Photo of George and Marcia Brown with their dogs
George and Marcia Brown

To Fairbanks Interviews

*Please note: the audio has been edited from its original format. Please contact the Oral History Program at (907) 474-6773 for a copy of the original recording.

Dr. George Brown

*H2004-17-02

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Dr. George Brown practiced medicine at the hospital in Tanana, Alaska from 1970 to 1972 where he worked with health aides in the surrounding villages. He later had a private practice in Fairbanks. In the interview, George talks about the role of the physician as the health aides' primary contact, the early communication system, doctor travel to the villages, and his assessment of the health aide program. His wife, Marcia, periodically interjected her own memories to add to his stories. George also provided a selection of photographs from his personal collection.
Click on a section below to access the audio.
George and Marcia Brown talk with Bill Schneider and Karen Brewster on September 30, 2004 at their home in Portland, Oregon about...

1) Introduction

2) George Weiner with his family by their house in Beaver

3) Allakaket in the winter

4) Sod house at Anaktuvuk Pass

5) Dr. Duncan in the Tanana Hospital

6) Tanana Hospital

7) Anaktuvuk Pass dance group

8) The flood at Galena

9) Bob Ahgook of Anaktuvuk Pass, wearing a wolf skin parka

10) Children of Kaltag in the Headstart Program

11) Satellite dish at Stevens Village

12) Close-up of satellite dish at Stevens Village

13) Pinkie Folger, cutting salmon into strips for drying on the banks of the Tanana River

14) Marcia Brown at their house in Tanana

15) Bertha Moses, Health Aide in Allakaket

16) A young girl after a treatment

17) Bertha Moses ice fishing on the Koyukuk River

18) A fishtrap on the frozen river near Allakaket

19) Kids playing volleyball in Allakaket

20) Champion dog musher, George Attla and his dog team

21) Making a caribou skin mask

22) A mid-winter landing of a Platus Porter airplane at Allakaket

23) Northern lights in Anaktuvuk Pass

24) Stickdance in Kaltag

25) Dr. Mike Carroll at the Tanana Hospital

26) Rose Ambrose and Marie [Aska] and the satellite dish in Huslia

27) Allakaket health aide, Bertha Moses

28) Health Aide training, equipment, Dr. Walt Johnson and Emery Johnson (Head of the Public Health Service)

29) Living in Tanana, communication and the Health Aide System