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Remembering our Father

"Lead Dog of Iditarod Photographers

by Fred, Helen & Jim Brown Jr.

08/09/2006

James M. Brown

19 May 1915--3 August 2006

Celebrated Alaskan photographer James M. Brown, dubbed the “lead dog of Iditarod photographers” by the Anchorage Times, died in his sleep on August 3 in Palmer at the age of 91. Brown was born in Huron, SD on May 19, 1915, the fourth of four children, to Christine McCaslin Brown and Frederic Dill Brown. James M. Brown was also a musician, professional gambler, and railroad trainman. As a boy he lived in several towns in South Dakota; Portland, Oregon; and Minneapolis, Minnesota. During this period his father Frederic worked for municipal power plants as an electrical and mechanical engineer replacing the older direct-current DC systems in use to “new fangled” alternating current AC systems, much to the dismay of Thomas Edison.

James graduated from Minneapolis’ John Marshall High School in 1933 while already working in the photography department of the Minneapolis Star. He entered the photography profession before roll-film; so he used plate film in a 3X5 Speed Graphic camera. A separate 3X5 film sheet and flashbulb were used for each shot.

In 1933-1935 Brown studied flute at the McPhail School of Music, briefly attended the University of Minnesota, and performed summer concerts as a new member of the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra. The continuing Great Depression curtailed his music career even though Jim found radio music jobs for himself and friends, including Perry and Buzz Como and the Andrew Sisters. Buzz made the mistake of introducing his girlfriend Alvi Vieno Ojennus to Brown; they were married on April 30, l937.

Jobs were scarce in Minnesota so Brown and a friend used a coin flip, which came up tails, to choose Alaska over Australia as a place to find work. The Depression had not affected the gold-mining economy of Alaska and jobs were abundant. James then shipped steerage on Alaska Steamship Lines arrived in Fairbanks in late winter l939 with $8 in his pocket. He lived in the city hockey warm-up shack while doing odd jobs for meals and pocket money. During the summer and fall of l939 he worked for the Alaska Railroad at Standard section as cook. In spring 1940 James moved to Anchorage to meet wife Alvi and son Jim who arrived in March. By the outbreak of World War II James had worked as an engineer and conductor for the Army at the newly established Fort Richardson, and then returned to the “Alaska Railroad proper” as he called it as a brakeman.

During the period 1940 to 1944 James worked in the evenings at various card-rooms in Anchorage, such as the Anchorage Grill, dealing cards for poker and “pan”. Pangingue was a highly popular gambling game during the gold rush era and is a variant of rummy in which lots of money can be wagered. James and Alvi’s son Fred was born in Anchorage in July 1943 at the ARR hospital near 4th and A Street.

To continue his career with the Alaska Railroad he moved his family to Fairbanks in March 1944 where he worked as conductor and yardmaster until retirement in 1964. Thus, over 25 years he had worked his way up from section cook to brakeman to conductor to yardmaster. Jim also worked intermittently in Fairbanks as a dealer in the card rooms of the Pastime Bar and the Horse Shoe Cigar Store. He also worked evenings for the Lathrop Company managing the Empress and Lacey Street Theaters. After the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 destroyed the railroad (all yards and mainline) from Curry to Seward, he served as the “Boss” of the railroad for the “North End”, because he was the highest ranking railroad official.

When Brown retired he was asked which trainmen would be the better yardmasters. The men he indicated ran the Fairbanks Yard for many years afterward; he trained both of them. While a yardmaster he led the fight to keep union status for yardmasters; he maintained his membership in what was then the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. As a union member, he frequently represented railroad trainmen (at their request) at hearings on disciplinary matters and grievances.

Family memories range from a summer spent living in an Outfit Car (really a box car with windows, a sink, and beds) at sections along the railroad mainline from Fairbanks to Curry with his wife and two small sons, while Brown bossed the “Weedburner Crew” as they torched weeds along the tracks and ties. A few wildfires were started in the process. A few years later those same sons were frequently shooed away from their Lionel model train while James’ yard crew (assisted by Olympia Beer) worked out switching problems.

During the 1950s Brown was official photographer for the Alaska Dog Mushers’ Association, sometimes assisted by one or another of his sons. Dog photography was his passion. He often said “sled dogs are much more photogenic than people because dogs are never self conscious.” For “retirement” he and wife Alvi moved to her childhood home in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. He retired for medical reasons with severe arthritis of the lower spine. He suffered the spinal pain for the rest of his life. While living in the UP at a small settlement called Calderwood, Brown worked as a butcher for the Settler’s Coop Store in nearby Trout Creek.

After the death of his wife, Brown returned to Alaska in 1977 living in Wasilla. In 1978 Joe Redington asked Brown to be official photographer for the Iditarod Trail Race, he agreed, and returned to the mushing world. He continued photographing Iditarod events until 2000 assisted by son Jim or a granddaughter or two. Brown welcomed Jeff Schultz to race photography in 1982 and later passed to him the title of Official Race Photographer. In 1993 James Brown received the Spirit of Iditarod award for acknowledgement of his extensive contributions of time and his massive experience in cold-weather photography. He also received an Appreciation Award in 1998 from the Iditarod Trail community. 1998 was the last year he spent on the trail during the race because of a hip fracture, although he photographed the Iditaroders at the race start and the Iditarod Banquet through 2000.

James Brown was an accomplished flute and piccolo player. His musical legacy in Fairbanks and Southcentral Alaska continues after his death. In the 1940s and 1950s he played in the Fairbanks Civic Band. Later he almost singlehandedly founded the Fairbanks Symphony Orchestra. He was a charter member of the Anchorage Community Concert Band, the Front Row Seats Band, and the Matanuska-Susitna College Community Band. When the Fairbanks Community Band was resurrected in the 1990s through the efforts of his son Fred, he joined the band for summer events.

For 20 years he was a member of the College of Fellows of the University of Alaska; for 70 years he was a Democrat; for 25 years he was a colon cancer survivor. He often mentored colostomy patients at Valley Hospital giving pep talks on thing still possible in life.

James Brown was preceded in death by his wife Alvi Ojennus Brown and his sisters Frederica Bishop, Marion Lenhart, and Elizabeth Chase. He is survived by sons and spouses Jim and Gladys Brown of Anchorage and Fred and Helen Brown of Fairbanks, daughter-in-law Dean Brown of Wasilla, granddaughters and spouses Robin and Paul Riendl and Shelly Brown and George Hearin of Wasilla, step-grandson Johnny Duplantis and his daughter Jessica Duplantis of Anchorage (Jessica is James Brown‘s great-granddaughter), step-grandson and spouse James and Pam Duplantis. In addition James Brown has eight nephews and nieces plus their children and grandchildren too numerous to mention in the Lower-48.

Obituary originally crafted by Fred Brown, revised by Helen Brown and Jim Brown.