Scope and Contents: This collection consists of one box of Connie H. Paddock’s personal papers. Included is her incoming and outgoing correspondence, personal writings about life in Alaska, clippings, as well as other papers documenting her and her family’s lives. The bulk of the collection consists of Paddock’s outgoing correspondence, spanning 1968 to 2004, to friends and family. Paddock wrote colorful and detailed letters that discussed her life and the observations she made. The correspondence documents the life of an educated Alaska Native women residing in Southeast Alaska during the latter twentieth century. Topics include Alaska Native history, Alaska women’s history, Alaska political history, Juneau history, Tenekee Springs history, and other similar topics.
Regarding the collection, correspondence has been organized into outgoing (arranged chronologically) and incoming (arranged alphabetically). Other papers in the collection consists of clippings, awards, papers concerning Paddock’s ancestry, yearbooks from the Haskell Institute, and stories written by Paddock about life in Alaska.
Note: Approximately 30 photographs of Paddock’s were donated with this collection. These photographs have been arranged as their own collection, which can be viewed at SHI by asking to see the Connie H. Paddock Photograph Collection.
Note: Biographical/autobiographical information about Constance Harper Paddock and her family has been published in; Jan Harper-Haines, Cold River Spirits: Whispers from a Family’s Forgotten Past (Epicenter Press, 2012).