Guide to the James Patrick Doogan papers
1948-1975
Collection number: HMC-0101.
Creator: Doogan, James Patrick.
Title: James Patrick Doogan papers.
Dates: 1948-1975.
Volume of collection: 1.6 cubic feet.
Language of materials: Collection materials are in English.
Collection summary: Primarily papers related to the Alaska Constitutional Convention.
Biographical note:
James Doogan was born in Douglas, Alaska in 1914. He was educated at Anchorage Community College and the University of Alaska. A Fairbanks businessman, Doogan served on the Fairbanks City Council for six and one half years and was elected as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1955. He was an Executive Assistant for the Alaska State Housing Authority in Fairbanks and in Anchorage from 1962 to 1969. In 1964, he and his family moved to Anchorage.
Collection description:
This collection consists primarily of papers relative to James Doogan’s activities at the Alaska Constitutional Convention. Included among these materials are convention journals, committee proposals , committee records, including committees on local government and the bill of rights, on which he served. The collection also contains materials relative to the efforts to enact borough government legislation in Alaska in 1960, and to unify the city and borough of Anchorage in 1971 and 1975.
Arrangement: The collection is arranged into the following nine series:
Series 1: Correspondence received
Series 2: Constitutional Convention administrative files
Series 3: Constitutional Convention journals
Series 4: Constitutional Convention committee and delegate proposals
Series 5: Constitutional Convention committee records
Series 6: Convention conclusion files
Series 7: Constitutional Convention reference materials and subject files
Series 8: Local government files
Series 9: Pictorial material
Digitized copies: This collection has not been digitized. For information about obtaining digital copies, please contact Archives and Special Collections.
Use restrictions: The Archives holds copyright only to the collection materials authored by James Doogan.
Preferred citation: James Patrick Doogan papers, Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.
Separated materials: Some published materials initially contained within the collection have been moved to the Rare Books collection.
Acquisition note: The collection was presented to the University of Alaska Anchorage by Mr. Doogan. It was transferred to Archives and Special Collections in 1979. Mr. Doogan signed a deed of gift to the Archives in 1987. Additional materials were given to the Archives by Mr. Doogan in 1988.
Processing information: This collection was arranged and described initially by Dennis Walle in 1980. The guide was updated to reflect additional materials after 1988. In 2014, Arlene Schmuland reformatted the guide and the collection arrangement to reflect current formatting and naming standards and removed published items. Some published materials were moved to the Rare Books collection.
Container list:
Series 1: Correspondence received; 1955-1969. 0.1 cubic feet.
The early correspondence in the series relates to the Alaska Constitutional Convention, 1955-56). Most of these letters and memos concern positions on issues before that body or activities of the convention. The correspondence for 1959-61 relates generally to the efforts to enact legislation establishing a borough government in Alaska, and the correspondence for 1966 and 1969 concerns general questions about the constitution and the writing of a monograph about the convention.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/1 | Correspondence | Undated, 1955 September-December |
| 1/2 | Correspondence | 1956 |
| 1/3 | Correspondence | 1959-1961 |
| 1/4 | Correspondence | 1966, 1969 |
Series 2: Constitutional Convention administrative files; 1953-1956. 0.1 cubic feet.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/5 | Instructions for prospective candidates for nomination, one item | 1955 |
| 1/6 | Remarks of former Governor Ernest Gruening at the opening of the Alaska Constitutional Convention | 1955 November 8 |
| 1/7 | Delegates roster | undated |
| 1/8 | Secretariat memoranda | 1955-1956 |
| 1/9 | Calendars and committee schedules | 1955-1956 |
| 1/10 | Press release | 1955 November 28 |
| 1/11 | Public hearing reports, Juneau and Fairbanks committees | 1955 December 21-29 |
| 1/12 | Resolutions | 1955-1956 |
| 1/13 | Stationery | undated |
Series 3: Constitutional Convention journals; 1955-1956. 0.3 cubic feet.
The journals of the Alaska Constitutional Convention contain the minutes of the daily activities of the meetings. Some of the journal copies in this collection contain notes or corrections made by Mr. Doogan.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/14 | Journals 1-5 | 1955 |
| 1/15 | Journals 6-10 | 1955 |
| 1/16 | Journals 11-15 | 1955 |
| 1/17 | Journals 16-20 | 1955 |
| 1/18 | Journals 21-25 | 1955 |
| 1/19 | Journals 26-28, 30 | 1955 |
| 1/20 | Journals 31-35 | 1955-1956 |
| 1/21 | Journals 36-40 | 1956 |
| 1/22 | Journals 41-45 | 1956 |
| 1/23 | Journals 46-50 | 1956 |
| 1/24 | Journals 51-55 | 1956 |
| 1/25 | Journals 56-60 | 1956 |
| 1/26 | Journals 61-63 | 1956 |
| 1/27 | Journal supplements and corrections | 1956 |
Series 4: Constitutional Convention committee and delegate proposals; 1955-1956. 0.25 cubic feet.
