Genie Chance

Chance was born Emma Gene "Genie" Broadfoot on January 24, 1927, in Dallas County, Texas. Her parents were former Texas state representative and Sixth District Judge Albert Sidney Broadfoot and Jessie Butler Broadfoot of Bonham, Texas.{{Cite web|title=Fannin: Memorial Info|url=https://www.txfannin.org/memorial/00941/albert-sidney-broadfoot|access-date=2020-11-09|website=www.txfannin.org}} She had one brother, Lt. Albert S. Broadfoot Jr.,{{Cite web|title=Fannin: Memorial Info|url=https://www.txfannin.org/memorial/00942/albert-sidney-broadfoot|access-date=2020-11-09|website=www.txfannin.org}} and two sisters, Jessie Butler Broadfoot Garrett and Alice Virginia Broadfoot Freeman.{{Cite news|date=1980-08-13|title=Clipped From The Paris News|pages=2|work=The Paris News|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/9198175/the-paris-news/|access-date=2020-11-09}} In 1946, Chance graduated from North Texas State Teachers College (now the University of North Texas) with a degree in Speech,North Texas State Teachers College. [Commencement Program for North Texas State Teachers College, June 3, 1946], pamphlet, June 1946; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc174855/ : accessed November 8, 2020), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu ; crediting UNT Libraries Special Collections. then conducted graduate studies at Baylor University.{{cite web|title=Guide to the Genie Chance papers – Archives and Special Collections|url=https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0084/|website=archives.consortiumlibrary.org}} Chance became an instructor at North Texas State University where she taught speech, radio, English, and government from 1946 to 1949.{{cite web|date=May 21, 1998|title=Obituaries - Genie Chance|url=http://juneauempire.com/stories/052198/obit.html#.WkA-BVWnGUk|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171225092151/http://juneauempire.com/stories/052198/obit.html#.WkA-BVWnGUk|archive-date=December 25, 2017|work=Juneau Empire|accessdate=December 24, 2017}} In 1959, at 32 years old, she moved from Texas to Anchorage, Alaska.

File:AlaskaQuake-FourthAve.jpg

Following her move to Anchorage in 1959, Chance worked as an editorialist and journalist, first at KENI radio and television and then at KFQD radio, becoming one of the first women in Alaskan broadcast news.

Chance rose to prominence for her calm and measured broadcasting after the 9.2 magnitude 1964 Alaska earthquake. Immediately after the earthquake, Chance made her way to a temporary post in the Alaska Public Safety Building where she started broadcasting information about the catastrophic damage throughout the Anchorage area and shared messages from family members looking for loved ones. Chance urged grocers to open their stores, but cautioned community members against hoarding.{{Cite news|last=Egan|first=Timothy|date=2020-03-24|title=In a Time of Crisis, Her Voice Was the One That Galvanized Alaska|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/books/review/this-is-chance-alaska-earthquake-jon-mooallem.html|access-date=2021-04-14|issn=0362-4331}} After essentially being designated the public information officer by Anchorage police chief John Flanigan, she shared instructions for purifying snow for drinking water, requests from the local hospital for supplies, and pleas from community leaders for electricians and plumbers.{{Cite web|title=When a Quake Shook Alaska, a Radio Reporter Led the Public Through the Devastating Crisis|url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-quake-shook-alaska-radio-reporter-led-public-through-devastating-crisis-180974450/|access-date=2021-04-14|website=Smithsonian Magazine|language=en}} Chance would spend the next twenty-four hours almost continuously coordinating response efforts, connecting available resources to needs around the community, disseminating information about shelters and prepared food rations, passing messages of well-being between loved ones, and helping to reunite families.{{Cite web|last=Barbaro|first=Michael|date=May 22, 2020|title=Genie Chance and the Great Alaska Earthquake|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/22/podcasts/the-daily/this-is-chance-alaska-earthquake.html?showTranscript=1|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=The New York Times}} Later, Chance would say that her dedication and calm demeanor was due in part to her responsibility to reassure people that the world had not come to an end.

For her coverage of the earthquake, Chance received numerous awards, including national recognition with the McCall's Golden Mike Award and a number of top Alaska Press Club awards.{{cite web|title=Genie Chance|url=http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/100years/bio.php?id=1004|website=w3.legis.state.ak.us|publisher=Alaska Legislature|location=Juneau, Alaska|accessdate=December 24, 2017|archive-date=June 30, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630020053/http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/100years/bio.php?id=1004|url-status=dead}} Chance was also a member of the Alaska Press Women,{{Cite web|title=APW Leaders and the 1964 Earthquake (History) {{!}} Alaska Professional Communicators|url=https://akprocom.org/about-us/history/apw-leaders-and-the-1964-earthquake/|access-date=2020-11-15|language=en-US}} renamed Alaska Professional Communicators, and served as their president in 1967. She later asked KENI radio for a raise, a request that was denied on the grounds that she was already being paid the maximum salary for a woman in her position. She quit soon after and started her own public relations firm.

