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RALPH (1916-1997) AND MARIE GEORGE (1917-2004). Papers; 1916-2004. 2.25 cu. ft. Inventory.
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. 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.
The collection consists of the papers of Ralph and Marie George of Anchorage. The collection is divided into six different series: 1) Ralph C. George papers; 2) Marie E. George papers; 3) Ralph and Marie George papers; 4) photographs; 5) color slides; and 6) videocassettes. Ralph George's papers concern his military service, education, professional employment, retirement and flying. They include site engineering reports for the BMEWS site at Clear, Alaska, and a specifications and maintenance manual for the S.S.O. Mark II system for the FAA. Marie George's papers concern her education, employment, retirement, family, and volunteer work. The Ralph and Marie George papers include their marriage certificate, cards and letters received, legal papers concerning their residence, a flight log of trips taken to Chelatna Lake, and an address list. Subjects of the photographs include: Ralph and Marie George and their family and friends; the BMEWS facility at Clear Air Force Base (interior); Nenana; Chelatna Lake; FAA radar facilities in Alaska; Hawaiian vacations; the Georges' home in Anchorage; and Marie George's needlework. Subjects of the color slides include the General Electric shop on Elmendorf Air Force Base; Anchorage; aircraft; radar stations; the Alaska Highway; and vacations in California, Colorado and the South. The videocassettes are of the Georges' home in Anchorage, Turnagain Arm, and a Hawaiian vacation.
The collection was presented to the archives by Mel Kalkowski, representative of the estate of Marie George, in 2005.
HMC-0763
JAS (12/2006)