Ann Fox Chandonnet Collection Inventory

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Guide to the Ann Chandonnet papers
1942-2007

Collection number: HMC-0085.
Creator: Chandonnet, Ann.
Title: Ann Chandonnet papers.
Dates: 1942-2007.
Volume of collection: 8.75 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Personal papers, writings, and research files of an Alaskan poet, author, and journalist.

Biographical note:
Ann Fox Chandonnet was born in Massachusetts in 1943. She obtained her B.S. from Lowell University in 1964 and an M.S. in English Literature from the University of Wisconsin in 1965. After graduating, she taught English at Kodiak High School in Alaska from 1965-1966 and then at Lowell State College in Massachusetts from 1966-1969. Ann returned to Alaska in 1973. She is a poet and author who has published a number of poetry collections including The Wife and Other Poems, At the Fruit Tree’s Mossy Root, Ptarmigan Valley, and Canoeing in the Rain: Poems for My Aleut-Athabascan Son. She has also written several cookbooks, including Gold Rush Grub: From Turpentine Stew to Hoochino and The Alaska Heritage Seafood Cookbook, children’s books, and two histories of Eklutna Village, among many other titles. Chandonnet was food editor and children’s book reviewer for the Anchorage Daily News and also wrote for the Anchorage Times newspaper. She was a founding member of the Literary Artists Guild, an organization for Alaskan authors and poets.

In 1966, Ann married Fernand “Fern” L. Chandonnet (b. 1942). The couple adopted three sons, Yves, Alexandre, and Maxim. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Fern was a radio announcer and programmer at KHER and KENI in Anchorage. He later worked for the Anchorage Times newspaper as a copy editor. In 1988, Fern ran for the Alaska state senate as a Democrat but was not elected. Ann and Fern moved to Juneau in 1999, and from 1999-2006, Fern worked at Juneau Empire newspaper as editor. Ann also worked at the newspaper for three years as a police and courts reporter.

Collection description:
The bulk of the collection contains Ann Chandonnet’s personal papers, most significantly her personal and professional correspondence from 1962-2007. Prominent correspondents include Chandonnet’s mother, Barbara Curran (b. 1923), her mother’s cousin, Mary Colburn (b. 1927), poets Joanne Townsend and Will Inman, and other writers and family members. Chandonnet’s personal papers also contain a scrapbook that she kept in 1965-1966 while she was teaching at Kodiak High School on Kodiak Island, family photographs, advertisements for and reviews of her books, newspaper clippings about her, legal papers, and papers related to the Literary Artists Guild, among other materials.

The collection also contains drafts and published copies of Chandonnet’s writing, including news, arts, and human interest features that she wrote for various Alaska magazines and newspapers, including the Anchorage Times and the Anchorage Daily News, manuscript drafts of and book proposals for some of her books, poetry, food writing, fiction, and drafts of interviews and speeches. There are also photocopies of research material from various archives and books that Chandonnet use to write several books, including materials on the history of Eklutna, and papers relating to Fern Chandonnet, including his own photographs, writing, and newspaper clippings, speeches, and other papers relating to his 1988 Alaska state senate campaign.

Arrangement: This collection is arranged into four series: personal papers, writing, research files, and Fernand L. Chandonnet papers.

Digitized copies: Digital copies of collection material not available online. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.

Use restrictions: Permission to quote from a literary work or any part thereon must be obtained from the author in writing.

Rights note: The donor retains the literary property rights and copyright to all literary works of her authorship such as books, essays, articles, and poetry, including drafts but not including correspondence and other papers.

Preferred citation: Ann Chandonnet papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Separated materials: Published books and literary journals were separated from the archival collection in 2010 and added to the Consortium Library Rare Books collection.

Acquisition note: This collection was originally donated to Archives and Special Collections by Ann Chandonnet in 1982. Thirteen additions to the collection were donated by Chandonnet between 1984-2007.

