Pat Nixon events planned

Community leaders in Ely, Nevada, and Nixon Library officials in Yorba Linda, Calif., have scheduled centennial commemorations of the birth of former U.S. First lady Pat Nixon.

Nixon was born in Ely in 1912, though for many years there was a dispute over the exact date and location. In 2002, Guy Louis Rocha, then state archives administrator, finally established the facts.

In his 1952 “Checkers speech” defending himself against accepting money from wealthy Californians, Republican vice presidential candidate Richard Nixon said, “Let me say this: I don’t believe that I ought to quit because I’m not a quitter. And, incidentally, Pat’s not a quitter. After all, her name was Patricia Ryan and she was born on St. Patrick’s Day, and you know the Irish never quit.”

Actually, she was born on March 16, not March 17, and her name was never Patricia. That was a nickname she was given because of the proximity of her birth to St. Patrick’s Day. Her birth name was Thelma Catharine Ryan. In spite of some reports that she was born in White Pine County but not in Ely proper, Rocha was able to establish that the birth took place at the Ryan residence on Campton Street within the town.

She visited Nevada several times during Richard Nixon’s political career, including a visit to campaign for Republican U.S. Senate candidate William Raggio in 1970 and a visit to Ely itself during the 1952 campaign, when she was presented with a copper key to the city in recognition of a local industry, copper mining.

For details on the Ely events, see http://tinyurl.com/83ja5ky.