Rich In History: The Carrie McLain Memorial Museum

In 1905, 10-year-old Carrie McLain, along with her three sisters and one brother, moved from Long Island, New York to Nome, Alaska, a distance of 3,700 miles. To a young girl, the gold rush town of Nome must have been as foreign as moving to the moon. Carrie’s father William had been in Alaska the previous eight years as part of the stampeders chasing dreams of gold in the Yukon territory. William was not one of the handful of men who struck it rich but was part of the many who built wealth off of the miners and visitors in the new boom town of Nome. He helped tame the tent city by establishing a wallpaper and painting business, as churches, schools, restaurants, and mercantile stores were quickly being erected for the growing population.

It was in this environment where Carrie grew up and flourished. In 1913 she graduated salutatorian of her six person high school class. Attending college in Tacoma, Washington, Carrie made her way back north to teach school in Teller and Haycock, Alaska, and eventually became Nome’s first female city clerk.

Throughout her life in Alaska, she collected bits and pieces of Nome history: photographs, miners’ clothing, household items, such as opera glasses and doilies and items made for tourists such as an ivory carved cribbage board with reindeer and dogs. This eclectic collection became the backbone of Carrie’s traveling museum. Her extensive knowledge of Nome made her a sought-after speaker for slideshows and presentations about the region by various clubs and organizations. As the collection grew, so did the desire to find a permanent home. The museum was first constructed in 1967, but they faced problems with the limited space in the building where they stored the collection. Also, because of its location in a floodplain and frequent storms from the Bering Sea, the artifacts often needed to be relocated. Throughout the years, the collection expanded as an effort was made to bring back artifacts to Nome from the lower 48 states that were of historical relevance to the town. For Museum Director Cheryl Thompson, the intriguing and diverse collection really came alive when she first saw a display of ivory labrets, which are facial jewelry often worn by indigenous men in holes in the corner of their mouths,

“I saw that display and then that winter I traveled to Mexico City and saw Aztec labrets in the anthropology museum. That was so amazing to me on the interconnection between cultures who are vastly apart geographically.”

Today, through a combination of private and state funding, the museum is now housed in the beautiful Richard Foster Building, which also houses the Kegoayah Kozga Library, and the Katirvik Cultural Center. The new museum space has a visiting research room, two galleries, archival storage and a conservation lab which maintains the museum’s collection numbering in the thousands.

The 3,200 square foot main gallery space displays the exhibit, “Nome: Hub of Cultures and Communities Across the Bering Strait.” This long-term exhibit collaborated with over 50 community members who shared stories, artifacts and photographs around five major themes: subsistence in the Arctic environment, mining, the built landscape, transportation, and sustainability. Immersive exhibits connect the past with contemporary narratives as visitors can step inside a miner’s tent, operate a gold dredge, see an Inupiat skin boat, listen to audio recordings in Nome’s first phone booth, and watch a film on tales of Nome’s early days. The museum blends historical collections with masterful storytelling and technology, positioning itself as an essential place to inform, engage, and inspire discussion.

One of the more popular exhibits is “Fritz”, the preserved Siberian husky dog who was musher Leonhard Seppala’s lead dog during the 1925 Serum Run.

The Serum Run transported diphtheria medicine by dog sled across 674 miles in just five and a half days, saving Nome and surrounding villages from the outbreak. People commemorate the Serum Run every year with the Iditarod, a dogsled race from Anchorage to Nome through some of the harshest, most spectacular landscape mother nature offers.

Whether you are in Nome for the gold, the Iditarod or even their world class birding, the landmark Carrie McLain Memorial Museum should be on your list to see. This museum was the collaborative work of many people, however it started with one woman, Carrie McLain, who had the foresight and love of Nome and Alaska, to collect artifacts for future generations. “Nome is a rough and tumble place. No one is going to be impressed with the town,” says Thompson. “But the museum is first class.” The Carrie McLain Memorial Museum preserves the past, educates the present, and inspires the future for everyone.

For hours of operation please visit nomealaska.org

To learn more fascinating details about Carrie McLain teaching in rural Alaska, you can check out her memoir "Pioneer Teacher" available on Amazon.