[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 134 (Thursday, September 18, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5847-S5848]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      TRIBUTE TO MAYOR NAN GORMAN

  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to honor an exemplary 
public servant from my home State of Kentucky. Nan Gorman who is 
currently serving as the mayor of the City of Hazard will retire this 
year upon completing her term of office.
  Mayor Gorman was born in Memphis, TN, but moved to Hazard shortly 
after. She grew up in hard times, with the Nation reeling from the 
effects of a worldwide depression. Though the odds may have been 
stacked against her, she graduated from the University of Cincinnati 
and the Parson School of Design in New York and subsequently traveled 
the world on a tour of self-education.
  Nan experienced so much of the world in her travels, but she saw 
nothing that would prevent her from returning to her ``Old Kentucky 
Home.'' Back in Hazard, she married her high-school sweetheart, Bill, 
who was elected mayor of Hazard in 1978 and served in that capacity 
until his death 35 years later.
  Bill Gorman was a beloved member of the Hazard community. When he 
died in October of 2010, however, Nan was appointed to serve as interim 
mayor and the town did not skip a beat. Nan performed so well in her 
interim role that she was voted into office by a 3-1 margin in the next 
election.
  Although Mayor Gorman will step down at the end of her term, her love 
for the City of Hazard has not decreased in the slightest degree, and 
she is planning on running for one of the city's four commissioner 
seats.
  Nan Gorman's dedication to public service and her community set a 
shining example for us all, and I ask that my Senate colleagues join me 
in recognizing her illustrious career.
  Mr. President, though I admittedly possess a strong bias towards the 
author, who happens to be my wife, Secretary Elaine Chao, Politico 
published what I found to be an exceptional article on Mayor Gorman 
last year. I ask unanimous consent that the full article be printed in 
the Record.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

[[Page S5848]]

                     [From Politico, Nov. 17, 2013]

                    Embracing Her Old Kentucky Home

                            (By Elaine Chao)

       Deep in the heart of Kentucky's rugged Eastern Mountain 
     region there lives a woman who has fascinated and inspired me 
     for two decades. She is known locally these days as ``Mayor 
     Nan''--the octogenarian chief executive of Hazard and 
     advocate for its 5,467 residents.
       Nan Gorman was born in Memphis, Tenn., on St. Patrick's 
     Day. She moved to Hazard in 1929 when her father, James 
     Hagan, a recent medical school graduate and aspiring surgeon, 
     went to work there. The stock market was about to crash and 
     soon the Great Depression would be under way and take a 
     brutal toll on the rural mountain economy. In the early days, 
     her father was often paid for his services with chickens and 
     eggs. Later, her father became chief surgeon for the region 
     at the Hazard Hospital.
       Hazard was not just small but remote because of the lack of 
     roads in the region so the Hagan family, with little Nan in 
     tow, traveled there from Tennessee via Virginia mountain 
     passes. Nan's parents, who she says still inspire and guide 
     her today, ensured that she had a good education and gave her 
     the opportunity to attend college but, as was prevalent then, 
     expected that she would soon settle down as a young woman, 
     marry and have children.
       She eventually did all that, but not until after she had 
     experienced some of the world far from Hazard and her beloved 
     eastern Kentucky mountains that she says ``are like the arms 
     of a mother around us.'' So enraptured was she with the 
     natural beauty around Hazard that she became an artist to 
     record scenes in pencil, ink, watercolors and oil paints.
       After World War II, Nan graduated from the University of 
     Cincinnati and attended the prestigious Parsons School of 
     Design in New York City. With an adventurous spirit, Nan flew 
     to Egypt by herself to study ancient history and then 
     traveled on for solo explorations of Greece, Rome, Paris and 
     London. Having been exposed to such exotic, vibrant cities so 
     full of opportunity, one could hardly have begrudged a choice 
     to make her life elsewhere. But instead, she chose to come 
     home to Kentucky. She got an apartment in Lexington and 
     worked as a freelance artist drawing advertisements for 
     clothing stores, doing architectural renderings and sketching 
     historical landmarks. One day she saw a classified 
     advertisement in which the state was looking for a full-time 
     artist, and she subsequently became the first one ever 
     employed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Among her tasks was 
     designing the state seal--United We Stand, Divided We Fall--
     which is still in use today.
       At age 50, Nan settled again in Hazard, remarried--to her 
     high school sweetheart, Bill, and together they formed a 
     partnership that would have a lasting impact on virtually 
     every sphere of the community. Bill was elected mayor in 
     1978, served for 35 years and never accepted a salary. When 
     he returned home to the Lord three years ago, Nan asked that 
     donations go to a fund to benefit local public schools. 
     Wishing to continue Bill's legacy of service to the 
     community, Nan was subsequently elected mayor as a write-in 
     candidate, winning by a 3-to-1 margin.
       Nan's governing personal ethic is to constantly strive to 
     do better for Hazard's residents for as long as she can. When 
     last I spoke with her, Nan was alternately expressing pride 
     over a young local girl's success overcoming disadvantages, 
     helping with the Appalachian Regional Hospital's fundraising 
     campaign and her efforts to obtain refrigerators for families 
     in need.
       An octogenarian well-deserving of retirement, Mayor Nan 
     instead toils from sunrise to late in the evening on behalf 
     of her town. She takes pleasure in the people and the 
     mountain scenery and loves nothing more than to watch 
     wildlife in her yard or to hear that some good fortune is 
     improving someone's life. My takeaway from every visit with 
     Nan is appreciation for the big difference that one woman in 
     a little town can make.

                          ____________________