State historians Tuesday welcomed the donation of materials collected by the State of Alaska’s first First Lady. Nineteen boxes of various sizes contain a treasure trove of items collected as far back as seventy years ago by Neva Egan, wife of Governor Bill Egan.
The documents include notecards detailing Bill Egan’s votes in the Territorial Legislature to Governor’s Mansion expense reports, newspaper clippings of Egan’s first year as Governor, drafts of letters that Neva dictated for her husband, and pictures of her christening ships and meeting with presidents. There’s an invitation to a White House dinner and letters from Mr. Snowhook’s class at Harborview School apologizing for breaking a ledge in front of the Mansion during a trip to the library.
Jim Simard, head of Historical Collections, says the materials present a unique view of the late Territorial and early Statehood years. Simard says they’ll continue to itemize the materials. Some of the pictures may be digitally reproduced for on-line archives.
All of the materials will be available for public research purposes.
Neva Egan passed away in January 2011 at the age of 96.
Her son, Senator Dennis Egan, and his wife Linda formally signed over the materials during a short event at the State’s Historical Collections Tuesday afternoon.
