Unalakleet, Alaska Log Book--CARLI Digital Collections Featured Image

"Two months have gone by in which this book has been entirely neglected. Because of work and night wake etc. came we behind and then ambition was lost."

So admits Dr. Carl O. Lind on page 45 of the logbook kept by five different Evangelical Covenant Church missionaries over the course of twelve years in Unalakleet, Alaska. The doctor proceeds to catch up the logbook with highlights and then resumes his daily entries. On June 14th, 1904, he writes:

A bright beautiful day but quite cold because s[outh]westerly wind has blown and the ice is crowding in. Even the river filled with ice this morning. Most of the day has been employed in writing by H., Misha, and myself. I have also seen to Mary Andrewuk occasionally during the day. This evening 8:30 I had to deliver her instrumentally from a large 12+ lb. girl. Evidence showed that she had been dead for some time. Mary did well after delivery. We are all happy that it is over. Carlson has been engaged in fixing a boat today.

What a heartwrenching story sandwiched between prosaic observations. Lind describes the baby's funeral in the entry for June 16th, a day that he pronounces "cloudy, cold and queer."

I could read this mesmerizing logbook for hours. What Lind chooses to document, the subjective phrases that flavor this shared work journal, and yes the running commentary on the weather, all written in Lind's wonderfully legible hand make the missionary's experience come alive. For additional context, see the book Covenant Frontiers: Fifty Years In China, Fifty-Three Years In Alaska, Three Years In Africa.

Written by Mary Rose, Metadata Librarian, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

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