Architect of Alaska Statehood
Author: Eric Gislason
Senator Edward Lewis "Bob" Bartlett served as Alaska's
Territorial Delegate to
Congress from 1945-59. Following Alaska's induction into the
Union on January 3,
1959, Bartlett served as U. S. Senator until his death in 1968.
The citizens of Alaska voted to commemorate Bartlett's efforts
and
commissioned Felix de Weldon to sculpt his likeness, which was
then
placed in the Capitol Building's Statuary Hall.
Senator Bartlett's statue is a useful gateway into an abridged account of the historical and political context of Alaska's long struggle from neglected colony to 49th state. Legislative and populist efforts eventually formed a critical mass for the statehood cause and brought about the 1955 Alaska Constitutional Convention, at which Senator Ernest Gruening gave his "Let Us End American Colonialism" address--a scathing indictment of Alaska's neglect by the federal government and subjugation to business interests in the contiguous states. The statehood movement achieved increased national visibility through the efforts of novelist Edna Ferber, whom one critic called the "Harriet Beecher Stowe of the twentieth century": Ferber's Ice Palace (1958) powerfully dramatized the Alaskan situation and spread a pro-statehood message among thousands of readers in the "lower 48" states.