Museum Collections

Collection storage at the Alaska Regional Curatorial Center. These hold important materials gathered by scientists, archeologists, and other professionals.

NPS / Zach Jones

The National Park Service (NPS) provides professional stewardship for park-specific museum collections. These collections represent park cultural and natural resources, eminent figures, and park histories. Collectively, the NPS museum system provides broad representation of the natural and cultural heritage of the United States.

NPS Museum Collection in Alaska

There are 16 NPS museum collections in Interior Region 11 -- Alaska, totaling approximately 6.8 million items and archival records. Many collections from Alaska park units are generated through scientific research conducted in the parks. The collections include materials from the disciplines of:

• Archaeology
• Ethnology
• History
• Archives
• Biology
• Geology
• Paleontology

NPS museum staff at Alaska park units and the NPS Alaska Regional Office manage, preserve, and make these collections accessible.

Individual reviewing a historic photograph album from the archives at the Alaska Regional Curatorial Center.

NPS / Zach Jones

What do we do?

Museum professionals on the Alaska Regional Office cultural resources team provide technical support, guidance, and assistance to parks and their museum programs throughout Alaska. The Alaska Regional Office also houses and manages the largest NPS collections repository in Alaska, the Alaska Regional Curatorial Center. Services include,

• general oversight of park museum programs
• development and implementation of museum collection management and planning documents
• assistance with cataloging, processing, and inventorying collections
• ensuring ongoing preservation and conservation of museum collections
• providing long-term curatorial storage
• guidance on museum registration processes

The Alaska Region museum program partners with many institutions across the state and beyond in the management of its museum collections. Many parks and the Alaska Regional Office provide opportunities for developing museum professionals to work and learn alongside senior curatorial staff. The Alaska National Interest Lands Act of 1980 (ANILCA), Section 1318, allows the NPS to also assist and train Alaska Native Corporations and Alaska Native Groups in the preservation of their cultural resources, including objects, when requested.

Where are collections kept?

The Alaska Regional Curatorial Center is in Anchorage, AK and is the primary collections storage repository for nine park collections in Alaska:

• Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve
• Alagnak Wild River
• Cape Krusenstern National Monument
• Bering Land Bridge National Preserve
• Katmai National Park and Preserve
• Kenai Fjords National Park
• Kobuk Valley National Park
• Lake Clark National Park and Preserve
• Noatak National Park

The following parks in the Alaska Region manage and store their museum and archival collections at or near their location:

• Denali National Park and Preserve
• Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve
• Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve
• Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
• Sitka National Historical Park
• Wrangell—St. Elias National Park and Preserve
• Yukon–Charlie Rivers National Preserve

Access and Use?

NPS museum collections are used in a variety of ways. In keeping with the Service's public trust responsibilities, most uses of collections are educational. The primary uses are:

• Research conducted by scientists, historians, archaeologists, ethnographers and other specialists.
• Publications that the park or others produce.
• Exhibits in NPS museums and visitor centers, as well as loans to non-NPS museums for special exhibitions.
• Educational programs at the park, schools, or other public venues.
• Media products, such as documentaries (motion picture, television, and radio), Web sites, "Web casts,” and virtually any other new media format.

The Alaska Regional Curatorial Center can be visited by individuals seeking to use the collection for research or study through a prearranged appointment. Interested researchers should review our Collections Access Policy. Contact the ARCC to learn more.

For access to collections stored at individual park units, please contact the specific park directly.

Some collections are available to browse via the NPS web catalog. Archival collection descriptions, or finding aids, that help researchers learn about our historical records are available upon request.

Two finding aids are provided below, including for Records of the Alaska Regional Office and Bering Land Bridge National Preserve.

Records of the Alaska Regional Office Finding Aid
Bering Land Bridge National Preserve Finding Aid