About This Collection

In 1935, two hundred and three Colony families made a journey of thousands of miles to their new home in Alaska. The Palmer Museum has a small collection of letters from the Vasanoja and Emberg families that illustrate the joys, sorrows, struggles, and everyday routines of Colonist life in early Palmer. This collection has been digitized and transcribed by museum staff, and we hope to add more letters from colonists, homesteaders, Alaska native peoples, and more to our online collection. Letters, diaries, and other personal writings offer valuable and unique perspectives on our community’s story. If you or someone you know has writings from early Palmer, we would love to help preserve them. If you spot something in one of the original letters our team missed while transcribing, please let us know.