Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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and then I came. When I competed for and got the scholarship, Ken Schilling sent Bill a telegram, which they did in those days, saying, “Your sister was great” or something like that, which I thought was very nice. I played the piano for the choir and for various singing groups, so I knew Ken very well. I had several piano teachers who were also quite wonderful, but Ken was head of the Music Department and very supportive of me. I loved college! I had a wonderful time there. Well, maybe I had some boyfriend problems along the way, but it was great. I was president of my sorority senior year. Delta Gamma. I must tell you that having been a trustee and having the opportunity to hear so many students talk about what they’re doing or what they would like to do, I’m so impressed with the poise of young women and men today. I think back on what I was like and it’s embarrassing. I remember that the only thing that I publicly had to do as president of my sorority was in the spring when they would have a banquet that the alums put on at the Marcus Whitman Hotel. When I was president of my sorority all I had to do was to report on our successes throughout the year. Just a little talk. And I didn’t think I would get through it. I remember just gulping – ah, it was dreadful – and swallowing and not being able to go on with the words. But I finally got through it. I remember somebody afterwards leaning over and saying, “Gosh that was tough, wasn’t it?” And I said, “Yes, that was very tough!” It was very memorable to me because I was so bad. I could get up and play the piano. That’s another thing, but to speak was a real challenge. I can remember taking a speech class because there was a requirement to take a class in another area, and none of them appealed to me except Speech. I stood up for the first time to give a little 30-second whatever it was, and giggled my way through it because the boyfriend at the time was in the class, too. So I was not and never have been a very good public speaker. But I’m better at it now than I was. Hughes: So you graduate in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in music? Evans: Yes. Hughes: And a minor in education, or was it a dual track? Evans: It was a dual. Hughes: You get a teaching certificate. 22
Evans: Yes. Hughes: So then I read that you ended up at Eastern Washington College in Cheney doing graduate work. Evans: No. That’s not accurate. I moved to Seattle after graduating from Whitman. I thought it would be fun to live in Seattle. I came with good recommendations and I received a number of teaching offers. They came to the campus to interview. That wouldn’t happen today of course. And my one dilemma, as it turned out, was that I had an offer to be head of the department of music education in Camas, Wash. I also had an offer from the Shoreline Evans family album School District, north of Seattle. However, the Camas job paid probably twice as much because I would be head of the department. Hughes: How much would that have been? Evans: I don’t know, but I think my first year at Shoreline paid $2,000 a year. Maybe $2,400. Hughes: Of course, you could buy a new car for $1,500. Evans: But, believe me, I couldn’t afford to buy a car for several years. So I really thought about which job to take, and I said to myself, “Well, I really want to go to concerts.” And at Camas they kept saying, “Well, we’re very near Portland and there’s lots to do in Portland.” But in the end I came to Seattle. I went to Shoreline. I couldn’t afford to stay in Seattle by myself, so I would live with different roommates during the school year. Then in the summer I would go home to Spokane. The first year, a friend from Whitman and I went to the teachers’ indoctrination and met two other young graduates – they were from UPS – and we hooked up right away. The four of us rented a house in the University District on the corner of 47 th and 17 th . We had a great time because it was four of us, just 23
Page 2 and 3: Nancy Evans Research by John C. Hug
Page 4 and 5: certificate says Nancy Ann Bell, wh
Page 6 and 7: England family. There were a lot of
Page 8 and 9: Evans: Yes. My father’s mother wa
Page 10 and 11: Evans: Well, I was a spoiled brat.
Page 12 and 13: wartime. So that was a severe blow
Page 14 and 15: Madrigal Singers. I played the pian
Page 16 and 17: ecause she could say no. So I think
Page 18 and 19: had two grand pianos as well as the
Page 20 and 21: ecause he wasn’t waiting for me.
Page 24 and 25: out of college, living with all the
Page 26 and 27: Christmas program. That was just a
Page 28 and 29: Hughes: What was your first impress
Page 30 and 31: in Vancouver. They were very Britis
Page 32 and 33: Evans: Dan tells this story wonderf
Page 34 and 35: Hughes: I’ve never met Sally Gort
Page 36 and 37: number of times but it’s still so
Page 38 and 39: SAS nonstop. You could have 40 poun
Page 40 and 41: Evans: No. I can’t. I think he wo
Page 42 and 43: Evans: Uh-huh. Hughes: Is that the
Page 44 and 45: Evans: That’s right. And lost. Bu
Page 46 and 47: Hughes: As things went along, were
Page 48 and 49: Hughes: Barry Goldwater may have be
Page 50 and 51: Hughes: Did you really find that pe
Page 52 and 53: Hughes: That’s funny. And then th
Page 54 and 55: Evans: Well, I used to always say t
Page 56 and 57: Evans: Yes, pronounced “Poe-gi.
