Eva Seeley

Eva “Short” Seeley was born in Worcester, Massachusetts and attended Sargent College, where she majored in physical education, despite her diminutive stature. After graduation she taught phys ed in Massachusetts for 10 years. In 1923 she was commissioned to organize a winter carnival in Worcester, and she asked Arthur Walden to give a sled dog demonstration. She then married Milton Seeley and they honeymooned in New Hampshire, staying at Walden’s Inn, and later moved to the White Mountain Region. Shortly thereafter, they adopted an Alaskan Malamute Chinook dog from Walden’s Wonalancet Kennel. In 1929 Walden accompanied Admiral Byrd to Antarctica, taking several of his Chinooks with him. While gone, he left the Seeleys in charge of his kennel, and after his return, when he had financial difficulty, they bought the kennel from him. Eva Seeley immediately changed the bloodline of the kennel, buying dogs from Leonhard Seppala, including a Siberian Husky named Toto, the daughter of Togo, who had been the lead dog when Seppala made the famous Great Serum Run in January 1925 in Alaska.

The Seeleys changed the name of the kennel to Chinook Kennel, and began breeding Huskies and Malamutes. One of her dogs, Queen Husky I, later became the second mascot dog for the Northeastern University Huskies. Chinook Kennel provided dogs for the US Military to use in search-and-rescue missions. During World War II she taught US soldiers how to work as a team with sled dogs. Several of her dogs were used during the Battle of the Bulge.

Seeley was instrumental in having Alaskan Malamutes officially recognized by the American Kennel Club (AKC) in 1935. The Alaskan Malamute Club of America (AMCA) became a member of the AKC in 1953 and Seeley was its first President, and became an AKC Judge. She was the owner of the first Malamute to become an AKC Champion, Gripp of Yukon, and of the first Alaskan Malamute registered with the AKC, Rowdy of Nome.