Processing information: This collection was originally arranged and described prior to 1991. The guide was revised and updated by Megan K. Friedel in 2010.

Container list:

Series 1. Personal papers, 1942-2007. 5.35 cubic feet.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Box/Folder	Description	Date
1/1	Advertisements and press releases for books by Ann Chandonnet	1972-2005
1/2	Advertisements and programs for appearances by Ann Chandonnet	1984-2005
1/3	Advertisements and programs for other events	1979-1999
1/4	Alaska Center for the Book meeting minutes	1992
1/5	Anchorage Times papers relating to closing of newspaper operations	1992
1/6, 20/1	Articles and newspaper clippings about Ann Chandonnet	1978-2005
1/7	Articles and newspaper clippings by and about other authors	1974-1981
1/8	Awards and certificates	1958-1983
1/9	Biographical information and resumes	1974-2008
1/10	Contracts and other legal papers	1972-1998
1/11	Correspondence	undated
1/12	Correspondence - Letters to Juliana Wells	1962-1963
1/13	Correspondence	1963-1965
1/14	Correspondence	1968-1972
1/15	Correspondence - Letters of recommendation	1968-1982
1/16	Correspondence	1973
1/17	Correspondence	1974-1976
1/18	Correspondence regarding adoption tax deduction	1976-1980
2/1 - 2/2	Correspondence regarding Eklutna research	1976-1982
2/3 - 2/7	Correspondence with Katherine Jensen	1976-1990
2/8	Correspondence	1977
2/9	Correspondence	1978
2/10	Correspondence	1979
2/11	Correspondence	1980
3/1	Correspondence	1981
3/2 - 3/3	Correspondence	1982
3/4 - 3/5	Correspondence	1983
3/6 - 4/1	Correspondence	1984
4/2	Correspondence	1985
4/3 - 4/4	Correspondence	1986
4/5 - 4/6	Correspondence	1987
4/7 - 5/1	Correspondence	1988
5/2 - 5/4	Correspondence	1989
5/5 - 5/8	Correspondence	1990
6/1 - 6/7	Correspondence	1991
7/1 - 7/2	Correspondence	1992
7/3	Correspondence	1993
7/4	Correspondence	1994
7/5	Correspondence	1995
7/6	Correspondence	1996
8/1 - 8/2	Correspondence	1997
8/3	Correspondence	1998
8/4	Correspondence	1999
8/5	Correspondence	2000
8/6	Correspondence	2001
8/7 - 8/8	Correspondence	2002
9/1 - 9/3	Correspondence	2003
9/4 - 9/7	Correspondence	2004
10/1	Correspondence	2005
10/2	Correspondence	2006
10/3 - 10/4	Correspondence	2007
10/5	Financial records	1979-2007
10/6	Fox family genealogical papers	1991-2007
10/7	Grant and award applications	1998-2003
10/8	Juneau Writer Club contact list	2005
10/9	Literary Artists Guild correspondence, bylaws, and minutes	1980-1982
10/10	Literary Artists Guild newsletter, The Upstart Crow	1982
10/11	Notes and other papers on marketing writing	circa 1977-1983
11/1	Photographs. Includes one compact disc of digital photographs taken at the Alaska Book Festival in 2007.	1942-2007
11/2	Poetry and stories by other authors. Includes poems by Joanne Townsend, Arlitia Jones, Elizabeth Cuadra, Will Inman	1978-2005
11/3	Reading lists	undated
11/4	Reviews of books written by Chandonnet	1974-1985
Box 19	Scrapbook kept by Ann Chandonnet documenting her time teaching English at Kodiak High School. Includes photographs, postcards, newspaper and magazine clippings, and letters to her grandmother, Ethel B. Fox	1965-1966
11/5	Sound recording of “Return of the Great Round: A Musical by Eleanor Limmer.” 1 compact disc with a typescript synopsis.	1993
11/6	Teaching papers	1992-2005
11/7	Video recording of “Alaska: A Place for Poets,” Parts I and II. 1 VHS videocassette.	1986
11/8A	Rough-cut DVD recording of “Eating Alaska" (documentary by Frankenstein Productions)	2007 September 23

Series 2. Writing, 1965-2007. 2.65 cubic feet.
Arranged alphabetically by format.

