Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
These film clips show scenes from the first few days of fall classes on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks in the late 1950s. Campus views include the lower dormitories of the Stevens, Nerland and McIntosh Halls complex; the Sydney Chapman Building, then home to the newly established Geophysical Institute; Wickersham Hall; and Constitution Hall. Other scenes show a woman operating a loom, a professor working at a desk, and students -- some wearing freshman beanies -- walking around campus and entering and leaving Constitution Hall.
Completed in 1955 as the Student Union Building, Constitution Hall was a center of student life, housing a snack bar, bookstore, game room, cafeteria and student offices. It also played an important role in Alaska's statehood movement: in 1955, elected delegates met there to draft the Alaska Constitution, which they signed on February 8, 1956. The building was renamed Constitution Hall later that year in honor of this historic gathering.
For more information about these and other UAF campus buildings, see: https://www.uaf.edu/campusmap/for-visitors/buildings/
Source & Format
Color, silent, 16mm film
Machetanz Collection (AAF-1135)
Alaska Film Archives
Repository
The Alaska Film Archives is a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Contact
If you have additional information or can help further identify what’s seen here, we welcome your insights. Please contact us using the information in the “About” section.
Support the Alaska Film Archives
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Donations of any amount help us preserve and share Alaska’s audiovisual history. Visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help. Thank you!
These film clips show scenes from the first few days of fall classes on the University of Alaska campus in Fairbanks in the late 1950s. Campus views include the lower dormitories of the Stevens, Nerland and McIntosh Halls complex; the Sydney Chapman Building, then home to the newly established Geophysical Institute; Wickersham Hall; and Constitution Hall. Other scenes show a woman operating a loom, a professor working at a desk, and students -- some wearing freshman beanies -- walking around campus and entering and leaving Constitution Hall.
Completed in 1955 as the Student Union Building, Constitution Hall was a center of student life, housing a snack bar, bookstore, game room, cafeteria and student offices. It also played an important role in Alaska's statehood movement: in 1955, elected delegates met there to draft the Alaska Constitution, which they signed on February 8, 1956. The building was renamed Constitution Hall later that year in honor of this historic gathering.
For more information about these and other UAF campus buildings, see: https://www.uaf.edu/campusmap/for-visitors/buildings/
Source & Format
Color, silent, 16mm film
Machetanz Collection (AAF-1135)
Alaska Film Archives
Repository
The Alaska Film Archives is a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Contact
If you have additional information or can help further identify what’s seen here, we welcome your insights. Please contact us using the information in the “About” section.
Support the Alaska Film Archives
The Alaska Film Archives appreciates your support. Donations of any amount help us preserve and share Alaska’s audiovisual history. Visit the “About” section of our YouTube channel to learn how you can help. Thank you!
