REAGAN, NANCY DAVIS: Papers Correspondence, 1950-1994 (2 l.ft.; Boxes 1-6) Biography Anne Francis “Nancy” Robbins was born on July 6, 1921, the only child of Kenneth Seymour Robbins and Edith Prescott Luckett. Her parents separated shortly after her birth. After the separation, Edith continued pursuing her acting career, and eventually placed two-year-old Nancy with her sister and brother-in-law, Virginia and Audley Gailbraith, in Bethesda, Maryland. Nancy lived with the Gailbraiths for the next six years. Edith Luckett remarried in 1929 to Loyal Edward Davis, a prominent neurosurgeon from Chicago, Illinois. Mother and daughter reunited in Chicago, where Nancy attended school and grew into a young woman. Dr. Davis, who died August 19, 1982, was Professor Emeritus at Northwestern University after serving as Professor of Surgery there for more than 30 years. Edith Luckett Davis went on to serve with many charitable organizations. She died October 26, 1987, at the Davis’s retirement home in Phoenix, Arizona. Nancy Reagan enjoyed a close relationship with her stepfather, and always considered him her father. Loyal Davis formally adopted Nancy when she was a teenager. Ann Francis Robbins legally became Nancy Davis at this time. Nancy Davis graduated from Chicago’s Girls’ Latin School and went on to Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts, where she majored in English and drama. She graduated in 1943 and then pursued a professional acting career. In her acting career, Nancy Davis worked in stage, film, and television productions. Her stage performances ranged from summer stock to road tours to Broadway and, in 1949, she signed a seven-year contract with MGM. She made 11 films in all, including three after her marriage and many television appearances up to her retirement in 1962. She and her husband, Ronald Reagan appeared in her last film, Hellcats of the Navy, (Columbia, 1956). Nancy Davis and Ronald Reagan were “set up” on a dinner date to discuss some problems she was having with another Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) actress with the same name. The other Nancy Davis was associated with Communist front groups and was in danger of being blacklisted in the 1950s. Nancy asked for help with this problem from Ronald Reagan, SAG Board member. They began dating and after a nearly two year courtship were married on March 4, 1952 at The Little Brown Church in the San Fernando Valley, California. It was her first and only marriage and Reagan’s second marriage. He had previously been married to actress Jane Wyman and they had two children, Maureen and Michael. Shortly after Reagan became Governor of California in 1967, Mrs. Reagan began visiting wounded Vietnam veterans and became active in projects concerning POWs and servicemen missing in action. During the war, she wrote a syndicated column, donating her salary to the National League of Families of American Prisoners and Missing in Action in Southeast Asia. 2/22/2021 Reagan, Nancy-2 While First Lady of California, Mrs. Reagan made regular visits to hospitals and homes for the elderly, as well as schools for physically and emotionally handicapped children. During one of these hospital visits in 1967, she observed participants in the Foster Grandparent Program, a program which brings together senior citizens and handicapped children, and she soon became its champion. Later, as First Lady of the United States, Mrs. Reagan continued to help expand the program on a national level and promote private funding in local communities. With Jane Wilkie, she co-authored a book, To Love a Child, and a song by the same title was written and dedicated to her by Hal David and Joe Raposo. Mrs. Reagan’s special project is fighting drug and alcohol abuse among youth. To spotlight the problem, she has traveled nearly 250,000 miles throughout the United States and several countries in conjunction with her campaign to fight substance abuse. She has appeared on television talk shows, taped public service announcements, written guest articles, and visited prevention programs and rehabilitation centers across the country to talk with young people and their parents. In April 1985 Mrs. Reagan expanded her drug awareness campaign to an international level by inviting First Ladies from around the world to attend a two-day briefing in Washington, D.C., and Atlanta, Georgia, on the subject of youth drug abuse. During the 40th Anniversary of The United Nations in 1985, Mrs. Reagan hosted 30 First Ladies for a second international drug conference. She was also the first American First Lady to address the Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly whose meeting she attended in October 1988. After leaving the White House on January 20, 1989, Mrs. Reagan established the Nancy Reagan Foundation to continue her campaign to educate people about the serious dangers of substance abuse. In 1994, the Nancy Reagan Foundation