Margaret Keenan Harrais

Margaret Keenan Harrais (1872–1964) was an American educator, suffragist, temperance reformer, and government official. During her 48 years in Alaska, while a territory and after statehood, she devoted herself to community and public service. In Fairbanks, she was the first woman superintendent of schools. For 18 years, she was a member of the territorial board of education. She served as President of the Alaska Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) while living in McCarthy, and was also chair for Alaska of the Women's National Committee for Law Enforcement. In widowhood, she served as a United States Commissioner at Valdez, and after Alaska became a state, Harrais became a deputy magistrate.

Early life and education

Sarah Margaret Keenan was born at Batesville, Ohio, September 23, 1872, of Scotch-Irish ancestry. Her parents were Thomas Keenan (1833–1888) and Martha Maria (Reed) Keenan (1835–1896). Margaret's siblings were Emma, Emmett, Ella, James, Martha, and Thomas. She came from a temperance family, and was trained from childhood in temperance work by her father. She was educated at Northern Indiana Normal School, Valparaiso, Indiana, and at Valparaiso University (B.S., 1906). ==Career==

Career

Idaho Harrais began teaching in the rural schools of Ohio at the age of sixteen, after which she acted as principal of public schools in various parts of Idaho (1897–1911). While teaching in Idaho, she served as vice-president of the WCTU of South Idaho. and one of two women who organized and "put across" the plebiscite of that year which made Alaska dry. At the same time, she was elected vice-president at large of the Alaska Territorial WCTU, and later went to California still holding that position. she turned to knitting afghans for disabled soldiers in veterans hospitals, and by 1962, was working on her 91st afghan. ==Death and legacy==

Death and legacy

Margaret Harrais died at Glennallen, Alaska, April 26, 1964. Harrais' papers (ca. 1895–1965), including correspondence, legal documents, manuscripts, clippings, newspaper articles, and photographs are held by the University of Alaska Fairbanks. ==Selected works==

Selected works

• Harrais, Margaret, 1947, "Statement of mining claims of Martin Harrais, upper Chitina Valley, Alaska": Alaska Territorial Department of Mines Miscellaneous Report 87-3, 7 p. • Harrais, Margaret, n.d. "Alaska Periscope". Unpublished and undated manuscript. Harrais Family Papers Collection, Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives, Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK. ==References==

Source: Wikipedia ↗

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