The central work of the convention was through committees which discussed various concepts and presented proposals. The committee proposals were then debated and in some cases amended or withdrawn. The folders in this series contain proposals as well as drafts and amendments. Some of the documents contain annotations and edits.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/28 | Proposal 1, Committee on Suffrage, Elections and Apportionment | 1955-1956 |
| 1/29 | Proposal 2, Committee on Judiciary Branch | 1955-1956 |
| 1/30 | Proposal 3, Committee on Direct Legislation | 1955-1956 |
| 1/31 | Proposal 5, Committee on Legislation Branch | 1955-1956 |
| 1/32 | Proposal 6, Committee on Local Government | 1955-1956 |
| 1/33 | Proposal 7, Committee on Preamble and Bill of Rights | 1955-1956 |
| 1/34 | Proposal 8, Committee on Resources | 1955-1956 |
| 1/35 | Proposal 9, Committee on Finance and Taxation | 1955-1956 |
| 1/36 | Proposal 10, Committee on Executive Branch | 1955-1956 |
| 1/37 | Proposal 12, Committee on Executive Branch | 1955-1956 |
| 1/38 | Proposal 14, Committee on Suffrage, Elections, and Apportionment | 1955-1956 |
| 1/39 | Proposal 15, Committee on Style and Drafting | 1955-1956 |
| 1/40 | Proposal No. 16, Committee on Ordinances and Transitional Measures | 1955-1956 |
| 1/41 | Proposal 17, Committee on Ordinances and Transitional Measures | 1955-1956 |
| 1/42 | Proposals, memorandum, note, and report concerning Proposals 5, 7, 9, 10, 12, 15, and 16 | 1955-1956 |
| 1/43 | Committee proposals 1-12, bound in reverse order, with other documents, 1 volume | 1955-1956 |
Series 5: Constitutional Convention committee records; 1955-1956. 0.25 cubic feet.
These files contain various documents emanating from the Convention’s committees. Mr. Doogan was a member of Local Government and Preamble and Bill of Rights Committees.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 1/44 | Committee membership lists | 1955 |
| 1/45 | Committee on Administration, 16 items | 1955-1956 |
| 1/46 | Committee on Elections and Apportionment | 1956 |
| 1/47 | Committee on Finance | 1955 |
| 1/48 | Committee on Legislative Branch | 1955 |
| 1/49 | Committee on Local Government minutes | 1955 |
| 1/50 | Committee on Local Government proposals, 16 items | 1955 |
| 1/51 | Committee on Local Government explanations | 1955 |
| 1/52 | Committee on Ordinances and Transitory Measures | 1955 |
| 1/53 | Committee on Preamble and Bill of Rights | 1955 |
| 1/54 | Committee on Resolutions and Recommendations | 1955 |
| 1/55 | Committee on Resources | 1955-1956 |
| 1/56 | Committee on Rules | 1955 |
| 1/57 | Committee on Style and Drafting | 1955-1956 |
Series 6: Convention conclusion files; 1956, 1959. 0.05 cubic feet.
These files contain various papers, documents, and publications relative to the final work of the Alaska Constitutional Convention.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 2/1 | Resolution, Completion of Convention Business | 1956 |
| 2/2 | The Proposed Constitution for the State of Alaska. A Report to the People of Alaska | 1956 |
| 2/3 | Reactions: “Excerpts from responses received-outside mailing” | 1956 |
Series 7: Constitutional Convention reference materials and subject files; 1954-1956. 0.4 cubic feet.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 2/4 | Staff paper 1: “The state constitution within the American political system” | 1955 |
| 2/5 | Staff paper 2: “Civil rights and liberties” | 1955 |
| 2/6 | Staff paper 3: “The Alaskan constitution and the state patrimony-the constitution and natural resources” | 1955 |
| 2/7 | Staff paper 4: “Suffrage and elections” | 1955 |
| 2/8 | Staff paper 5: “The legislative department” | 1955 |
| 2/9 | Staff paper 6: “The executive department” | 1955 |
| 2/10 | Staff paper 7: “The judicial department” | 1955 |
| 2/11 | Staff paper 8: “The constitution and local government” | 1955 |
| 2/12 | Staff paper 9: “The state finance department” | 1955 |
| 2/13 | Staff paper 10: “The legislative structure and apportionment” | 1955 |
| 2/14 | Staff paper 11: “Constitutional amendment and revision” | 1955 |
| 2/15 | Staff paper 12: “Initiative referendum and recall” | 1955 |
| 2/16 | “Bibliography on state constitution development” | 1955 |
| 2/17 | “Information bulletin about the University of Alaska for Alaska Constitutional Convention delegates” | 1955 |
| 2/18 | Alaska Statehood Committee news and press releases | 1955-1956 |
| 2/19 | Education | |
| 2/20 | Dr. Ernest Gruening’s convocation address | 1955 |
| 2/21 | “A handbook on Alaska regionalism” | 1955 |
| 2/22 | Local government | undated |
| 2/23 | Alaska maps | undated |
| 2/24 | Natural resources | 1955 |
| 2/25 | Speeches | 1955 |
| 2/26 | State capitol | undated |
| 2/27 | U.S. Congress action on Puerto Rican constitution | undated |
| 2/28 | Wiretapping | 1954 |
Series 8: Local government files; 1967-1970. 0.13 cubic feet.
These papers concern the effort to enact a borough government in Alaska as provided in the State Constitution and the effort to unify city and borough government in the Anchorage area.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 2/29 | General information, 9 items | undated |
| 2/30 | Explanation of Article X of the Constitution of the State of Alaska | undated |
| 2/31 | Alaska state senate bill | undated |
| 2/32 | Borough Study Team resource material and correspondence, report | 1967 March-April |
| 2/33 | Operation Breakthrough Subcommittee on Local Government Structure records | 1969 February- March |
| 2/34-35 | Unification speeches and reports | 1967-1970 |
Series 9: Pictorial material; 1940, 1955-1956. 0.02 cubic feet.
The cartoon in this series was drawn by James Doogan and concerns the constitutional convention. The photograph is apparently of Doogan and his wife.
| Box/Folder | Description | Dates |
| 2/36 | Cartoon | 1955-1956 |
| 2/37 | Photograph | 1940 |