Top of page

Chronicling America
National Endowment for the Humanities

Newspaper Kodiak Mirror (Kodiak, Alaska) 1940-1976 Kodiak daily mirror

View All Front Pages

About Kodiak Mirror (Kodiak, Alaska) 1940-1976

The first issue of the Kodiak mirror was published on June 15, 1940 by Gene Dawson, a newcomer to Kodiak, who used a mimeograph machine at the Kodiak U.S. naval station to print his new 12-page weekly paper. Dawson advocated for more defenses around Kodiak, citing the threat of a Soviet airbase in construction on Diomede Island. He also pushed for incorporation of Kodiak as a city so that it would qualify for more funding. He began printing on a flatbed press in January 1941, when the circulation was nearing 2,000. Dawson sold the mirror on December 6, 1941 to Bill and Lillian Lamme, whose first issue was an extra the next day saying that the U.S. had declared war.

The paper traded hands several times after the Lammes sold it in 1948. In 1955 the new owners, Sig and Bertha Digree, improved the printing plant and added a linotype machine. Under the Digrees, the mirror took a position against statehood, arguing that Alaska was not ready for it. In 1964, the massive Good Friday earthquake in Alaska triggered a tsunami that wiped out the mirror plant along with much of Kodiak. The first issue after the wave hit was printed on an elementary school’s mimeograph machine. Afterwards, the mirror arranged to use the press of The Kenai Peninsula cheechako news in Soldotna and have it transported to Kodiak by boat, while their plant was being rebuilt. After several months of rebuilding efforts, the Digrees gave up and sold the plant to Wayne and Nancy Kotula, who ran it for the next 12 years.

The mirror‘s most famous editor was Karl Armstrong, an Alaska Native (Alutiiq). During his time as editor, 1963–1975, Armstrong made use of exaggerated headlines and tongue-in-cheek editorials, advocating in one editorial that Kodiak become a separate state and then in another that Kodiak should become an independent republic. Armstrong supported various developments and infrastructure improvements and fought to prevent the closure of the military base at Kodiak, even controversially advocating for the storage of nerve gas at the facility. Armstrong was also a strong advocate for the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act of 1971 and made multiple trips to Washington D.C. to lobby for it.

The November 19, 1960, issue of the Kodiak Mirror was combined with another paper published by the Digrees, The mailboat monitor, a small publication that reported on Kodiak, the Kenai Peninsula, and the Aleutian islands. Although the combination of the two papers was described as a “new phase” in the life of the monitor, it is the only known issue of them both together. The mirror was turned into a daily in 1976 and became the Kodiak Daily Mirror, the name it is still published under today.

Provided By: Alaska State Library Historical Collections

About this Newspaper

Title

  • Kodiak Mirror (Kodiak, Alaska) 1940-1976

Other Title

  • Kodiak daily mirror

Dates of Publication

  • 1940-1976

Created / Published

  • Kodiak, Alaska : Kodiak Pub. Co., 1940-1976.

Headings

  • -  Kodiak (Alaska)--Newspapers
  • -  Alaska--Kodiak
  • -  United States--Alaska--Kodiak

Genre

  • Newspapers

Notes

  • -  Daily, May 29, 1967-Jan. 26, 1976
  • -  Vol. 1, no. 1 (June 15, 1940)-v. 36, no. 149 (Jan. 26, 1976).
  • -  Issue numbering irregular.
  • -  Includes occasional special issues.
  • -  Archived issues are available in digital format from the Library of Congress Chronicling America online collection.
  • -  Issue for Nov. 19, 1960 includes insert: Mailboat monitor.
  • -  Kodiak daily mirror (DLC)sn 83008842 (OCoLC)9898603

Medium

  • 36 volumes

Call Number/Physical Location

  • Newspaper

Digital Id

Library of Congress Control Number

  • sn83045298

OCLC Number

  • 9427149

ISSN Number

  • 2771-0416

Succeeding Titles

Additional Metadata Formats

Availability

Rights & Access

The Library of Congress believes that the newspapers in Chronicling America are in the public domain or have no known copyright restrictions. Newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety. Any newspapers in Chronicling America that were published less than 95 years ago are also believed to be in the public domain, but may contain some copyrighted third party materials. Researchers using newspapers published less than 95 years ago should be alert for modern content (for example, registered and renewed for copyright and published with notice) that may be copyrighted. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item and securing any necessary permissions ultimately rests with persons desiring to use the item.

The NEH awardee responsible for producing each digital object is presented in the Chronicling America page display, below the page image – e.g. Image produced by the Library of Congress. For more information on current NDNP awardees, see https://aj.sunback.homes/ndnp/listawardees.html.

For more information on Library of Congress policies and disclaimers regarding rights and reproductions, see https://aj.sunback.homes/homepage/legal.html

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Kodiak Mirror Kodiak, Alaska -1976. (Kodiak, AK), Jan. 1 1940. https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83045298/.

APA citation style:

(1940, January 1) Kodiak Mirror Kodiak, Alaska -1976. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83045298/.

MLA citation style:

Kodiak Mirror Kodiak, Alaska -1976. (Kodiak, AK) 1 Jan. 1940. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, aj.sunback.homes/item/sn83045298/.