Nancy Quinn
| Nancy Quinn | |
|---|---|
| First Lady of Hawaii | |
|
In office August 21, 1959 – December 3, 1962 |
|
| Governor | William F. Quinn |
| Preceded by | Office created |
| Succeeded by | Beatrice Burns |
| First Lady of the Territory of Hawaii | |
|
In office August 29, 1957 – August 21, 1959 |
|
| Governor | William F. Quinn |
| Preceded by | Pauline Nawahineokalai King |
| Succeeded by | Statehood |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Nancy Ellen Witbeck 1919 St. Louis, Missouri |
| Died | June 2014 (age 95) Honolulu, Hawaii |
| Spouse(s) | William F. Quinn (1942–2006; his death) |
| Children | Seven |
Nancy Ellen Quinn (1919 – June 2014) was an American public figure, former First Lady of Hawaii, and a prominent figure during Hawaii's transition to statehood. Quinn, the wife of Governor William F. Quinn, served as the last First Lady of the Territory of Hawaii from 1957 until 1959. She then served as the first First Lady of the new U.S. state of Hawaii from 1959 to 1962. According to Time Magazine, Nancy Quinn was the first person in the Territory of Hawaii to receive news that the bill granting Hawaiian statehood had been signed by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1959.
Quinn was born Nancy Ellen Witbeck in 1919 in St. Louis, Missouri. She married her husband, William F. Quinn, on July 11, 1942, at a ceremony in St. Louis. The couple moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1947 when William Quinn, a lawyer, was offered a job at the Robertson, Castle & Anthony law firm; he was promoted to partner in 1950. The couple had seven children: five prior to becoming Governor in 1957 and two children while they were serving as the Governor and First Lady of Hawaii.
William Quinn entered territorial politics during the 1950s. In August 1957, President Eisenhower appointed Quinn as Governor of the Territory of Hawaii, thereby making Nancy Quinn the first lady. The movement toward statehood continued to gather momentum under the Quinns. The Hawaii Admission Act was passed by the U.S. Congress in 1959 and signed into law by President Dwight Eisenhower. Time Magazine reported that First Lady Nancy Quinn was the first person in Hawaii to receive news that President Eisenhower had signed the Admission Act into law. Nancy Quinn had received the radiogram announcing Hawaii's admission at the door of their official residence, Washington Place. She delivered the news to Governor Quinn, but not before her four-year old daughter, Cecily, had opened the envelope.
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