Box/Folder	Description	Date
11/8	Articles – Drafts for Alaska Journal magazine	1978
11/9	Articles - Drafts for Alaska Press Women’s Bicentennial Series	1976-1978
11/10	Articles - Drafts for Alaskana magazine	1973-1981
11/11	Articles - Drafts for the Anchorage Times newspaper	1983-1986
11/12	Articles - Drafts for other publications	1976-1986
12/1, 20/2	Articles - Clippings of articles published in various Alaska newspapers and magazines	1981-2004
12/2 - 12/3	Book review drafts - Children’s books	1978-1982
12/4 - 12/5	Book review drafts - Other books	1978-1984
12/6, 20/3	Book reviews of children’s books published in the Anchorage Daily News and other publications	1978-1997
12/7	Book reviews published in The Delta Paper	1979-1982
13/1	Book reviews published in The Small Press Review	1979-1982
13/2, 20/4	Book reviews published in other publications	1978-1998
13/3	Graduate school essays	1965
13/4	Fiction - Chief Stephen’s Parky manuscript	1984
13/5	Fiction - Short story drafts	1962-1964
13/6	Food writing - Drafts	1980-1982
13/7	Food writing - LifeDiet manuscript and book proposal	1986
13/8, 20/5	Food writing - Published	1974-1997
14/1	Interviews and speeches - Drafts	1978-1984
14/2	Non-fiction - “Eklutna manuscript”	circa 1984
14/3	Non-fiction - Essays on writing and publishing	1983-1993
14/4	Non-fiction - An Introduction to Cook Inlet manuscript	1989 December
14/5 - 15/1	Non-fiction - On the Trail of Eklutna drafts	1984
15/2	Non-fiction - The Once & Future Village of Ikluat/Eklutna draft	1979
15/3 - 15/4	Non-fiction - Two Hearts: A Mother’s Tale of Fetal Alcohol book proposal. Versions 1 and 2.	circa 2003
15/5 - 15/11	Poetry - Drafts	1960-2005, undated
16/1 - 16/4	Poetry - Published clippings	1959-2007, undated
16/5	Poetry - Canoeing in the Rain manuscript with related correspondence	1988-1990
16/6	Poetry - Paying Attention manuscript	1989
16/7	Poetry - Pretty Rooms: A Sonnet Sequence manuscript	1963-1964
16/8	Poetry - Ptarmigan Valley galley proof	1980
16/9	Poetry - The Wife, Part 2 draft	undated
16/10	Poetry - The Wife, Part 2 camera-ready copy	undated
16/11	Poetry - Voice Lessons: Poems About Poetry manuscript
16/12	Poetry - Sound recording of “Shadows,” with music by Philip Munger and poetry by Ann Fox Chandonnet. 1 compact disc.	1993

Series 3. Research papers, 1975-1998. 0.5 cubic feet.
Arranged alphabetically by subject.

Box/Folder	Description	Date
17/1	“10 Anchorage Artists” newspaper clippings and notes	1979
17/2	Alaska totem poles	1998
17/3	“Chief Stephen’s Parky” research materials and notes	undated
17/4 - 17/7	Eklutna history project research material	1975-1981

Series 4. Fernand L. Chandonnet papers, 1948-2006. 0.25 cubic feet.

Box/Folder	Description	Date
18/1	Personal papers	1948, 1985-2004
18/2	Papers related to state senate campaign	1988
18/3	Newspaper articles about Fern Chandonnet	1984-1985
18/4	Drafts of writing	2005, undated
18/5	Published writing	1990
18/6	Juneau Empire spoof newspapers	2003-2006
18/7	Photographs	1998