
tory, have provided many collec
tions of historical material, includ
! 'n£ manuscripts and photographs to
| their museum.
Each year more than 30.000 per
| *ons from every state in the Union
and numerous foreign countries
view the museum's collections.
New Curator
Recently Professor Ludwig Row
inski was appointed museum cura
tor.
Some of his work has included
changing the displays from the Uni
versity’s vast store houses of mater
ial and also exhibiting certain col
lections in the wall display in the
show cases in Bunnell Memorial
Building.
The University, in partial appre
ciation for Geist’s continuing and
dedicated work over the years,
granted him an honorary Doctor of
Science degree, for the recogni
tion of his other scientific works
in Alaska and the scientific world
generally.
He now is an emeritus professor
of the University, but at 73 years
of age still seems determined to car
ry on the work he performed for
so many years under the title of
Research Associate in Vertebrate
| Paleontology.
At the present time he is work
| ing out of the Arctic research lab
! which the University administers
for the Office of Naval Research at
Pt. Barrow.
Naturally contributions are com
j ing down from there for, among
other places, the University of
Alaska Museum.
PROJECT SUPERVISOR
The University of Alaska will
have Dr. Troy L. Pewe, head of the
Department of Geology, as project
supervisor on the research work on
“Large Scale Contraction-Crack
Polygons in Central Alaska." A
grant of $17,880 was made to the
state university by the Cold Regions
Research and Engineering Labora
tories. Corps of Engineers. U. S.
Army, for the research project.
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