Page 58 and 59: we’re sitting in the drawing room
Page 60 and 61: cabinet wives - the wives of the ca
Page 62 and 63: Evans: Well, Elsie was one. She was
Page 64 and 65: Evans: Yes. And in fact I remember
Page 66 and 67: governor was supposed to arrive at
Page 68 and 69: pointed two pillows for us that are
Page 70 and 71: dog, “Peggy! Peggy! Come here, Pe
Page 72 and 73:
een assassinated. So there was a ne
Page 74 and 75:
Hughes: I’m told that the chief h
Page 76 and 77:
Hughes: Was Neil McReynolds the gov
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carpet layer. I was standing there,
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just all the time because we were l
Page 82 and 83:
Nelsen was his name. We hired him a
Page 84 and 85:
Hughes: Nancy didn’t go along? Ev
Page 86 and 87:
The Governor’s Foundation wanted
Page 88 and 89:
ecome “senior” now to separate
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a trundle underneath, so three bunk
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sort of stabbed at it and tried to
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whole thing. I remember I was very
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Hughes: I bet that made a big hit.
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They had been put to bed but they w
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Hughes: I read that you, and I thin
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adjourn. I was young and had never
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at the hotel and said, “Do you ha
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chickens. We don’t like whole chi
Page 108 and 109:
good causes. I couldn’t believe t
Page 110 and 111:
never left your eyes. Paul Newman w
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go back to Dan for a few seconds, b
Page 114 and 115:
Evans: And we don’t carry that ma
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told me that on the first trip he e
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people. Never. Dan had worked quite
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Nancy plays the piano for a sing-a-
Page 122 and 123:
Evans: No. It was organized (in 196
Page 124 and 125:
inauguration of President Obama. Th
Page 126 and 127:
this cute little guy. Then we start
Page 128 and 129:
Evans: No. But we met her and Princ
Page 130 and 131:
the way Pickleball started. The sto
Page 132 and 133:
Evans: Pretty much. I would hope th
Page 134 and 135:
the library, which used to be a lit
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told this story that Jean Gardner c
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Evans: A bit out of the norm. So I
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then sort of a Van Dyke, and finall
Page 142 and 143:
Hughes: Tell me about that. Evans:
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Hughes: Tell us about any other tri
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aquavit, which was terrible. And th
Page 148 and 149:
I remember I was standing in the fr
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early. Well, when Dan was a freshma
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time.” Finally he decided to do i
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and put him on the plane for his ju
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president of the college. He just d
Page 158 and 159:
Evans: Yes. I know he likes and res
Page 160 and 161:
Heffernan: The other question I hav
Page 162 and 163:
He hooked up with a lot of Australi
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think very well. So it was a huge l
Page 166 and 167:
first of January. Then after some l
Page 168 and 169:
But I got the rental furniture deli
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was very interesting. And he always
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Evans: Yes, we did. Hughes: Did you
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So we enjoyed all of that. But when
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was all decorated with very, very c
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me again. But that was my daily wal
Page 180 and 181:
Hughes: You bought a house, tore it
Page 182 and 183:
away after building your first-ever
Page 184 and 185:
had good friends, Sherman and Nouch
Page 186 and 187:
Evans: Yes. And “What about my ch
Page 188 and 189:
learned he was coming to Seattle to
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the fire is lit, the cookies and mi
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very successful and it’s a separa
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Sheppard and she attended the UW. I
Page 196 and 197:
over here. Celia, being a mother, w
Page 198 and 199:
Evans: So they didn’t have to wor
Page 200 and 201:
Hughes: You have always been pretty
Page 202 and 203:
that he’s always easy, but he is
Page 204 and 205:
“Crosscut” 100 Crystal Mountain
Page 206 and 207:
Minnesota 12 Minow, Newt 187 Minto,
Page 208:
Wallgren, Monrad 2 Washington, D.C.
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Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

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