English:
Photograph of mural "Mail Service in the Arctic" by
Rockwell Kent
at the
Ariel Rios Federal Building
, Washington, D.C.
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Date: 1937; dimensions: 7' x 13' 6".
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Photographed as part of an assignment for the General Services Administration.
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Title, date and keywords from information provided by the photographer.
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Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.
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Gift; Carol M. Highsmith; 2009; (DLC/PP-2009:083).
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Forms part of: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive.
Mural information from the
General Services Administration
:
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In the 1930s, mail still arrived in Alaska's ports by ship from Seattle. From there, airplanes commonly transported letters and goods within the state. At each stop, bags were transferred to dog sleds for delivery to their final destinations. Native Alaskans, who were far more familiar with the land and its navigation than recent immigrants, were often hired to drive the dog sleds. This represented a great economic opportunity for a group of people otherwise facing fierce discrimination. In
Mail Service in the Arctic
, a group of native Alaskans bids farewell to the mail plane. In the foreground, an envelope addressed to Rockwell Kent at Au Sable Forks, New York, changes hands between two women dressed in traditional fur-lined parkas and the driver of the sled.
