Media Advisory

TO                         COMMUNITY NEWS EDITORS AND PSA DIRECTORS

FROM                     UAF Rasmuson Library, Alaska and Polar Regions

SUBJECT                Harriman Alaska Expedition Exhibit

LOCATION             Main Floor, Rasmuson Library, UAF Campus

What started out as a family vacation to Alaska 100 years ago grew into a major science expedition covering 9,000 miles of North Pacific coastline and lasting two months. Railroad tycoon Edward H. Harriman invited about 30 of the country's top scientists to join him and his family aboard a steamship to Alaska to document the natural wonders of the country's newest frontier.

The Rasmuson Library is hosting a small, eight-panel traveling exhibit about the expedition which includes photos, drawings and interpretative text. The exhibit is a recently added feature to the National Bank of Alaska's Heritage Library Museum in Anchorage and is on loan to UAF until Dec. 11. NBA arranged free travel for the exhibit to Fairbanks. The exhibit is located on the main floor and viewable during regular UAF Rasmuson Library hours.

Harriman's 1899 trip is documented in 14 volumes of the "Harriman Alaska Expedition Reports," available at the UAF Rasmuson Library. Scientists in the fields of geology, botany, ornithology and ethnology along with artists and writers documented their journey along the North Pacific from Southeast Alaska to the Bering Sea and Siberia. Among those aboard were naturalist John Muir, explorer William Healey Dall and photographer Edward S. Curtis.

CONTACT: CONTACT: Ron Inouye, UAF Rasmuson Library Alaska and Polar Regions, 907-474-5354, or via email at fnrki@uaf.edu

DPD/11-12-98/99-029ma