PBS host shares grandfather's Point Hope legacy

March 11, 2011

University Relations

The sewing kit donated by PBS host Steve Thomas includes ivory needles.
The sewing kit donated by PBS host Steve Thomas includes ivory needles.


A recent donation to the University of Alaska Museum of the North’s ethnology collection chronicles a family’s connection to the village of Point Hope back to the early part of last century.

The items were donated by Steve Thomas, the former host of PBS' This Old House. His grandfather, the Rev. William Thomas, served as a missionary in Point Hope from 1914 to 1926.