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THOMAS AND MARION GREGORY (1914-2005; 1921-2005). Slides, Photographs and Audio Recordings; 1932-2002. 4.6 cu. ft. Inventory.
Thomas William Gregory was born in Richmond, Virginia, in 1914. He served in the U. S. Army Air Corps from 1932 to 1935. Gregory then worked for the Federal Aviation Administration, where he served for 35 years until his retirement in 1969. During his FAA career, he was transferred to Alaska in 1956, and moved to Anchorage in 1957. Thomas Gregory married Marion Faye Lovaas in Anchorage in 1957. Marion Faye Gregory was born in Montana in 1921, and her family later moved to Minnesota. She came to Alaska in 1955, working as an X-ray technician for the Alaska Native Health Service. Marion Gregory continued working until 1960, when her son Robert was born. Thomas Gregory was an avid skier and hiker, a member of the Anchorage Ski Club, and helped install the ski lift at Arctic Valley. He was also and active member of the National Rifle Association and the Alaska Prospectors Society. Marion Gregory was an avid gardener, a deacon at the First Presbyterian Church in Anchorage, and a member of the Salvation Army Women's Auxiliary. Thomas Gregory died in Anchorage, in January 2005. Marion Gregory died in Eagan, Minnesota, in September 2005.
The collection consists of the slides, photographs, and audio recordings of Anchorage residents Thomas and Marion Gregory. The collection contains: 11, 673 color slides; 74 black and white slides; 878 black and white prints; 1,634 black and white negatives; 676 color prints; 938 color negatives; 11 color transparencies; one reel-to-reel audiotape; and three phonograph records. Subjects of the color slides include: service at the U. S. Naval Station at Subic Bay, Philippines (1954-1956); Kodiak Island, Alaska (1956-1957); Anchorage, Alaska (1957-2001); the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous; the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (Anchorage starts); rural airstrips in Alaska; the Alaska Earthquake in Anchorage (1964); Arctic Valley ski area; Portage Glacier; Crow Pass Trail; Hatcher Pass; various hikes in the Chugach Mountains, Kenai Peninsula, and elsewhere; and the Chilkoot Trail. The black and white slides are copies of a slide show on early Iditarod, Alaska, compiled by Tony Gularte. Subjects of the photographs and negatives include: Thomas and Marion Gregory and family and friends; (1932-2001); the Philippines (1955-1956); Kodiak Island (1956-1957); Anchorage (1957-2002); Alaska Native Service Hospital in Anchorage (1957); Arctic Valley ski area beginning in 1958; Alyeska Ski Resort; Portage Glacier; the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race (1973); Grandview Ski Trains; the Anchorage Fur Rendezvous; and the Alaska State Fair. The audio recordings concern the Alaska Earthquake in Anchorage in 1964, and include a reel-to-reel audiotape of Thomas Gregory commenting on his earthquake slides, two phonograph discs of original sounds of the earthquake, and a phonograph disc containing two earthquake songs by Blue Ervin.
The collection was presented to the archives by Debra L. Price, trustee for Marion F. Gregory, in 2005. A deed of gift was signed in 2005.
HMC-0809
JAS (1/2006)