File:Alaska State Capitol front entrance, 1970s.jpg

Chance was elected to the Alaska House of Representatives in 1968, where she served for three terms, from 1969 to 1975. During this time, two successive redistricting plans drafted by the Alaska Supreme Court transformed Anchorage's legislative delegation from a single district encompassing all of Anchorage, to the six districts created in its 1974 plan. That year, Chance ran for the Alaska Senate for the two-year short term from the new two-member District E, centered on downtown Anchorage and surrounding neighborhoods.{{cite web|title=Alaska Constitutional Convention - Alaska State Legislature|url=http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/docs/pdf/ROSTERALL.pdf|publisher=Alaska Legislature|location=Juneau, Alaska|accessdate=December 24, 2017|archive-date=April 23, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190423190440/http://w3.legis.state.ak.us/docs/pdf/ROSTERALL.pdf|url-status=dead}} As a legislator, Chance introduced and sponsored progressive legislation with a focus on education and women's issues. Before the national legalization of abortion under Roe v. Wade in 1973, Chance was the primary supporter of the 1970 bill to decriminalize abortion in Alaska.

Chance's other major legislative achievements include spearheading the establishment of a statewide university system and a statewide telecommunications system. Chance served as vice chairman and chairman of the House Health Education and Social Services Committee. She was also appointed by the Secretary of Defense to serve on the Defense Department Advisory Committee on Women in Military Service from 1967 to 1970.

Chance met her first husband, Winston Cash Chance, in the small Texas town where she grew up. They married August 15, 1947 in Denton, TX.Denton County Clerk's Office; Denton, Texas; Denton County Marriage Records; Volumes: 00022; Pages: 00135 Together, they had two sons, Albert and Winston Jr., and a daughter, Jan. Winston was a struggling used car salesman, and their financial troubles weighed heavy on their marriage, especially on Genie. Winston moved his family to Alaska in 1959, convinced it was the land of opportunity. While most women at the time were housewives, Genie became increasingly burdened by her urge to contribute financially when it became clear Winston would be unable to pay their rent. With Winston's agreement and permission, she went downtown and quickly got hired on as a reporter at KENI radio. Winston was, at first, supportive of her work and proud of her achievements. Triggered by alcohol, he had been an abusive husband for years, but it became worse as his resentment of his wife's success grew in the aftermath of the earthquake, and it finally led to their divorce.

On September 23, 1971,Washington State Archives; Olympia, Washington; Washington Marriage Records, 1854-2013; Reference Number: kingcoarchmc359673 she married William K. Boardman, former Speaker of the House (1968–69),{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=William K. Boardman papers|url=https://archives.consortiumlibrary.org/collections/specialcollections/hmc-0072/|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Archives and Special Collections, Consortium Library, University of Alaska Anchorage.}} with whom she had served in the Alaska House of Representatives. They had married despite the fact that she was a prominent member of the Democratic Party in Alaska while Boardman was a Republican.{{Cite web |last=Polat |first=Guy |date=2022-06-26 |title=Genie Chance: Broadcasting 59 Hours Through An Earthquake |url=https://letherfly.org/genie-chance-2/ |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=Trailblazing Women & LGBTQ Folks |language=en-US}} Together, they moved to Juneau, Alaska in 1986, where Chance stayed active in her political endeavors, and remained married until Boardman's death in 1993. Chance had been gathering materials to write her autobiography but succumbed to dementia and died May 17, 1998, at age 71, in Juneau, Alaska.

Chance's legislative papers and files for the years between 1969 and 1976 are housed with the Archives and Special Collections at the UAA/APU Consortium Library. Included are subject files on important policies during Chance's years in the legislator such as abortion, Atomic Energy Commission, education, health and welfare, petroleum development, Alaska Children's Services, and FCC Regulation.

In 2016 and 2017, Chance was the subject of a spoken-word performance presented by author Jon Mooallem as part of Radiotopia Live. The performance included a spoken story of Chance's contributions after the 1964 earthquake and featured musicians including Jenny Conlee, Chris Funk, Nate Query, and John Moen. The podcast 99 Percent Invisible recorded a performance and aired the edited version during one of their programs.{{Cite web|title=This is Chance! Redux|url=https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/this-is-chance-redux/|access-date=2021-04-13|website=99% Invisible|date=24 March 2020 |language=en-US}} Mooallem expanded the performance into a book that was released on March 24, 2020. This is Chance! explores Chance's role in helping the community recover in the aftermath of the earthquake.{{Cite web|title=This Is Chance! by Jon Mooallem: 9780525509929 {{!}} PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books|url=https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/565952/this-is-chance-by-jon-mooallem/|access-date=2021-04-13|website=PenguinRandomhouse.com|language=en-US}}

{{Reflist}}

• Jon Mooallem: This is Chance! : the disaster that shook an all-American city, New York : Random House, 2020, {{ISBN | 978-0-525-50991-2}}

• [https://akleg.gov/100years/bio.php?id=1004 Genie Chance] at 100 Years of Alaska's Legislature
• [https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/chance-anchorwoman-great-alaska-earthquake 99% Invisible podcast episode]

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chance, Genie}}

Category:1927 births

Category:1998 deaths

Category:Democratic Party Alaska state senators

Category:Democratic Party members of the Alaska House of Representatives

Category:Politicians from Anchorage, Alaska

Category:Politicians from Dallas

Category:University of North Texas alumni

Category:University of North Texas faculty

Category:American women radio journalists

Category:Women state legislators in Alaska

Category:20th-century American women politicians

Category:American women academics

Category:20th-century members of the Alaska Legislature