Archives West Finding Aid

Rowena Lung Alcorn, born on March 27, 1905, was a Northwest painter and author. Most of her life's work was dedicated to studying, writing about, and painting Native Americans of the western United States. Her Nez Perce Indian portraits have been exhibited in the Smithsonian Institution, the Delaware Art Center, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, the Los Angeles Southwest Museum, Nevada State Museum at Carson City, and the Washington State Capitol Museum. Alcorn and her husband, Dr. Gordon Dee Alcorn, co-authored one book and more than one hundred articles about Northwest history. She was also an art instructor at the University of Puget Sound, Grays Harbor College, and Pierce College. Alcorn died on May 3, 1996. Her husband, Gordon Dee Alcorn, born in Olympia, Washington on April 9, 1907, was a noted biologist, naturalist, environmentalist and author whose teaching career spanned more than 50 years. He helped establish the Slater Museum of Natural History on the campus of the University of Puget Sound. Alcorn had an important role in bringing the museum's collections of bird skins, eggs, and nests to a high standard. Additionally, he held positions on the board of governors of the Nature Conservancy, president of the Bird and Mammal Society, and was the chairman of the Washington Natural Heritage Program for the state Department of Natural Resources. Gordon D. Alcorn died on March 25, 1994 at the age of 86.