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Marie and Ralph George papers

Guide to the Marie and Ralph George papers
1916-2004

Collection number: HMC-0763.
Creators:
George, Marie.
George, Ralph.
Title: Marie and Ralph George papers.
Dates: 1916-2004.
Volume of collection: 2.15 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Papers of long-time Anchorage residents.

Biographical note:
Marie Elizabeth George was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in 1917. She graduated from Latrobe High School in 1935 and earned a degree in nursing from the Latrobe Hospital School of Nursing in 1941. After coming to Alaska, she worked as a head nurse for the Alaska Native Service from 1955 to 1959. While living in Nenana in the 1960s, she worked as the secretary to the school board and was appointed as a deputy court magistrate. In Anchorage, she worked for the Alaska Court System until her retirement in 1980. She was also active in volunteer organizations, including the Providence Hospital Auxiliary, Alaska Judicial Observers, and the Embroiderer’s Guild of America. Marie George died in Anchorage in 2004.

Ralph Clinton George was born in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, in 1916. He graduated from Greensburg High School in 1934 and earned a degree in electrical engineering from Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh in 1940. He married Marie E. “Betty” Carson in Winchester, Virginia, in 1941. During World War II, he served in the U. S. Army Signal Corps. In 1954, he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, to develop a radar maintenance shop for General Electric Co. on Elmendorf Air Force Base. In 1960, he moved to Nenana to supervise the installation of the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) radar and scanner at Clear Air Force Base, and was a maintenance analyst for RCA. From 1969 until his retirement in 1980, he worked for the Federal Aviation Administration in Anchorage. Ralph George died in Anchorage in 1997.

Collection description:
The collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Marie and Ralph George of Anchorage. The collection includes correspondence, employment records, organizational records, photographs and videotapes. Subjects of the records include flight documentation, the Clear BMEWS site, family, friends, their home, vacations, and hobbies.

Arrangement: The collection is arranged in the following series:
Series 1: Personal papers
Series 2: Photographs
Series 3: Videotapes
Series 4: Marie George personal and professional papers
Series 5: Ralph George personal and professional papers

Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.

Rights note: Copyright to materials created by the Georges is held by Archives and Special Collections.

Preferred citation: Marie and Ralph George papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.

Separated materials: Two books were removed from the Ralph George papers and placed in Rare Books.

Acquisition note: The collection was presented to the archives by Mel Kalkowski, representative of the estate of Marie George, in 2005.

Processing information: This collection was arranged and described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2006. The guide was rewritten to meet current standard by Arlene Schmuland in 2015. At that time, some of the series were combined and the collection was rehoused.

Container list:
Series 1: Personal papers; 1941-2004. 0.1 cubic feet.

Box/Folder Description Dates
1/1 Marriage certificate 1941
1/2 Letters and cards received 1973-2004
1/3 House property legal papers 1970-1978
1/4 Lake Chelatna flights log 1956-1969
1/5 Address list undated

Series 2: Photographs; 1953-2002. 0.5 cubic feet.
Dates of photographs may be estimated. The photographs are divided by type (prints/negatives and 35 mm slides) and grouped by topic or event within.

Box/Folder Description Dates
1/6 Marie and Ralph George and families prints and negatives undated, 1973-1989
1/7 Clear BMEWS Site II engineering report, interior views prints 1960
1/8 Fishing at Lake Chelatna prints circa 1965-1969
1/9 Airplanes and Lake Chelatna prints circa 1965-1969
1/10 House and yard prints circa 1965-1969
1/11 Trailer at Nenana and unidentified images prints circa 1960-1969
1/12 House and property prints used as exhibits in lawsuit 1970-1971
1/13 House and yard prints 1978,  1982
1/14 Radio towers, High Mountain, Kuiu Island prints 1979
1/15 Ralph George’s FAA retirement party and work-related prints undated, 1980
1/16 Camping and Portage Glacier prints undated, 1982-1983
1/17 Hawaii prints and negatives undated, 1981-1997
1/18 Lawrence Crowson wedding prints 1992
1/19 Marie George needlework prints and negatives 1998
1/20 Ralph George work prints undated, 1959, 1964
1/21 Embroidery group and dolls prints and negatives undated
1/22 George home interior prints undated
1/23 Friends and family prints undated, 1956-1996
1/24 Undescribed black and white prints undated, 1963
1/25 George home and undescribed prints undated, 1968, 1972, 2002
1/26 Alaska slides including Matanuska Glacier, General Electric shop, Sheep Mountain Lodge, Palmer airstrip, McKinley Park Hotel, Portage Glacier, Anchorage, Kasilof airstrip, Lake Clark Pass, Seldovia, and aircraft. 1954-1956
1/27 Alaska Highway and trip outside slides 1954
1/28 Western vacation slides including downtown Anchorage, California: Carmel and Yosemite National Park, and Colorado: Pike’s Peak, Royal Gorge, and the Garden of the Gods. 1953
1/29 Southern US vacation slides including New Orleans (Louisiana), Bellingame Gardens, Mobile (Alabama) 1956
1/30 Various slides including vacations, aircraft, airstrips, and radar stations 1953-1956

Series 3: Videotapes; 1986-1987. 02 cubic feet.

Box/Item Description Date
1/31 Home inventory circa 1986
1/31 Turnagain Arm 1986 Autumn
1/31 Turnagain Arm trip, home, and portraits 1986 Autumn
1/32 Hawaiian vacation 1987 February

Series 4: Marie George personal and professional papers, 1938-2004. 0.4 cubic feet.

Box/Folder Description Dates
1/33 Education and reunions documents 1938-1986
1/34 Reunion documents 1990-2000
1/35 Resume 1959
1/36 Employment and retirement documents 1950-1988
1/37 Newspaper clippings undated, 1971, 1976
1/38 Birth certificates 1917, 1979
1/39 Family history papers 1916-1973
1/40 Judicial observer certificates 2001-2003
1/41 Marriage commissioner emeritus plaque 1980
2/1-8 Providence Hospital Auxiliary records including bylaws, policies, meeting minutes and agenda, correspondence, membership rosters, treasurer records, scholarship documents, volunteer certificates, and newsletters 1988-2004
2/9 Arctic Needleworkers Chapter, Embroiderers’ Guild of America, Inc., and the Smocking Arts Guild of America documents 1982-1998
2/10 Pilot flight log and student pilot certificate 1959

Series 5: Ralph George personal and professional papers; 1916-2000. 0.85 cubic feet.

Box/Folder Description Dates
2/11 Military service records 1942-1947
2/12 Education and reunion documents 1940-2000
2/13 Resumes undated, 1959-1970
2/14 Job applications undated, 1946-1974
2/15 Employment and retirement records 1951-1984
2/16 Termination of service from RCA Alascom 1970-197
2/17 Prrofessional correspondence undated, 1955, 1966
2/18 Personal correspondence 1973-1975
2/19 Newspaper clipping undated
2/20 Obituary 1997
2/21 Birth and death certificates and Social Security card 1916-1997
2/22 Pilot flight logs 1955-1969
2/23-24 Collected work records including resume, employment records, reports, logs, and letters undated, 1962-1970
2/25-33 BMEWS Site II engineering reports 1962-1968, 1979
3 Mounted Federal Aviation Administration retirement certificate 1980

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