1st Alaska State Legislature

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The 1st Alaska State Legislature served during 1959 and 1960. All of its members were elected on November 26, 1958, when Alaska was in its last days as a territory.

Contents

Terms

The Alaska Constitution established that legislative terms begin on the fourth Monday in January following an election year, and that the date may be changed by statute. This legislature passed Senate Bill 70 in the first session, which placed the date into statute but did not actually change it.

Sessions

Alaska Senate

Make-up

AffiliationMembers
Democratic Party 18
Republican Party 2
 Total20
 Government Majority16

Members

DistrictNamePartyLocation
AJames NolanDem Wrangell
Frank Peratrovich Dem Klawock
BWalter O. "Bo" SmithDem Ketchikan
CHoward C. BradshawDem Sitka
DThomas B. StewartDem Juneau
ERalph E. Moody [1] Dem Anchorage
Irene E. Ryan DemAnchorage
FBalfour J. "Bob" LoganDem Cordova
GJoseph Earl Cooper [2] DemAnchorage
HIrwin L. MetcalfDem Seward
IAlfred A. OwenDem Uganik Bay
JGeorge B. McNabb, Jr.Dem Fairbanks
Robert J. McNealyDemFairbanks
KJack E. WeiseRep Bethel
L John B. Coghill Rep Nenana
MHubert A. Gilbert [3] DemFairbanks
N William E. Beltz Dem Unalakleet [4]
Lester BronsonDem Nome
OEben HopsonDem Barrow
PJohn A. McNeesDemNome

Leadership

Alaska House of Representatives

Make-up

AffiliationMembers
Democratic Party 34
Republican Party 5
Independent 1
 Total40
 Government Majority28

Members

DistrictNamePartyLocation
1Charles M. JonesDem Craig
2Oral E. FreemanDem Ketchikan
James R. "J. Ray" RoadyDemKetchikan
3John E. LongworthRep Petersburg
4Frank E. CashelDem Sitka
Andrew HopeDemSitka
5Douglas GrayDem Douglas
Dora M. Sweeney Dem Juneau
6Morgan W. ReedDem Skagway
7Harold Z. HansenInd-D Cordova
8 Bruce Kendall Rep Valdez
9 James J. Hurley Dem Palmer
10 Helen M. Fischer Dem Anchorage
James E. FisherDemAnchorage
John S. HellenthalDemAnchorage
Earl D. HillstrandDemAnchorage
Peter J. KalamaridesDemAnchorage
Edward R. "Russ" MeekinsDemAnchorage
James E. NoreneDemAnchorage
John L. Rader [5] DemAnchorage
11William M. ErwinDem Seward
12Allan L. PetersenDem Kenai [6]
13Peter M. DeveauDem Kodiak
Henry L. HaagDemKodiak
14Charles J. FranzDem Port Moller
15 Jay S. Hammond Ind Naknek
16James HoffmanRep Bethel
17Donald HarrisRep McGrath
18Grant H. PearsonDem McKinley Park
19Frank X. ChapadosDem Fairbanks
Joseph R. "Bob" Giersdorf [7] DemFairbanks
Richard J. Greuel DemFairbanks
Robert E. Sheldon DemFairbanks
Warren A. Taylor DemFairbanks
20R.S. McCombeDem Chicken
21 John Nusunginya Dem Point Barrow
22 John E. Curtis Rep Kotzebue
23Robert R. BlodgettDem Nome
Charles E. FagerstromDemNome
24Axel C. JohnsonDem Kwiguk

Leadership

See also

Notes

  1. Resigned in 1960, following the end of sessions, to accept appointment as attorney general
  2. Appointed to the Alaska Superior Court between sessions. Seaborn J. Buckalew, Jr. (D) was appointed to his seat for the second session.
  3. Appointed to the Alaska Superior Court between sessions. Rep. Bob Giersdorf (D) was appointed to his seat January 29, 1960. Giersdorf, who was born on February 24, 1935, was short of the constitutionally-established minimum age, and resigned the seat. Edmund N. Orbeck (D), who was appointed to Giersdorf's House seat, replaced him.
  4. Died on November 21, 1960, after the end of sessions but before the expiration of his term.
  5. Appointed state attorney general between sessions. Blanche L. McSmith (D) was appointed to his seat for the second session.
  6. Petersen, Jettie. Once Upon The Kenai, page 269-70 Kenai Historical Society, Alaska, 1984
  7. Appointed January 29, 1960, to replace outgoing Sen. Hubert Gilbert for the second session, but re-assumed his old seat February 2, 1960. Edmund N. Orbeck (D) filled his House seat in the interim.

Photos of individual and assembled members of the 1st Alaska State Legislature, as hosted at Alaska's Digital Archives

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