Guide to the William J. Gordon, Jr. letter
1949
Collection number: HMC-0798.
Creator: Gordon, William J., Jr.
Title: William J. Gordon, Jr. letter.
Date: 1949.
Volume of collection: 0.01 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Letter from the Episcopal Bishop of Alaska from 1947 to 1974.
Biographical note:
William J. Gordon Jr. was born in North Carolina, the son of a parish priest. A deacon at the Virginia Seminary, he was recruited for work in the Episcopal Church in Alaska by Bishop John Bentley in 1943. Gordon married Shirley Lewis in Seward, Alaska, in 1943. He was subsequently ordained as an Episcopal priest and served five years as missionary-in-charge among the villages of the Arctic Coast. He was elected Bishop of Alaska in 1947, and then consecrated in 1948. After moving to Fairbanks, he earned his private pilot’s license in 1949, and became known nationally as the “Flying Bishop of Alaska.” After his retirement from Alaska in 1974, he traveled the world sharing his views for local clergy with Project TEAM (Teach Each A Ministry). In 1976, be became assistant bishop of Michigan. William J. Gordon, Jr. died in Midland, Michigan, in 1994.
Collection description:
The collection consists of an autographed letter signed by Bishop William J. Gordon, Jr. The letter, dated May 23, 1949, is addressed to Miss Elizabeth Hodges, Librarian, John Gordon Wright Library, Episcopal Theological School, Cambridge, Massachusetts. It concerns his writing the letter to add to the collection of letters of bishops held by the library. The letter is on stationery for the Office of the Bishop, Missionary District of Alaska of the Protestant Episcopal Church, The Bishop’s Lodge, Nenana, Alaska.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged in original order.
Digitized copies: This collection has not beed digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Rights note: Archives and Special Collections does not own copyright to the collection.
Preferred citation: William J. Gordon, Jr. letter, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Related materials: For letters by other Alaska bishops see John Boyd Bentley autographed letters, HMC-0797 and Peter Trimble Rowe letters and portraits, HMC-0796.
Custodial history: The letter was originally part of a collection of autographed letters of bishops assembled by the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Acquisition note: The collection was purchased by the Archives on eBay in 2005.
Processing information: This collection was described by Jeffrey Sinnott in 2005. The guide to the collection was converted to current standard by Gwen Sieja in 2015.