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| Long title | An Act to provide for the admission of the State of Alaska into the Union. |
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| Enacted by | the 85th United States Congress |
| Citations | |
| Public law | Pub. L. 85–508 |
| Statutes at Large | 72 Stat. 339 |
| Codification | |
| Titles amended | Title 28—Judiciary and Judicial Procedure |
| Legislative history | |
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The Alaska Statehood Act (Pub. L. 85–508, 72 Stat. 339, enacted July 7, 1958) was a legislative act introduced by Delegate E. L. "Bob" Bartlett and signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower on July 7, 1958. Through it, Alaska became the 49th U.S. state on January 3, 1959. The law was the culmination of a multi-decade effort by many prominent Alaskans, including Bartlett, Ernest Gruening, Bill Egan, Bob Atwood, and Ted Stevens.
The law was first introduced by James Wickersham in 1916, shortly after the First Organic Act. However, due to a lack of interest from Alaskans, the bill was never introduced. Efforts ramped up in 1943, with Bartlett's rendition of the act being introduced first in 1947 and 1950, with the backing of President Harry Truman. However, due to opposition from powerful southern U.S. Congressmen, it took until 1958 to pass the law, with the convincing of Bob Bartlett. Gruening worked on rallying support from Alaskans, launching the Alaska Constitutional Convention in 1956, which elected Bill Egan and Gruening as Shadow U.S. Senators, and Ralph Rivers as the Shadow U.S. Representative, working towards pressuring the U.S. Congress for Alaska's statehood. Atwood similarly rallied support by using his job as a trusted news source to rally Alaskans for statehood. Stevens worked on masterminding the executive branch's attack, using his powerful executive office as Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, along with Interior Secretary Fred Seaton, to lobby for Alaska's statehood, placing reporters in any and all news hearings to pressure President Eisenhower & Congressmen to switch in favor of the law. Stevens also authored parts of the Act (namely Section 10).[1]
Roger Ernst, Seaton's former Assistant Secretary for Public Land Management, said of Stevens: "He did all the work on statehood; he wrote 90 percent of all the speeches. Statehood was his main project."[1]
- ^ a b Whitney, David. (August 10, 1994). "Seeking statehood: Stevens bent rules to bring Alaska into the union." Anchorage Daily News. Retrieved June 1, 2007.