joined forces with the BEST Foundation For A Drug-Free Tomorrow and developed the Nancy Reagan Afterschool Program, a drug prevention and life-skills program for youth. Mrs. Reagan continued to travel domestically and internationally, speaking out on the harmful effects of drugs and alcohol. In October of 1989 Mrs. Reagan’s memoirs, entitled My Turn, were published by Random House. In post-White House years, Mrs. Reagan devotes her time to projects related to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, where she serves on the board of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, a non-profit, non-partisan organization. The Foundation is dedicated to developing and fostering individual liberty, promoting economic opportunity, advancing democracy around the world, and instilling pride in our national heritage. In June 2004, President Reagan died at home after a long struggle with Alzheimer’s disease. Mrs. Reagan was at his side. Mrs. Reagan took part in the many honors and services held for the passing of President Reagan. Mrs. Reagan then became actively involved with the Alzheimer’s Association and its affiliate, the Ronald & Nancy Reagan Research Institute in Chicago, Illinois. 2/22/2021 Reagan, Nancy-3 Nancy Davis Reagan passed away at age 94 at her home in Bel Air (Los Angeles), California. She was given a private funeral at the Reagan Library and is laid to rest at the Library next to her husband, President Ronald Reagan. Description of Collection The majority of this collection currently consists of the "love letters" sent to Mrs. Nancy Davis Reagan by her husband, President Ronald Reagan over the course of their courtship and marriage. Included are letters, notes, gift tags, commercial greeting cards, and Western Union telegrams. Material within these series collections was used in the creation of the book, I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan, Random House, c2000. We have noted material used for the book in bold and cited the page number from the book. Photos of the items appear in the book and/or the actual text of the items. We have noted which items are photos and which are text. Please see the exact listing of items for this information. In their salutations, the President and Mrs. Reagan frequently used the acronym, “I.T.W.W.W.” According to Mrs. Reagan this meant [I love you the most] “in the whole wide world.” Each page in this collection is numbered and the container list shows the actual page number for each item. The originals of these items are not served to researchers without permission from the Reagan Foundation. A full copy set of the collection is held in the Research Room. Please see the Research Room Attendant or your archivist for requesting these items. The collection currently consists of five series: Series I: Correspondence, Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan, 1950-1990; Series II: Holiday Greetings, Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan, 1951-1994; Series III: Other Holiday Greetings, 1980s; Series IV: Nancy Davis Childhood Material; Series V: Post-Presidential Correspondence, 1989-2009. SERIES I: CORRESPONDENCE, RONALD REAGAN TO NANCY REAGAN, 1950-1990 (0.4 l.ft., Box 1) This series is further divided into subseries: Subseries A: General Correspondence and Subseries B: Telegrams Subseries A: General Correspondence, 1950-1990 This subseries consists of 23 "love letters" sent by Ronald Reagan to Nancy Davis Reagan from their courtship throughout their marriage. The largest block is from the 1950s - 14 letters sent to Mrs. Reagan when Mr. Reagan was traveling for movie or television appearances, business as the President of the Screen Actors Guild, and later as company representative for the General Electric Company. The later correspondence (1966-) was generally not mailed to Mrs. Reagan but left for her at home or on her desk. Some later items are undated, but we have attempted to put them in rough chronological order. In addition, this subseries contains 16 "love notes," 14 undated general gift tags sleeved within plastic preservation sleeves and 22 general commercial greeting cards to Mrs. Reagan from 2/22/2021 Reagan, Nancy-4 President Reagan. These items also range from the earliest years of the Reagan's marriage through the White House years. Most of these items are undated, but we have attempted some rough chronological order based on the pricing of the cards and the type of greeting card graphic design. Subseries B: Telegrams, 1951-1965 This subseries consists of the 51 telegrams sent to Mrs. Reagan when President Reagan was traveling, particularly during his time as the television host of General Electric Theatre and company representative for General Electric. Mr. Reagan traveled by train during this time period and passed through Albuquerque, NM on the "Super Chief" out of Los Angeles. He frequently got off the train at this point to send a telegram to Mrs.