[item description], Espe Alegria Papers, Box [number] Folder [number], Boise State University Special Collections and Archives.
Collection is available for research.
This collection contains Epse's passport, visa from 1929, bibliography, as well as newspaper articles and awards from her many years of community service. Also included are photos of Espe at her job at Gowen Field, with the sheepherder community, and other members of the Basque Girl's Club. Regarding Espe's radio program, the collection contains the script from her last braodcast and the archival list of music used in the program.
Maria Expectatacion Izarra Alegria (Espe) was born in Eruma, Viscaya, Spain in 1906. She immigrated to the United States in 1925. In 1927, she met and married Henry Alegria. Together, they had one daughter, Rose Isabel. Espe was a great supporter for the Basque community in Boise as an active supporter of the Basque Museum and Cultural Center, a member of the Euzkaldunak, and a life long member of the Basque Girl's Club. She was a staunch advocate for Basque sheepherders. She would help sheepherders with translation, arrange legal matters and also advocated to Senator Frank Church to change immigration laws to allow young Basque men to work in Idaho's sheep industry. Most famously, Espe became known as "The Voice of the Basques" through her 25 years as host of a Basque language radio program. This program was a weekly treat for isolated sheepherders throughout the area.
Espe's legacy is also chronicled at the Idaho Historical Musuem, the Basque Cultural Center, as well as at the Basque Music Archives in Filer, Idaho.
Source: Biography, Box 1, Folder 1