Nany Evans oral history.indd - Washington Secretary of State

Hughes: That’s funny. And then there’s this 1972 piece that Joel Connelly wrote:
“Surrounded by admirers, Evans looks stiff and uncomfortable. His wife, by contrast, is
relaxed and outgoing. Unlike the two governors and Mrs. Rockefeller, who were waiting for
people to come to them, Nancy Evans is moving around the hall, seeking people out and
thanking them for coming to the dinner.” This is in 1968 when Nelson Rockefeller was here
to pay back a political debt to Dan for endorsing him for president over Nixon.
Evans: (Just smiles)
Hughes: OK. So there you are. It’s 1964, and you’re going to be Washington’s First Lady at
the age of 31. Does Ethel Rosellini do the Laura Bush sort of thing – invite the new First
Lady over to the Mansion and say, “Here you go, kid, but the plumbing doesn’t work…”?
Evans: Interestingly, it didn’t happen immediately, and it’s not as pro forma as the
presidential thing. There’s nothing written down.
Hughes: There’s no reception for the two families – outgoing and incoming?
Evans: Nothing of that nature. I had been there to the Mansion a number of times to
legislative functions, dinners and teas. But I didn’t know what was upstairs.
Hughes: Did you have any sort of impressions of the place? “Nice old house”?
Evans: Well, yes, of course you do. It was fading elegance. Obviously it was a grand old
home, and it was very exciting to think about living there. But, again, overwhelming
because I had no idea, no concept of how it functions. I remember saying to someone, “I
don’t have a clue. Do they have towels and sheets?” Someone suggested I contact Evelyn
Langlie because she lived in the Mansion for 12 years. She was widowed and lived here
in Seattle. She was a lovely person. She was very nice to me and to us. She told me what
she could, of how it was when they had been there, but of course that had been nine years
before. Later when I got into doing research on the Mansion itself, she came down to
Olympia a number of times and we’d go through the whole Mansion identifying things and
what have you. But Ethel Rosellini did contact me, and asked if I would like me to come
down and meet with her and she’d show me around, which was very nice of her. And I did.
I went down and Mother went with me.
Hughes: Was she gracious and charming?
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