Margaret Keenan Harrais

Margaret Keenan Harrais
B&W portrait photo of a woman with short wavy hair wearing a white blouse with a large dark bow.
WCTU portrait photo (ca. 1915)
Born
Sarah Margaret Keenan

September 23, 1872
DiedApril 26, 1964
Alma materValparaiso University
Occupations
  • educator
  • suffragist
  • activist
  • United States Commissioner
  • Deputy magistrate
OrganizationWoman's Christian Temperance Union
Spouse
Martin Luther Harrais
(m. 1920; died 1936)

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.[1][2][3][4]

  1. ^ Cherrington, Ernest Hurst (1926). "HARRAIS, MARGARET KEENAN.". Standard encyclopedia of the alcohol problem., Vol. III, Downing-Kansas. Westerville, Ohio: American Issue Publishing Co. pp. 1184–85. Retrieved 3 February 2024 – via Internet Archive. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Margaret Harrais Dies at 91". Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. 27 April 1964. p. 3.
  3. ^ Kingsley, Ilana. "Guides: Research Tools: The Movement towards Alaska's Statehood". library.uaf.edu. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
  4. ^ United States Congress (6 September 1962). "MRS. HARRAIS WILL RETIRE, by Frances Walker". Congressional Record: Proceedings and Debates of the ... Congress. U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 18708–09. Retrieved 3 February 2024. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.