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ROBERT C. LEWIS (Ak. Hist. Soc. Col.). World War II Papers and Photographs; n.d., 1941-1943, 1951. .45 cu. ft. Inventory.
Robert C. Lewis was born in Linden, Indiana, in 1916. He grew up in Longview, Washington, and graduated from R.A. Long High School in 1935. Lewis enlisted in the U.S. Army in Tacoma, Washington, in 1941. He came to Seward, Alaska, aboard the U.S.S. U.S. Grant in June 1941 with his army unit, Battery E, 205th Coast Artillery (antiaircraft) Battalion. Lewis served at Fort Raymond, the U.S. Army base in Seward. His battalion was redesignated the 420th Coast Artillery (antiaircraft) Battalion in April of 1942. It later left Fort Raymond sometime in 1943-1944. After the war Lewis worked for many years in the construction field for Morris-Knudson. He later returned to Longview, Washington, and worked as a homebuilder and fine finish carpenter. Robert C. Lewis died in a car crash in 1989.
The collection consists of papers and photographs from Robert Lewis' service in the U.S. Army at Fort Raymond, Seward, Alaska during World War II. The papers include: two issues of the Fort Raymond post newspaper, the Daily Polaris; a certificate of completion and text from a University of Alaska extension course in mining; notes on combat intelligence; plans for a trestlebent bridge; a National Park Service booklet on Mount McKinley National Park; and an Alaska Defense Command booklet about the Mt. McKinley U.S. Army Recreation Camp. The photographs include those of Robert Lewis and Battery E, Fort Raymond and its facilities and troops, and scenery and recreational activities on the Kenai Peninsula and along the Alaska Railroad. Of particular interest are photographs of the tent camp at Fort Raymond next to the Jesse Lee Home; the devastating fire on 4th Avenue in Seward on the night of November 23, 1941; and a railroad trip to Mount McKinley National Park and Fairbanks. Other localities depicted in the photographs include Cooper's Landing, Moose Pass, Russian River Rendezvous, Hope, the Divide Ski Area, and "Alaska Nellie" Lawing's trophy house and room in Lawing. The photographs also include a group of images of Adak Island and the army base there taken in 1951.
The collection was presented to the Alaska Historical Society by Cory Graff in 1998.
HMC-0015x
JAS (11/1999)