Guide to the Gary Thurlow papers
1930-1995
Collection number: HMC-0439.
Creator: Thurlow, Gary.
Title: Gary Thurlow papers.
Dates: 1930-1995.
Volume of collection: 2.4 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Primarily drafts of articles on urban and governmental planning.
Biographical note:
Gary Thurlow was born on February 24, 1930, in Marshall, Oklahoma. He received his bachelor’s degree in political science and his law degree from the University of Washington. He first came to Alaska for a summer job in Takotna in 1951 and returned to Alaska in 1957 as an assistant attorney general in Fairbanks. He moved to Juneau in 1958 and was appointed executive assistant to Governor Egan in 1961. In 1964 he moved to California to work on large construction and land development projects. He returned to Alaska in 1973 and served as attorney for the Greater Anchorage Area Borough, manager for the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, and a lawyer in private practice, retiring in 1987. Gary Thurlow died in 1995.
Collection description:
The collection consists of personal papers and records related to manuscript drafts authored by Gary Thurlow. The manuscript drafts which comprise the bulk of the collection include memoirs of Thurlow’s experiences in Alaska between 1951 and 1964, sections of a history of Anchorage, and projects on politics, geography, demographics and education in the United States. The personal papers include resumes, legal papers, and personal and business correspondence.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged by document type.
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: The Archives holds copyright to collection materials authored by Gary Thurlow.
Preferred citation: Gary Thurlow papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Acquisition note: The collection was given to the Archives by Janice Thurlow in 1995.
Processing information: This collection was arranged and described by Michele Wellck in 1996. The guide to the collection was updated to current standard by Arlene Schmuland in 2018. Duplicate materials were removed at that point.
Container list:
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | Statements of personal history and qualifications | 1992 |
| 1/2 | Birth certificate | 1930 |
| 1/3 | Report of separation from United States Air Force | 1956 |
| 1/4 | Divorce decree | 1987 |
| 1/5 | Marriage certificate and vows | 1987 |
| 1/6 | Summer jobs | Undated |
| 1/7 | Certificates of completion–University of California extension courses | 1970 |
| 1/8 | Personal correspondence | 1992-1994 |
| 1/9 | Business correspondence | 1995 |
| 1/10 | Letter from Gary Thurlow to Anchorage School District auditors | 1990 |
| 1/11 | Billing for services performed for the city of Chignik | 1988 |
| 1/12 | Document re: Lake Louise area petition for detachment [includes cover letter to Gary Thurlow from Mat-Su Borough Manager] | 1995 |
| 1/13 | Proposed core area–separated paths, handdrawn map, Wasilla | Undated |
| 1/14 | Memoirs: Takotna, 1951 | 1994 |
| 1/15 | Memoirs: Fairbanks, 1957-1958 | 1994 |
| 1/16 | Memoirs: Juneau, “The first years”, 1958-1962? | 1994 |
| 1/17 | Memoirs: Juneau, “The last three years”, 1961-1964 | 1994 |
| 1/18 | Memoirs: notes | Undated |
| 1/19-26 | History of Anchorage project records. Includes a cover letter to Steve Haycox and sections on postwar Anchorage; urban geography, planning, and growth; the unified municipality, the Borough, the Alaska Road Commission and roads; and education | 1994, 1989 |
| 1/27-2/9 | Publication proposals and writing records for the book: Urban landscapes of the west [or Communities of the west]: the best, the worst and the reasons why (variant title: The political landscape of the west: state and local government politics in the western states) including sections on geography, politics and political history, land, environment, education, economic profiles, and city and county level government for the states of California, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Hawaii, and Alaska | 1995 |
| 2/10-3/2 | Publication proposals and writing records for the book: Beyond the bell curve | 1995 |
| 3/3-3/4 | Publication proposals and writing records for the book: The growing American underclass [or America’s growing underclass]: the undermining of our schools and institutions, an alternative version of Beyond the bell curve | 1994-1995 |
| 3/5 | Why America’s schools will go downhill in the next ten years–and why the Education President is not going to deliver” article draft | 1990 |
| 3/6 | “The dumbing of America” article draft | 1990 |